Over at the Kosmos Society we’ve been studying the Argonautica by
Apollonius of Rhodes. Here are my
random notes;
Why Orpheus first in the catalogue of the Argonauts?
Any significance to who comes next in the catalogue? West suggests that most
epic catalogues spiral out from the initial location of the tale.
I find it interesting that seven of the heroes were
“sent” on this quest;
- · “Actor sent his son Menoetius”,
- · “Canthus eager for the quest, whom
Canethus son of Abas sent”,
- · “Phalerus of the ashen spear. Alcon
his father sent him forth;”,
- · “146-150) Moreover Aetolian Leda sent
from Sparta strong Polydeuces and Castor”,
- · “Ancaeus followed them as the third,
whom his father Lycurgus sent,”
- · “Laocoon the brother of Oeneus,
Oeneus sent to guard his son: thus Meleagrus,”
“Theseus,
who surpassed all the sons of Erechtheus, an unseen bond kept beneath the land
of Taenarus, for he had “followed that path with Peirithous; assuredly both
would have lightened for all the fulfilment of their toil.” I
wondered what this line was all about, but our discussion of Heracles cameo it
makes sense. AR is explaining why Theseus was not on the boat. He was still
stuck on that bench in Hades waiting for Heracles to rescue him. If he had been
on the boat than the epic would have been him instead of Jason, so AR had to
write him out of the story. With Theseus in Hades Castor and Polydeuces could
rescue Helen in Athens and then join the expedition.
“185-189) Yea,
and two other sons of Poseidon came; one Erginus, who left the citadel of
glorious Miletus, the other proud Ancaeus, who left Parthenia, the seat of
Imbrasion Hera” Per Maicar; Parthenia is an old name for Samos . Joan V.
O’Brien in The Transformation of Hera
theorizes that prior to being summoned to Olympus by Hesiod and Homer, Hera was
the local goddess on Samos and wedded wife of the river-god Imbrasus.
“no woe will be
fatal, no venture will be unachieved, while Idas follows, even though a god
should oppose thee. Such a helpmeet am I that thou bringest from Arene.”(ll.
472-475) He spake, and holding a brimming goblet in both hands drank off the
unmixed sweet wine; and his lips and dark cheeks were drenched with it; and all
the heroes clamoured together and Idmon spoke out openly: (ll. 480-484) “Vain
wretch, thou art devising destruction for thyself before the time. Does the
pure wine cause thy bold heart to swell in thy breast to thy ruin, and has it
set thee on to dishonour the gods?” This is Idas, strongest man in the
world after Heracles. If I recall correctly he would have beat Apollo to a pulp
if Zeus hadn’t intervened. He has a bit of an attitude and I am sure his
fiancée and future sister-in-law didn’t mind being abducted by the sons of Leda
“Glaucus the
wise interpreter of divine Nereus” was once mortal. As was Leucothea who
rose from the sea to speak to Odysseus in his epic.
“On
that day all the gods looked down from heaven upon the ship and the might of
the heroes, half-divine, the bravest of men then sailing the sea;”
I only four count for demi-gods.
What is the significance of the mantle Jason wore on Lesbos;
- · Cyclopses
making lightning bolt.
- · Amphion
and Zethusbuilding the walls of Thebes.
- · Aphrodite
as an Amazon.
- · sons
of Electryon were fighting; Taphian raider”.
- · Pelops
chariot race.
- · Apollo
as a stripling shooting a giant.
- · Phrixus
talking to the ram. (Ends up the winged ram that rescued him recommended that
Phrixus sacrifice him.)
Really? Heracles turned prudish and passed on the
maidens of Lesbos? He bedded Echidna! He was the one that convinced the others
to leave this golden age existence?
“by
command of Orpheus the youths trod a measure dancing in full armour, and
clashed with their swords on their shields, so that the ill-omened cry might be
lost in the air the wail which the people were still sending up in grief for
their king.” Like the corresponding Curetes dancing
about the crying Baby Zeus.
“And
a fierce quarrel fell upon them, and violent tumult, for that they had sailed
and left behind the bravest of their comrades. And Aeson’s son, bewildered by
their hapless plight, said never a word, good or bad; but sat with his heavy
load of grief, eating out his heart.” Some leader! Didn’t notice
three of his men were missing? Heracles would be hard-to miss. And how come all
the seers and helmsman had to make all the decisions? My friend Helen says this is a new kind of
hero, a Hellenistic hero in a democratic city.
“1332-1335) “Son
of Aeson, be not wroth with me, if in my folly I have erred, for grief wrought
upon me to utter a word arrogant and intolerable. But let me give my fault to
the winds and let our hearts be joined as before.” Now that’s how you
apologize!
AR says Amycaus “seemed
to be a monstrous son of baleful Typhoeus”. None of Typhon’s children were
theomorphic. All were hybrids or animals.
“Aea; a huntress who was metamorphosed by the
gods into the fabulous island bearing the same name in order to rescue her from
the pursuit of Phasis, the river god.” (Dictionary of Greek and
Roman Biography and Mythology) Aea is
also the name of the capital of Colchis. This is the distant and mysterious
land where King Aeetes and his daughter Medea lived. It is near here that
Aeetes’ father Helios rested each morning on his couch before the sun-god and
his sister Eos, the Dawn launch into the sky. In “The East Face of Helicon” M.LWest (1997) argues Aea was tied to the
Akkadian dawn goddess Aya. “It seems
impossible to separate this Aea from the name of the Babylonian goddess Aya,
who is the Sun-god’s wife and the goddess of sexual love” (p. 407). (Thanks
to Jason Colavito for this insight.)
Start of Book Three; Enter the Olympians!
“36-51) So she
said, and starting forth they came to the mighty palace of Cypris, which her
husband, the halt-footed god, had built for her when first he brought her from
Zeus to be his wife.” So, sometime
between the arrival of the Argo at Colchis and the final year of the Trojan
War, Hephaestus caught his wife and Ares in the net got the marriage annulled
and married a Grace.
“for she is full
of many wiles.” Doesn’t disaster always follow when someone is described
this way?
“they
were playing for golden dice, as boys in one house are wont to do.”When
young Patroclus kills the son of Amphidamas over a dice game, Menoetius whisked
the boy off to Peleus in Phthia to be educated with his cousin Achilles. (Hom.
Il. 23.85) In Norse mythology after the Fire Giants destroy what is left from
the universe, from the boiling sea arises Balder’s estate with Hod, a handful
of gods and the innocents who had hidden in his forested lands. The game of
dice, with which the gods played in their youth while they were yet free from
care, is found again among the flowers on the new earth. Some other quotes;
- · “Mars
rolls his iron dice, and if they turn up snake eyes he sends a pair of nations
to war.” Steven Pinker http://t.co/29oNJ39how.
- · Advice
from Hades, “Don’t bet your future on the roll of the dice.” http://t.co/6VYeV0AAjr.
“Eidyia
his wedded wife, the youngest daughter of Tethys and Oceanus.”Is
the fact that she is the last of the 3000 daughters an indicator that the age
of the gods is over and the veil will be pulled between men and gods soon?
“Medea then
[they found] going from chamber to chamber in search of her sister, for Hera
detained her within that day.” That time of the month?
Eros’ reluctance to do his duty seems similar to
Lyssa’s reluctance make Heracles slaying children at Hera’s command.
(Euripides, Heracles 815) Aphrodite and hence her children and the elder Eros
are outside the dispensation at Mecone. Maybe the goddesses really do need to
beg this favor.
Aeetes “angered
most of all with the son of Chalciope”. This is his grandson and second in
line to the throne
Medea calling on Hecate. How come all of Hecate’s
stories are someone else’s; Jason and Medea, Zeus gathering allies, Hesiod’s
praise, HH to Demeter. She never gets to be the star of her own myth.
“thou then, hero
son of Aeson, art minded to yoke Aeetes’ oxen, and art eager for the toil,”
Yoking and plowing was the bride price for Admetus’ wife. This is the ritual
act that ignited the Theban wars. In Ancient Greek aren’t toil and battle the
same word?
“Once
he had heard a baleful prophecy from his father Helios, that he must avoid the
secret treachery and schemes of his own offspring and their crafty mischief.
Wherefore he was sending them, as they desired, to the Achaean land at the
bidding of their father—a long journey. Nor had he ever so slight a fear of his
daughters, that they would form some hateful scheme, nor of his son Apsyrtus;
but this curse was being fulfilled in the children of Chalciope.” Oops!
Misinterpreted that prophecy!
At this point I stopped reading thanks to the wise
advice of my wise friend Maya. Maya once said, “Bill, just because we are
having a Book Club, doesn’t mean you have to read the book and just because we
are reading a book, doesn’t mean you have to like it.” Thanks Maya.
