THE ARGONAUTS and the WANDERINGS of ODYSSEUS L. Introduction Since the Plot of the Argonautica Consists Mainly of a Sea Voyage

CHAPTER FOUR THE ARGONAUTS AND THE WANDERINGS OF ODYSSEUS l. Introduction Since the plot of the Argonautica consists mainly of a sea voyage, the Oqyssty is its most natural model from ancient epic, a model which can be invoked in various ways and at various levels. 1 On the most general level, the voyage itself gives a comparable structure to the poem; Apollonius takes over wide-ranging Odyssean themes such as that of hospitality and its absence and the development of character as the result of experiences during the voyage. 2 Certain kinds of event occur the same number of times in the two voyages; both Jason and Odysseus have two sexual adventures during their travels, and, like Odysseus, the Argonauts are twice almost home when they are blown off course. 3 There are also structural similarities between the Odyssty and the Argonautica in the ordering and juxtaposition of events. Both the Oqyssty and the Argonautica set a boundary between the 'fantastic' and the normal world. On the outward journey in Apollonius this boundary comes at the Symplegades; the remainder of Book 2 contains chthonic elements and describes the outlandish customs of non-Greeks, ending at Colchis, the point furthest from the Greek world. On the return voyage, the 'Odyssean' section in Book 4 is a transition between the barbarian lands inhabited by Colchians, Celts and Illyrians, and the Greek world (cf. 4.1228-31). There is a further twist to the route; the Argonauts still face a jour- 1 On the definition of space in the Argonautica with regard to Homer, cf. Clare (1993), 112-22. 2 Hospitable: Lemnos, Cyzicus, Phineus, Lycus, the Phaeacians; in the 04Yssry, Circe, Aeolus, Calypso, the Pheaecians. Inhospitable: the Bebryces, Colchis, Circe; in the 04Yssry the Cyclops, the Laestrygonians. Phinney (1963), 153-54 notes that many of the welcomes in the Argonautica are soon followed by gloomy events. On Odysseus' development of character, cf. R. B. Rutherford, "The Philosophy of the 04Yssry," ]HS 106 (1986), 145-62. 3 Sexual adventures: Hypsipyle and Medea; in the 04Yssry, Circe and Calypso. Almost home: 4.575-80, 4.1228-36, Od. 9.79-81, Od. 10.29-55. THE ARGONAUfS AND THE WANDERINGS OF ODYSSEUS 123 ney to Libya before they reach Thessaly via Crete and Aegina, and it is there that they come closest to losing their nostos, paradoxically in a place which is closer to Alexandria itself than anywhere else on the joumey.4 On the voyage back, the Greek world is re-entered, as in the Oqyssey, with a visit to the Phaeacians, though magic is used afterwards on Talos and the threat from Medea's witchcraft is never lifted. The transition is thus incomplete. On a more detailed level, there are correspondences between spe cific episodes in the two epics. Some of the settings and characters which feature in Odysseus' adventures are introduced directly in Book 4; the implications and function of these scenes are discussed in sec tion 7. The other Odyssean incidents are recalled indirectly in other episodes in the Argonautica. Most of the episodes which appear di rectly in Book 4 are also used less obviously elsewhere; for example, the Circe episode contributes to events on Lemnos, with Phineus and in Colchis, and to the characterisation of Medea and of Aeetes. The Sirens' song appears in the mouths of the goddesses in Libya. The Homeric Wandering Rocks influence the Symplegades, and most noticeably the palace and court at Colchis and events there recall the Phaeacian court. Only in Book 4, after most of these episodes have been used indirectly, are their Odyssean originals described. The episode whose Argonautic credentials are explicitly given in the Oqyssey, the passage of the Wandering Rocks, is clearly the basis both for the Symplegades in Book 2 and for the Wandering Rocks in Book 4. It is thus a paradigm for the other Odyssean adventures whose basis in the Argo legend is less secure and whose fragmenta tion in the Argonautica is more subtle. Apollonius' Symplegades and Wandering Rocks themselves each combine allusions to several Odyssean scenes, indicating that a simple one-to-one mapping of Oqyssey on to Argonautica is inadequate to explain the relationship between the two epics. The allusions to Odysseus' wanderings outside the 'Odyssean' part of Book 4 allow more complex patterns to be built up; the model can be fragmented as different aspects of it are used, different parts of the poem are linked as the same model recurs, and future events can be foreshadowed by hinting at an Odyssean scene which will be used more obviously in the final book. More generally, the extensive 4 Cf. S. Jackson, "Apollonius' Argonautica: Euphemus, a Clod and a Tripod," Il linois Classical Studies 12 (1987), 28. .

Load more