DOCSLIB.ORG

Jason and the Argonauts

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Jason and the Argonauts The Aquarian Theosophist Volume III, Supplement #5 March 17, 2003 Email: [email protected] ARCHIVE: http://www.teosofia.com/AT.html Jason and The Argonauts The first glorious, audacious, and The Crew common deed of the Hellenes was the Being commanded to fetch the fleece, Jason Argonautic Expedition which took place sought advice from his pedagogue , Cheiron, around 1400 BC or much earlier (2000 BC) — or he consulted the oracle — who advised according to some others. him to assemble the nobles of Hellas and sail away. Orpheus mentions 49 men, As a matter of fact it is too difficult if Apollodorus 45, Apollonius 64 and not impossible to be precise when dating Diodorus 54. Among those who assembled prehistoric events. However, it is worth were the following: Jason who became their mentioning here that the dating of the admiral; Tiphys who steered the ship — he Orphic Hymns through astronomical could steer it by watching the stars at night methods by the Greek astronomer C. S. and the sun during the day; Argos-the Chassapis, proves that these, regardless of excellent shipbuilder-who would repair any the time of their gathering and registration damage that might be caused; Orpheus who (during the 6th c BC), were formulated was their religious leader-a wise and widely much earlier and were communicated from travelled man, the founder of Orphism and generation to generation by the initiated of famous for his music as well; Castor and Orphism. Herman Diels in Fragmenta der Polydefkis — the Dioskouri — who were Vorsokratiker says that the very ancient strategical geniuses and sailed round the Hellenes wrote their opinions and their Aegean sea pursuing the pirates, thus observations on very thin boards. And he clearing the sea; three seers: Amphiaraous, was justified by the latest find in Castoria Mopsus and Idmon; Asclepius and Erivotis, (North-West of Hellas). The date of the experts in medicine; Lynceus — he was inscribed board discovered in Dispilio in believed to be clear sighted — who would Castoria, derived from radiocarbon(C14) stand on the prow searching the sea analyses, goes back to ca 5000 BC. The carefully; Idas and Hercules as prow- Orphic hymns were the genuine product of officers; Peleus and Telamon as stern- Hellenes who lived in the country in the officers; Zetes and Calais who were petty depths of the 2nd Millenium BC (Orphica - officers and Nauplius, Erginus and Ancaeus, I.Passas). If this date is true then the Argonautic Expedition, where Orpheus took TABLE OF CONTENTS part, could not have taken place in 1400 BC 1 but much earlier. Jason and the Argonauts 1 Dionysus and Orpheus 3 1 An occultist might date this closer to the sinking of Correspondence 5 Poseidonis — around 8 or 9,000 BC. The Glossary entry for Orpheus reads: “Literally, the ‘tawny The Curse from a Philosophical one.’ Mythology makes him the son of Æager and Point of View 7 the muse Calliope. Esoteric tradition identifies him Letter from Damodar 16 with Arjuna, the son of Indra and the disciple of Krishna. He went round the world teaching the Meditation 20 nations wisdom and sciences, and establishing Secret Trial of Tibetan Monks 21 mysteries. The very story of his losing his Eurydice and finding her in the underworld or Guest Editorial — “Unity in Diversity” 22 Hades, is another point of resemblance with the story of Arjuna, who goes to Pâtâla (Hades or hell, considered dark in complexion even by the Greeks, but in reality the Antipodes or America) and finds who were never very fair-skinned themselves.” (p. there and marries Ulupi, the daughter of the Nâga 242) king. This is as suggestive as the fact that he was The Aquarian Theosophist, Vol. III, Supplement #5 March 17, 2003 Page 2 experts in navigation. Anceus took over the with as soon as they came out of Bosporus Argo after Tiphy's death. He was also said could not have occurred in the Euxinus to be an astronomer. The rest of the Pontus which is an inland sea. Perhaps Argonauts rowed. some ancient copyists quite ignorant of the Judging from the above we cannot but fact that the Mediterranean had access to the admire the perfect organization of the Atlantic Ocean, placed Bosporus in the Argonauts-all of them being well-educated Euxinus Pontus which was a well-known sea and experts in their fields as well as good at the time. fighters — and therefore conclude that the The Argo, after having sailed across Argonautic Expedition must have been a the Mediterranean and through Hercules' voyage of discovery as well. Pillars, was carried to the American Continent by the Gulf Stream. They sailed Crew List to the south of the Sargasso Sea ("The [See pages 6 & 7.] floating islands", Apollonius Rhod. Book II [There are two major theories 285, 295-298) and touched at Puerto-Rico. regarding the actual itinerary of the voyage. The Sargasso Sea was named after the weed, We give the most recent, which may turn out known as sargassum, which floats in closer to truth than the orthodox version!" For scattered patches over hundreds of square extensive information on this subject go miles throughout this vast area. to: http://www.greece.org/poseidon/work/argo At Puerto-Rico they met the seer nautika/argo.html Vasilis Haskas of Greece is to be credited with Phineus and freed him from the "Arpyias" the major part of this article. — Eds. A.T.] which are not a poetic exaggerated invention but according to Apollonius' detailed Another unconventional and more description these birds must have been the revolutionary theory which really deserves "Hoatzin" as they are called now in South particular mention is that of Henriette Mertz, America. From there the Argo passed an American archaeologist and researcher of through the Windward Passage between the the Hellenic Prehistory. two islands of Haiti and Cuba (Cyanean Rocks or Clashing Rocks). At this point I After 1950 Henriette Mertz, following am citing the remarks of Henriette Mertz Apollonius Rhodius' scripts on Argonautica from her book "The Wine Dark Sea" Book II, sailed over the east coasts of South regarding the detailed description of the America and across the Amazon, covered natural phenomenon of tide by Apollonius long distances on foot in the Andes range in Rhodius, which should make researchers Perou, Bolibia and Colombia and concluded think. "Apollonius Rhodius accurately that the Argonauts had sailed as far as South described the high tide surging through the America where gold was in plenty. passage and the white-foamed spray According to her, the Miletian geographers clashing high on cliffs of both sides — the quite mistakenly placed Colchis in the Cyanean Rocks. The allusion of rocks Euxinus Pontus where the ancient clashing together referred to the high tide — philologists sent the Argonauts to get the as the tide swelled rushing in, lower rocks "Golden Fleece". became submerged by the rising seas, As for the word "Bosporus" -used by disappearing from sight and appearing to Apoll.Rhod. Book II-, I. Passas in his widen the passageway giving an optical "Hellenic Prehistory" says that it might not illusion of the two headlands moving away. have been used as a geographic location but When the tide receded and the water level as a term for the strait which the Argo sailed dropped, lower rocks again became exposed through. The huge waves like mountains and appeared to suddenly come together. and the contrary winds they were confronted Thus they opened and closed. Since the vast The Aquarian Theosophist, Vol. III, Supplement #5 March 17, 2003 Page 3 surge of foaming sea rises twice every day terrestrial anthropomorphism, he abolished with an unexpected suddenness the rocks human sacrifice and instituted a mystic were said to clash together (Symplygades- theology based on pure spirituality. Cicero Clashing Rocks)". calls Orpheus a son of Bacchus. It is strange that both seem to have originally come from According to Mertz the detailed and India. At least, as Dionysus Zagreus, accurate description of this natural Bacchus is of undoubted Hindu origin. phenomenon would be possible only by Some writers deriving a curious analogy eyewitness and this phenomenon exists between the name of Orpheus and an old precisely as described and exists in no other Greek term, ÏDN<Òl, dark or tawny- place. On the other hand, such tides do not colored, make him Hindu by connecting the take place in inland seas like the Black Sea term with his dusky Hindu complexion. See or the Mediterranean -hardly of sufficient Voss, Heyne and Schneider on the force to whirl a ship around ("The current Argonauts. whirled the ship around" Apoll.Rh.). The Glossary (p. 242) entry for After passing through the Clashing “Orphic Mysteries” reads: Rocks the Argo was said to have sailed into another broad sea, the Caribbean, "where the These followed, but differed greatly two seas met" (Apoll.Rh.). Here the two from, the mysteries of Bacchus. The seas are the Atlantic and the Caribbean. system of Orpheus is one of the purest Coming out into the Caribbean Sea we read morality and of severe asceticism. The about a windless calm and airless silence theology taught by him is again purely while the Argonauts bending over the oars Indian. With him the divine Essence is inseparable from whatever is in the infinite are sweating and panting. It is true that universe, all forms being concealed from all travelling from the cold and wild Atlantic eternity in It. At determined periods these into the warm and calm Caribbean through forms are manifested from the divine the Windward Passage one can instantly feel Essence or manifest themselves.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Argonautica, Book 1;
    '^THE ARGONAUTICA OF GAIUS VALERIUS FLACCUS (SETINUS BALBUS BOOK I TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH PROSE WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY H. G. BLOMFIELD, M.A., I.C.S. LATE SCHOLAR OF EXETER COLLEGE, OXFORD OXFORD B. H. BLACKWELL, BROAD STREET 1916 NEW YORK LONGMANS GREEN & CO. FOURTH AVENUE AND 30TH STREET TO MY WIFE h2 ; ; ; — CANDIDO LECTORI Reader, I'll spin you, if you please, A tough yarn of the good ship Argo, And how she carried o'er the seas Her somewhat miscellaneous cargo; And how one Jason did with ease (Spite of the Colchian King's embargo) Contrive to bone the fleecy prize That by the dragon fierce was guarded, Closing its soporific eyes By spells with honey interlarded How, spite of favouring winds and skies, His homeward voyage was retarded And how the Princess, by whose aid Her father's purpose had been thwarted, With the Greek stranger in the glade Of Ares secretly consorted, And how his converse with the maid Is generally thus reported : ' Medea, the premature decease Of my respected parent causes A vacancy in Northern Greece, And no one's claim 's as good as yours is To fill the blank : come, take the lease. Conditioned by the following clauses : You'll have to do a midnight bunk With me aboard the S.S. Argo But there 's no earthly need to funk, Or think the crew cannot so far go : They're not invariably drunk, And you can act as supercargo. — CANDIDO LECTORI • Nor should you very greatly care If sometimes you're a little sea-sick; There's no escape from mal-de-mer, Why, storms have actually made me sick : Take a Pope-Roach, and don't despair ; The best thing simply is to be sick.' H.
    [Show full text]
  • Vergil's Nisus and the Language of Self-Sacrifice In
    Vergil’s Nisus and the Language of Self-Sacrifice in Paradise Lost LEAH WHITTINGTON Princeton University When the Son of God offers to die for mankind in book 3 of Paradise Lost (1667), readers who have been tempted to join the devil’s party for the first two books of the poem confront an unsettling dramatic scene: the assembly in heaven is staged as a mirror image of the demonic council at Pandemonium. The listening host suddenly grows quiet, and a solitary hero figure emerges out of the silence to take on the burden of raising the collective fortune. Placed beside the Son’s promise to atone for man’s sin with his death, Satan’s exploratory mission to earth comes into focus as a fallen reflection of self-sacrifice, a self-aggrandiz- ing perversion of the poem’s heroic ideal now articulated in the Son. This moment of internal self-reference has often been identified as part of Milton’s didactic strategy to confront the reader with proof of his own fallenness,1 but it is less often recognized that the Son’s speech to the angelic host makes use of an allusion that gives it a central place in the story of Milton’s engagement with classical epic.2 When the Son 1. See Stanley Fish, Surprised by Sin (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971). Fish famously argues that the heroic portrayal of Satan is part of a larger narrative strategy by which Milton provokes the reader ‘‘with evidence of his corruption’’ and forces him ‘‘to refine his perceptions so that his understanding will be once more proportionable to truth’’ (xiii).
    [Show full text]
  • Proper Names
    PROPER NAMES Acca 820 Aurunci 318 Achaeans 266 Ausoniae 41; Ausonii 253 Acheron 23 Achilles 9f., 14-28, 438; and Hector's Bacchus, and music 737 corpse 72-7; and Patroclus 42-58; Bellipotens 8 Achilles and ritual slaughter 82; death Bitias 396 anticipated 43, 45f., 54 Butes 690 Acoetes 30 Aconteus 612 Calydon 270 Adriatic, names for 405 Camilla 432; biography 535-96; name Aeneas 2; account of earlier events 113, 543; tomb 594; guilt 586; death 114; ancestry of 305; bonus I 06; 794-835; place of, in book xi, xiif. bound to kill Tu. 178f.; burial and corpse 892; vanity of 782 Aen. I 08 -19; commander 2-4, Caphereus 260 14 -28, 36; conflict of duties 94; Casmilla 543 deification of 125; Diomedes and Aen. Catillus 640 243-95; diplomacy of I 09; and des­ Chloreus 768 tiny 232; Evander and Aen. 152; Chromis 675 fama and arma of 124; father 184; Cicero 122-32 fights Tu. 434; good king I 06; Cloelia 535-96 Hector and Aen. 289; imperator 79, Clytius 666 446; just 126; magnanimity of 127; Coras 465; 604 mementoes of Dido 72-7; mourner Cybelo 768 39f., 42 58, 34; feeling for Pallas 36; Cyclopes 263 returns to narrative 904; victorious Cyrene 535-96 4; warrior 126; warrior hero 282fi; weeps 29, 41 Dardanidis 353 Aethon 89 Dardanium 472 Agamemnon 266ff. Demophoon 675 Amasenus 547 Dercennus 850 Amaster 673 Diana 535-96, 537, 591; vengeance of Amazon 648 857 Amazones Threiciae 659 Dido and cloaks given to A en. 72-7; Amazons 535-96, 571, Appx.
    [Show full text]
  • Ovid Book 12.30110457.Pdf
    METAMORPHOSES GLOSSARY AND INDEX The index that appeared in the print version of this title was intentionally removed from the eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that ap- pear in the print index are listed below. SINCE THIS index is not intended as a complete mythological dictionary, the explanations given here include only important information not readily available in the text itself. Names in parentheses are alternative Latin names, unless they are preceded by the abbreviation Gr.; Gr. indi- cates the name of the corresponding Greek divinity. The index includes cross-references for all alternative names. ACHAMENIDES. Former follower of Ulysses, rescued by Aeneas ACHELOUS. River god; rival of Hercules for the hand of Deianira ACHILLES. Greek hero of the Trojan War ACIS. Rival of the Cyclops, Polyphemus, for the hand of Galatea ACMON. Follower of Diomedes ACOETES. A faithful devotee of Bacchus ACTAEON ADONIS. Son of Myrrha, by her father Cinyras; loved by Venus AEACUS. King of Aegina; after death he became one of the three judges of the dead in the lower world AEGEUS. King of Athens; father of Theseus AENEAS. Trojan warrior; son of Anchises and Venus; sea-faring survivor of the Trojan War, he eventually landed in Latium, helped found Rome AESACUS. Son of Priam and a nymph AESCULAPIUS (Gr. Asclepius). God of medicine and healing; son of Apollo AESON. Father of Jason; made young again by Medea AGAMEMNON. King of Mycenae; commander-in-chief of the Greek forces in the Trojan War AGLAUROS AJAX.
    [Show full text]
  • The Erotics of Imperialism: 5Th Century Literary Representations of Helen & Alcibiades
    The Erotics of Imperialism: 5th Century Literary Representations of Helen & Alcibiades Sarah Elizabeth Gonzalez Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Prerequisite for Honors in The Classical Studies Department under the advisement of Kate Gilhuly May 2020 © 2020 Sarah Elizabeth Gonzalez Contents Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………..3 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..5 Eros Unleashed Translation Note………………………………………………………………………………….10 Chapter 1…………………………………………………………………………………………11 The Literary History of Helen Chapter 2…………………………………………………………………………………………40 Imperialistic Intent and Genre Play in Euripides’ Helen Chapter 3…………………………………………………………………………………………80 Political Eroticism in Book 6 of The History of the Peloponnesian War Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...121 Eros Interrupted Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………135 2 Acknowledgements This thesis was a labor of love -- and not the chaotic love I discuss in this thesis! While I was piloting this thesis ship, there were numerous crew mates behind the scenes helping me keep this project afloat. Without you, this ship would not have reached the harbor with as much ease or grace. First, to my thesis committee: Kate Gilhuly, Carol Dougherty and William Cain. To my thesis advisor and volunteer life coach, Kate Gilhuly: Thank you for taking on this project with me, and for having faith in the final product from the very beginning. Under your supervision, I have grown as both an academic and an adult. I cannot envision my time at Wellesley without your guidance and friendship. To my second reader, Carol Dougherty: Thank you for your helpful insight and encouragement throughout the composition of this thesis. As a result of your mentorship over the years, I have learned to think boldly and challenge myself to proudly vocalize my thoughts. If I had not enrolled in your Beginning Greek course my first year, this thesis might have been very different.
    [Show full text]
  • Sons and Fathers in the Catalogue of Argonauts in Apollonius Argonautica 1.23-233
    Sons and fathers in the catalogue of Argonauts in Apollonius Argonautica 1.23-233 ANNETTE HARDER University of Groningen [email protected] 1. Generations of heroes The Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius brings emphatically to the attention of its readers the distinction between the generation of the Argonauts and the heroes of the Trojan War in the next genera- tion. Apollonius initially highlights this emphasis in the episode of the Argonauts’ departure, when the baby Achilles is watching them, at AR 1.557-5581 σὺν καί οἱ (sc. Chiron) παράκοιτις ἐπωλένιον φορέουσα | Πηλείδην Ἀχιλῆα, φίλωι δειδίσκετο πατρί (“and with him his wife, hold- ing Peleus’ son Achilles in her arms, showed him to his dear father”)2; he does so again in 4.866-879, which describes Thetis and Achilles as a baby. Accordingly, several scholars have focused on the ways in which 1 — On this marker of the generations see also Klooster 2014, 527. 2 — All translations of Apollonius are by Race 2008. EuGeStA - n°9 - 2019 2 ANNETTE HARDER Apollonius has avoided anachronisms by carefully distinguishing between the Argonauts and the heroes of the Trojan War3. More specifically Jacqueline Klooster (2014, 521-530), in discussing the treatment of time in the Argonautica, distinguishes four periods of time to which Apollonius refers: first, the time before the Argo sailed, from the beginning of the cosmos (featured in the song of Orpheus in AR 1.496-511); second, the time of its sailing (i.e. the time of the epic’s setting); third, the past after the Argo sailed and fourth the present inhab- ited by the narrator (both hinted at by numerous allusions and aitia).
    [Show full text]
  • Caeneus and Heroic (Trans)Masculinity in Ovid's
    Caeneus and Heroic (Trans)Masculinity in Ovid’s Metamorphoses Charlotte Northrop Arethusa, Volume 53, Number 1, Winter 2020, pp. 25-41 (Article) Published by Johns Hopkins University Press DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/are.2020.0000 For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/762106 [ This content has been declared free to read by the pubisher during the COVID-19 pandemic. ] CAENEUS AND HEROIC (TRANS)MASCULINITY IN OVID’S METAMORPHOSES CHARLOTTE NORTHROP Caeneus is a problematic figure among Ovid’s heroes in the Meta- morphoses:1 he aspires to an epic heroism that makes him unique among transgender characters elsewhere in the poem.2 This incongruity forms the basis of the taunts from his centaur opponents. However, instead of just being an aberration among Ovid’s hero characters, Caeneus is actually emblem- atic of the traits that define heroism in the Metamorphoses. Ovid does not shy away from questions of gender identity or generic congruity but makes these questions fundamental to the Caeneus episode and its metatextual relationship with the poem and its poetic tradition. This article argues that Ovid’s treatment of Caeneus is comparable to his treatment of other hero figures, and that his version of Caeneus problematizes the traditional epic relationship between gender identity and genre. Ovid presents a vision of transmasculinity that is innovative when compared with earlier versions of Caeneus and similar mythical figures. His Caeneus narrative is, therefore, a locus for reflection on the nature of heroism within Ovid’s “little Iliad.” To begin, it is necessary to define “transgender” and “transmas- culinity” in terms applicable to Augustan literature.
    [Show full text]
  • Virgil, Aeneid 11 (Pallas & Camilla) 1–224, 498–521, 532–96, 648–89, 725–835 G
    Virgil, Aeneid 11 (Pallas & Camilla) 1–224, 498–521, 532–96, 648–89, 725–835 G Latin text, study aids with vocabulary, and commentary ILDENHARD INGO GILDENHARD AND JOHN HENDERSON A dead boy (Pallas) and the death of a girl (Camilla) loom over the opening and the closing part of the eleventh book of the Aeneid. Following the savage slaughter in Aeneid 10, the AND book opens in a mournful mood as the warring parti es revisit yesterday’s killing fi elds to att end to their dead. One casualty in parti cular commands att enti on: Aeneas’ protégé H Pallas, killed and despoiled by Turnus in the previous book. His death plunges his father ENDERSON Evander and his surrogate father Aeneas into heart-rending despair – and helps set up the foundati onal act of sacrifi cial brutality that caps the poem, when Aeneas seeks to avenge Pallas by slaying Turnus in wrathful fury. Turnus’ departure from the living is prefi gured by that of his ally Camilla, a maiden schooled in the marti al arts, who sets the mold for warrior princesses such as Xena and Wonder Woman. In the fi nal third of Aeneid 11, she wreaks havoc not just on the batt lefi eld but on gender stereotypes and the conventi ons of the epic genre, before she too succumbs to a premature death. In the porti ons of the book selected for discussion here, Virgil off ers some of his most emoti ve (and disturbing) meditati ons on the tragic nature of human existence – but also knows how to lighten the mood with a bit of drag.
    [Show full text]
  • Massachusetts​ ​Senior​ ​Classical​ ​League
    MASSACHUSETTS SENIOR CLASSICAL LEAGUE ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ BOSTON ELITE CERTAMEN 2017 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ROUND 1 ​ ​ 1. Congratulations to all teams for making it to Round 1 of the 2017 Boston Elite Certamen ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Invitational. Let’s get right into it with everybody’s favorite: Dramatic Interpretation. With a ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ teammate, act out the following passage, which I will read twice, that is based on a film the ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Romans might have called Istud: Dum pluit, puer lintrī chartāceā lūdēns in viā sōlus ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ currēbat et rīdēbat. Capite in signō ob neglegentiam ictō, puer lapsus est in sēmitā lūbricā ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ et lintrem āmīsit. Linter chartācea in cloācam cecidit, sed ā scurrā terribilī capta est. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Scurra nōmen Pennywise eī esse dīxit et fierī amīcus puerī simulāvit. Cōnāns lintrem ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ recipere, puer ā scurrā prehensus est. Bracchiō morsō, puer in cloācam tractus est ut ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ omnīnō vorārētur. ​ ​ BOY IS RUNNING ON THE ROAD PLAYING WITH A PAPER BOAT AND LAUGHING. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ BOY HITS HIS HEAD ON A SIGN, FALLS DOWN, AND LOSES THE BOAT. THE BOAT ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FALLS INTO THE SEWER BUT A CLOWN IN
    [Show full text]
  • The 'Trial by Water' in Greek Myth and Literature
    Leeds International Classical Studies 7.1 (2008) ISSN 1477-3643 (http://www.leeds.ac.uk/classics/lics/) © Fiona McHardy The ‘trial by water’ in Greek myth and literature FIONA MCHARDY (ROEHAMPTON UNIVERSITY) ABSTRACT: This paper discusses the theme of casting ‘unchaste’ women into the sea as a punishment in Greek myth and literature. Particular focus will be given to the stories of Danaë, Augë, Aerope and Phronime, who are all depicted suffering this punishment at the hands of their fathers. While Seaford (1990) has emphasized the theme of imprisonment which occurs in some of the stories involving the ‘floating chest’, I turn my attention instead to the theme of the sea. The coincidence in these stories of the threat of drowning for apparent promiscuity or sexual impurity with the escape of those girls who are innocent can be explained by the phenomenon of the ‘trial by water’ as evidenced in Babylonian and other early law codes (cf. Glotz 1904). Further evidence for this theory can be found in ancient novels where the trial of the heroine for sexual purity is often a key theme. The significance of chastity in the myths and in Athenian society is central to understanding the story patterns. The interrelationship of mythic and social ideals is drawn out in the paper. This paper examines the punishment of ‘unchaste’ women in Greek myth and literature, in particular their representation in Euripides’ fragmentary Augë, Cretan Women and Danaë. My focus is on punishments involving the sea, where it is possible to discern two interrelated strands in the tales.1 The first strand involves an angry parent condemning an errant daughter to be cast into the sea with the intention of drowning her.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cyclops in the Odyssey, Ulysses, and Asterios Polyp: How Allusions Affect Modern Narratives and Their Hypotexts
    THE CYCLOPS IN THE ODYSSEY, ULYSSES, AND ASTERIOS POLYP: HOW ALLUSIONS AFFECT MODERN NARRATIVES AND THEIR HYPOTEXTS by DELLEN N. MILLER A THESIS Presented to the Department of English and the Robert D. Clark Honors College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts December 2016 An Abstract of the Thesis of Dellen N. Miller for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the Department of English to be taken December 2016 Title: The Cyclops in The Odyssey, Ulysses, and Asterios Polyp: How Allusions Affect Modern Narratives and Their Hypotexts Approved: _________________________________________ Paul Peppis The Odyssey circulates throughout Western society due to its foundation of Western literature. The epic poem thrives not only through new editions and translations but also through allusions from other works. Texts incorporate allusions to add meaning to modern narratives, but allusions also complicate the original text. By tying two stories together, allusion preserves historical works and places them in conversation with modern literature. Ulysses and Asterios Polyp demonstrate the prevalence of allusions in books and comic books. Through allusions to both Polyphemus and Odysseus, Joyce and Mazzucchelli provide new ways to read both their characters and the ancient Greek characters they allude to. ii Acknowledgements I would like to sincerely thank Professors Peppis, Fickle, and Bishop for your wonderful insight and assistance with my thesis. Thank you for your engaging courses and enthusiastic approaches to close reading literature and graphic literature. I am honored that I may discuss Ulysses and Asterios Polyp under the close reading practices you helped me develop.
    [Show full text]
  • The Voyage of the Argo and Other Modes of Travel in Apollonius’ Argonautica
    THE VOYAGE OF THE ARGO AND OTHER MODES OF TRAVEL IN APOLLONIUS’ ARGONAUTICA Brian D. McPhee A thesis submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Classics. Chapel Hill 2016 Approved by: William H. Race James J. O’Hara Emily Baragwanath © 2016 Brian D. McPhee ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Brian D. McPhee: The Voyage of the Argo and Other Modes of Travel in Apollonius’ Argonautica (Under the direction of William H. Race) This thesis analyzes the Argo as a vehicle for travel in Apollonius’ Argonautica: its relative strengths and weaknesses and ultimately its function as the poem’s central mythic paradigm. To establish the context for this assessment, the first section surveys other forms of travel in the poem, arranged in a hierarchy of travel proficiency ranging from divine to heroic to ordinary human mobility. The second section then examines the capabilities of the Argo and its crew in depth, concluding that the ship is situated on the edge between heroic and human travel. The third section confirms this finding by considering passages that implicitly compare the Argo with other modes of travel through juxtaposition. The conclusion follows cues from the narrator in proposing to read the Argo as a mythic paradigm for specifically human travel that functions as a metaphor for a universal and timeless human condition. iii parentibus meis “Finis origine pendet.” iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to my director and mentor, William Race.
    [Show full text]