Numbers and Acrostics: Two Notes on Jason's Prayer at Pagasae In

Akropolis 1 (2017) 111–120 Brian D. McPhee* Numbers and Acrostics: Two Notes on Jason’s Prayer at Pagasae in Apollonius’ Argonautica This paper presents two notes relating to Jason’s prayer to Apollo at Pagasae before the launch of the Argo in Apollonius’ Argonautica (1.415–419). In both cases, I examine what may be termed the “subtextual” facets of the passage: textual data that are significant—productive of meaningful interpretation—and yet hardly apparent on an initial, surface-level reading of the poem. The first note concerns the changing total number of crewmembers aboard the Argo as the expedition pro- gresses, an evolving figure which Apollonius encourages the reader to trace through the course of the narrative. The second proposes a new acrostic that “completes” the ΑΚΤΙΑ acrostic that Selina Stewart recently discovered in Jason’s prayer.1 In each case, I draw different conclusions from these subliminal data, which have ramifica- tions for questions of gender and inclusivity in Jason’s crew and the role of the gods in the poem. Both readings, however, are a testament to the careful design and uni- ty of purpose that runs through the epic. I. The Number of Argonauts The existence of numerous catalogues of Argonauts in ancient sources attests to the fact that the exact number and makeup of Jason’s legendary crew was a site of some fascination for ancient readers, poets, and mythographers.2 Indeed, the third prole- gomenon to the Argonautica printed in Wendel’s scholia is a list of the Argonauts abstracted from Apollonius’ catalogue (Ὅσοι ἔρχονται Ἀργοναῦται εἰς τὴν ναῦν μετὰ Ἰάσονος), with numbers affixed in the G manuscript. The Apollonian narrator -him self encourages this procedure by beginning his Catalogue of Argonauts, “First then let us mention Orpheus” (πρῶτά νυν Ὀρφῆος μνησώμεθα, 1.23), and ending * Department of Classics, University of North Carolina, [email protected] 1 Stewart 2010. 2 For ancient lists of Argonauts, both extant and lost, see Pearson 1917 ad fr. 38, Carspecken 1952: 42–43, Zissos 2008 ad 1.350–483. Some authors suggest the size of the crew indirectly by specifying the number of the Argo’s benches or oars (e.g., Theoc.Id . 13.74). 112 Brian D. McPhee it, “Such then is the number of advisers who assembled to aid Jason” (τόσσοι ἄρ᾿ Αἰσονίδῃ συμμήστορες ἠγερέθοντο, 1.228).3 But in a further development, Jason’s prayer to Apollo before the departure from Pagasae invites the reader to track the evolving numbers of the Argonauts over the course of the voyage (1.415–419): αὐτὸς νῦν ἄγε νῆα σὺν ἀρτεμέεσσιν ἑταίροις κεῖσέ τε καὶ παλίνορσον ἐς Ἑλλάδα· σοὶ δ᾿ ἂν ὀπίσσω τόσσων, ὅσσοι κεν νοστήσομεν, ἀγλαὰ ταύρων ἱρὰ πάλιν βωμῷ ἐπιθήσομεν· ἄλλα δὲ Πυθοῖ, ἄλλα ᾿δ ἐς Ὀρτυγίην ἀπερείσια δῶρα κομίσσω. Now, you yourself guide the ship there and back again to Hel- las with my comrades safe and sound, and thereafter in your honor we will again place on this altar glorious sacrifices of as many bulls as the number of us who return, and I shall bring countless other gifts to Pytho and to Ortygia. Jason’s repetition of a similar prayer near the very end of the journey (4.1701– 1705) recalls this passage, as if to remind the reader to take stock of how the crew’s numbers have fared in the interim.4 And indeed, this question interested at least some ancient readers, since Hyginus ends his Catalogue of Argonauts (Fab. 14), which is closely based on Apollonius’, with an addendum listing all those who were lost along the way and all those who joined the crew as the voyage was in progress.5 Keeping track of the changing total number of Argonauts in Apollonius yields a striking final result. The Argonauts leave Pagasae fifty-five men strong—the fifty-four named in the Catalogue plus Jason. Along the way, they lose eight crewmates: - Hylas, Heracles, and Polyphemus in Mysia (1.1283); - Idmon and Tiphys in Acherusia (2.834, 856); - Butes at Anthemoessa (4.912–919); and - Canthus and Mopsus in Libya (1.78–81; 4.1485–1536). - Simultaneously, eight additions to the crew balance out these losses: - the three sons of Deimachus in Sinope (2.955–961);6 3 Text and translation of Apollonius are taken from Race 2008. 4 On the connection between these passages as well as with Callim. fr. 18, see Hutchinson 1988: 87–88, Clauss 1993: 77–79, Albis 1995. 5 For Apollonius’ part, two prolepses in the catalogue (1.78–85, 140) do reveal that not all of the Argonauts listed there will make it back to Iolcus. 6 Cf. Clare 2002: 102: “In rescuing this trio the Argonauts are to some extent engaged in ex- piation of their previous misdemeanour, and the sequence of events which began at Mysia is here brought to a symmetrical conclusion. Three comrades were abandoned by the Argonauts at Mysia; at Sinope three replacements are taken on board, subsumed into the Argo quest.” Indeed, since the Deimachids were themselves left behind at Sinope by Heracles (2.957), that hero’s abandonment at Mysia might be viewed retrospectively as a sort of poetic justice. Numbers and Acrostics: Two Notes on Jason’s Prayer at Pagasae in Apollonius’ Argonautica 113 - the four sons of Phrixus on the island of Ares (2.1155–1156, 1169); and - Medea in Colchis (4.5).7 Finally, one Argonaut, Dascylus, has no effect on the total, joining the Argo- nauts at Acherusia (2.802–805, 814) and leaving to return home before they sail up the Ister (4.298).8 The final tally of fifty-five means that despite the loss -of al most fifteen percent of the original crew, the same number of Argonauts return to Pagasae as had left. This finding leads to two significant conclusions. First, the apparent coinci- dence of fifty-five Argonauts at the beginning and end of the journey points to divine influence. Certain Argonauts are destined not to complete the journey by the decree of fate or the gods,9 but it appears that Apollo, perhaps in tandem with other gods, does answer Jason’s prayer (1.417) by seeing to the replacement of as many crewmembers as are lost over the course of the voyage. The gods are probably behind the addition of the Phrixides to the crew (cf. 2.1092, 1166–1167; 3.323– 328) and certainly behind that of Medea (3.1134–1136, 4.241–243). The fact that the wind dies down and forces the Argonauts to row before they stop at Sin- ope (2.943–945) but picks back up once the sons of Deimachus join their party (2.960–961) lends credence to the idea that the gods orchestrate the Argonauts’ stop there in order to recruit the trio.10 In the second note in this paper, I expand on the idea that throughout the narrative, Apollo lends subtle aid of this sort to the Argonauts in answer to Jason’s prayer. Second, it is notable that in order to make up for the loss of eight men on the journey, Medea must be counted as one of the Argonauts when she joins the crew. Her inclusion makes a good deal of sense given the integral role that she plays in the quest; she even has her very own aristeia on the return trip when she dispatches Talos on Crete, in parallel to Polydeuces in Bebrycia, the Boreads in Thynia, and Orpheus at Anthemoessa.11 There is no a priori reason why a wom- 7 In addition, Arete gives twelve slaves to Medea on Phaeacia (4.1221–1222), but I doubt that they should be counted as “Argonauts” for the purposes of this study. They are rather conceived of as prop- erty, part of the guest-gifts given by Alcinous and Arete (4.1219–1222) in answer to those given by the Phaeacians to Odysseus in Homer (Od. 8.389–395, 13.10–14; Knight 1995: 254–255). We may con- trast the active role thatt Medea plays on the voyage. On these slaves, see also Fränkel 1968: 586–587. 8 For a running tally of the number of Argonauts (as opposed to the synchronic count offered here), see Fränkel 1968 ad 1.228. 9 1.79–81, 140, 443–444, 1315, 1322–1323, 1345–1348; 2.154, 2.815–817, 855; 4.1468– 1469, 1503. 10 Thus Levin 1971: 182 interprets a similar incident earlier in Book 2, though in neither case is divine intervention explicitly signaled. For winds as instruments of the divine will in the poem, see Williams 1991: 213–214. 11 Cf. Dyck 1989: 455, 468, on Medea’s heroic stature. 114 Brian D. McPhee an could not be an Argonaut, and in fact Apollonius appears to acknowledge the tradition of Atalanta’s participation in the quest by referencing her offer to join Jason (1.769–773).12 Nevertheless, as Suzanne Lye has noted, Jason had rejected her offer for fear that her presence would excite “bitter rivalries provoked by love” (ἀργαλέας ἔριδας φιλότητος ἕκητι, 1.773),13 an objection that might equally apply to Medea.14 Moreover, Idas (3.556–566, 1170, 1252) and, to a lesser extent, Ja- son himself (3.487–488; cf. 475) had resented the resort to a woman’s magic to accomplish Aeetes’ trial.15 Idas even laments that doing so has revealed the Argo- nauts as “shipmates of women” (γυναιξὶν ὁμόστολοι, 3.558). What is more, in the broader tradition, Medea appears in none of the ancient catalogues of the Argo- nauts, including Hyginus’ list of those Argonauts who joined the quest while it was already underway (Fab.

Load more