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Apollonius' Jason: Human Being in an Epic Scenario*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2009

Steven Jackson
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Extract

Apollonius' Jason has been variously described by scholars as a ‘weak and insignificant hero’, a ‘tame and insipid’ character compared with that of Medea, ‘discreet, proper, quite weak, and somewhat colourless’, ‘never quite equal to the emergency, and can never rise above his immediate troubles’, ‘cold and selfish’, ‘uninteresting when he is not repellent’, an anti-hero, and a love-hero. But, with the exception of R. Hunter's view of Jason as a human being forced by necessity to carry out tasks which no Homeric hero was ever called upon to do, most scholars have erred in comparing the Hellenistic hero Jason with the archetypal hero of epic tradition.

Type
Research Article
Information
Greece & Rome , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , October 1992 , pp. 155 - 162
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1992

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References

NOTES

1. Wright, F. A., A History of Later Greek Literature (London, 1932), p. 100Google Scholar.

2. Mooney, G. W., The Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius (Dublin, 1912), p. 37Google Scholar.

3. Korte, A., Hellenistic Poetry (New York, 1929), p. 183Google Scholar.

4. Gillies, M. M., The Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius: Book 3 (Cambridge, 1928), p. 40Google Scholar.

5. Mackail, J. W., Lectures on Greek Poetry (London, 1911), p. 263Google Scholar.

6. Bowra, C. M., Ancient Greek Literature (London, 1933), p. 221Google Scholar.

7. Lawall, G., ‘Apollonius’ Argonautica: Jason as Anti-Hero', YCS 19 (1966), 121–69Google Scholar.

8. Beye, C. R., ‘Jason as Love-hero in Apollonios’ Argonautika', GRBS 10 (1969), 31–55Google Scholar. For further comment on Jason's ‘heroism’ in Apollonius' poem see Vian, F., Apollonios de Rhodes-Argonautiques, vol. 2 (Paris, 1980), pp. 32–38Google Scholar; also Klein, T., ‘Apollonius’ Jason, , Hero, and Scoundrel', , QUCC 42 (1983), 115–26Google Scholar.

9. Hunter, R. L., ‘“Short on heroics”: Jason in the Argonautica’, CQ 38 (1988), 436–53CrossRefGoogle Scholar; see also Hunter's, ‘Medea's flight: the fourth book of the Argonaulica’, CQ 37 (1987), 129–39Google Scholar.

10. Gained by his handsomeness and charm over women.

11. Hadas, M. (‘The Tradition of a Feeble Jason’, CP 31 [1936], 166–8)Google Scholar catalogues the instances on p. 167 n. 3. Hadas argues that there was a tradition of a feeble and effeminate Jason dating from the fifth century. But this has very little to do with the Apollonian Jason.

12. In this light, surely, we cannot say that Jason was ‘cold and selfish’; see Mackail's view above n. 5.

13. Cf. the fated deaths of Idmon and Tiphys (2.815ff).

14. It will be remembered that in Sophocles' Aias Telamon's son became so demented after Agamemnon and Menelaus had presented Odysseus rather than himself with the arms of Achilles that he slaughtered a whole flock of sheep supposing them to be the sons of Atreus.

15. Cf. Callimachus’ treatment of Theseus in his Hecale and Theocritus’ portrayal of Heracles in Id. 13.

16. So often have scholars maligned and misunderstood Jason's common sense. When, for example, Phineus has finished his catalogue of the rest of the outward voyage, Jason is again described as amechaneon kakoteli (helpless in his distress), and says to Phineus: ‘You have given us the clue for our passage through the hateful Rocks into the Black Sea. But what I also wish to learn from you is whether, after escaping them, we shall get safely back to Hellas. How shall I manage? How am I to find my way once more across that vast expanse of water? My comrades are as inexperienced as I am’ (2.412–7). That Jason should be sufficiently far-seeing to consider the safety of his crew on the return journey as well as on the outward and that he should recognize his own limitations in the situation (how different from the egotistical views of the archetypal epic hero!) are both signs of a true leader, not of the opposite. Not many men would have cried with joy when they had heard Phineus' predictions. Amechaneon kakoteti is a fair enough description; while not detracting from Jason's manliness it adds depth to his character in that clearly this particular leader thinks.

17. ‘It was Necessity that made them marry now’ (4.1164): King Alcinous of Phaeacia had decided to surrender Medea to the Colchians if she was still a virgin, but if she was a married woman he would support Jason (4.1098ff).

18. Cf. Zanker, G. (‘The Love Theme in Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica’, Wiener Studien 13 [1979], 52–75), 67–68 n. 44Google Scholar; also Rose, A., ‘Clothing Imagery in Apollonius’ Argonautica', QUCC 50 (1985), 29–44Google Scholar.

19. For further information on the motif of the horkos Aphrodisios, see Pasquali, G., Orazio Lirico (Florence, 1920), pp. 477ffGoogle Scholar.

20. Possibly Pindar (Pyth. 4.159) was right in his unique idea that giving rest to the spirit of Phrixus was the reason for Jason's feeling compelled to undertake the quest. What other reason would have been so strong as to force a man away from his own country where a usurper had taken charge, especially as he had been asked to go in the first place by the aforesaid usurper? We know that Pindar was basing his thesis on a traditional rite as recorded in early epic, viz. Horn. Od. 9.64 anaklesis tes psyches (invocation of the soul), and, particularly, Sch. Pind. 2. Pyth. 4.281, pp. 135–6 Drachmann. For Pindar, both the relieving of Phrixus' soul and the recovery of the fleece are one and the same. Jason must recover the fleece and bring it home, and by so doing lay to rest the soul of Phrixus; he cannot do one without the other. It stands to reason that Jason would never have agreed to undertake such a voyage (i.e. for the fleece alone) unless he were obliged to do so by the restless soul of a member of his family.

Apollonius does not give any reason as to why Jason should simply leave his homeland and undertake the quest, but he does make it abundantly clear that it is of the utmost importance that he should succeed.

21. Carspecken, J. F. (‘Apollonius Rhodius and the Homeric Epic’, YCS 13 [1952], 35–143)Google Scholar is incorrect when he states (p. 103) that Medea proposes the murder of Apsyrtus.