Argonautica IV 1368-1419

The March across the Desert:

The way in which Peleus interprets this omen makes incredible demands on men without supplies. They will truly be called upon to demonstrate their heroic status. To make any kind of portage with a fifty-oared ship was no light matter; but to do so inland, across desert, merely in the hope that Poseidon's horse would eventually lead them to “some inland sea lagoon” (1379), called for faith of a quite unusual sort. Yet (1380) the entire crew is portrayed as accepting what the senior Argonaut, as it were, says.

There is, however, every reason to think that a horse whose usual element is the water, will not want to spend a night on dry land (1378) and that by following him the Argonauts will cut off the Northern arch of the sandy coast of the Syrtes (see map in Media), and when they arrive at Lake Triton, they will be able to reconnect with the sea.

1370: ἅρματα . . . Ποσειδάωνος: “the chariot of Poseidon”, a poetic plural, instead of the singular used at 1326 and 1356. μὲν δή φημι . . . ἐγώ γε: as often Peleus begins his advisory speech explaining the omen in a very positive manner: “it is my personal opinion” (μὲν δή and γε stressing his assertion: LSJ s.v. μέν Β4).

1371: ἤδη νῦν: “even now.” Peleus also uses the phrase to exhort the Argonauts at 4.495 Ἤδη νῦν κέλομαι. . . (see LSJ s.v. ἤδη ii). ἀλόχοιο φίλης: “of his loving wife,” i.e. Amphitrite (stated in the earlier version of his description at 4.1325–6). The phrase is used uniquely of Andromache receiving Astyanax from Hector (Il. 6.482). λελύσθαι: perf. inf. passive <λύω: “has been released.”

1372–3: μητέρα δ᾿ οὐκ ἄλλην προτιόσσομαι: Peleus continues to give a very clear exposition of the omen: “As for our mother, I take her to be none but the ship herself (αὐτὴν / νῆα πέλειν).” ἦ γὰρ: “for indeed / surely.” κατὰ νηδύος: “in her womb.” The metaphor from childbirth continues through the next line and a half. ἄμμε φέρουσα: the text transmitted by the oldest medieval witness to the text (L) seems preferable to the somewhat banal alternative αἰὲν ἔχουσα / ἡμέας, the point being that the Argo literally (and metaphorically in terms of the omen) bears / carries the Argonauts. The repetition (from 1328 and 1354) is of the type that A. uses throughout this passage.

1374: ἀργαλέοισιν ὀιζύει καμάτοισιν: “groans with grievous pain,” a powerful phrase which echoes κάματος καὶ ὀ. Il. 15.365, (cf. Hes. Op. 177). κάματος is used of the pains of childbirth (4.1n. and Soph. OT 174).

1375: this line sums up the heroic qualities that will be demanded of the Argonauts: “unbreakable strength and untiring shoulders”.

1376: ὑψόθεν ἀνθέμενοι: “lifting her (= μιν) up on high”. As usual, A. uses elegant hyperbaton to give more emphasis to his phrase; see further 187-9n. for ἀνατίθημι and its range of possible meanings. ψαμαθώδεος ἔνδοθι γαίης: “into the sandy wastes”; see further the diagram at the head of this section.

1377: πόδας ἤλασεν: “has driven his hooves”, emphasising that the god-like beast very much knows which direction he wants to go in.

1378: οὐ γὰρ ὅ γε ξηρὴν ὑποδύσεται: “for he will not plunge into dry land”, an ironic reference to the fact that, as on of Poseidon’s horses his natural habitat is under water.

1379: σημανέειν: the Argonauts hope for a sign. τιν᾿ . . . μυχὸν καθύπερθε θαλάσσης: “some gulf of the sae above”.

1380: ἐπήβολος: “appropriate”. As noted above, the Argonauts concur with Peleus’ interpretation (μῆτις) immediately.

1381: Μουσάων ὅδε μῦθος: “this is the story of the Muses”. ὑπακουός: “mouth-piece”. A. seems to be saying that he is acting as some kind of poetic conduit and that he takes no authorial responsibility for the tale of miraculous endurance that he is about to retell. The Muses, after all, knew how to “tell many lies with the semblance of truth” (Hes. Th. 27). The episode is well-embedded in the tradition (Pind. Pyth. 4.25–27, agrees on the twelve days) and, though a twelve-day journey (1386–87) across sand dunes, fasting and waterless, covering a distance estimated at 250 kms, or about 156 miles, and carrying a ship, with all its gear seems to relegate this feat to the realm of fantasy, perhaps we suspend disbelief, as A. is obviously trying to do, and see this as one of the moments when the Argonauts prove themselves as a group, “truly . . . of the blood of the Immortals” (Richard Hunter’s translation).

1382: Πιερίδων: “daughters of Pieria”, i.e. the Muses, neatly balancing Μουσάων at the beginning of the previous line. The Pierian Spring is sacred to the Muses. πανατρεκές: “literally, exactly”. “I literally heard the news from the Muses in exactly the same way as I reproduce it here (in the attached accus. and infin.)”. The Alexandrian poets were fond of describing their relationship to divine inspiration in various ways, e.g. comparison of the opening invocations of Bk. 1, 3, 4 of the Argonautica is instructive.

1383: ὑμέας: “you”, i.e. the Argonauts, subject of the indirect statement after ἔκλυον ὀμφήν. ὦ: the poet’s intervention into the narrative continues, with his direct address to the heroes; for apostrophe in Hellenistic poetry, see further (Klooster 2013, 160). υἷες ἀνάκτων: “sons of gods” rather than “kings”. The divine descent of all Argonauts is often emphasized (1.548, 2.1223, 3.365 f., 402, and - after correction – 4.1773). The opening of this line is identical to that of 1031. Such repetition is unusual in A.

1384: ᾗ βίῃ, ᾗ ἀρετῇ: “by your strength and bravery”. ᾗ= σός (LSJ s.v. ὅς POSSESS. PRON), a striking phrase marked by asyndeton, assonance, correption (βίῃ, ᾗ ) and hiatus. They demonstrate qualities worthy of sons of the gods. ἀνὰ θῖνας ἐρήμους: “desert sand-dunes”.

1385: νῆα μεταχρονίην: “the ship, held on high”. See 952n.: μεταχρόνιος = μετέωρος, “high in air”. ἄγεσθε: “you carried”, an unaugmented imperfect (an emendation from the 1496 first edition printed in Florence) rather than transmitted ἄγεσθαι which would be an infinitive in a subordinate clause in direct speech (Smyth § 2631). The imperfect continues the vivid direct address to the Argonauts.

1386: ἀνθεμένους ὤμοισι: see line 1376. δυοκαίδεκα πάντα: “twelve whole days and nights”.

1387: γε μὲν: A paraphrase would run: “you carried out this great feat of endurance but (γε μὲν) who could tell the story of it?” δύην . . . καὶ ὀιζὺν: “suffering and wretchedness” see 1374n.

1388: τίς κ᾿ ἐνέποι: “who would relate: potential optative (Smyth § 1824) < ἐνέπω, the appropriate verb to use of an epic narrator (see 4.2n.). ἀνέπλησαν: “they endured”, in the sense of “accomplish what is destined”: aor. ind. act. 3^rd. pl. < ἀναπίμπλημι.

1389: ἔμπεδον: “truly”. ἀθανάτων ἔσαν αἵματος: “of the blood of the immortals”, stressing the supernatural quality of the deed that they accomplish in carrying the Argo across the desert.

οἷον . . .ἔργον: “(considering) what a deed”. ὑπέστᾱν: “undertake”: aor. ind. act. 3^rd. pl. (doric) <ὑφίστημι.

1390: ἀναγκαίῃ βεβιημένοι: perf. part. mp. masc. nom. pl. (attic ionic) <βιάω: they had no choice. They were “constrained by necessity”.

1390-2: αὐτὰρ ἐπιπρό / τῆλε μάλ᾿: “(slogging on) forever (Peter Green’s translation), lit. “but ever farther forwards”. There is perhaps a slight pause after this phrase as ἀσπασίως is to be taken with θέσαν: “(after the hardship) they waded into (εἰσβάντες) the lake and joyfully put her from their strong shoulders (ἀπὸ στιβαρῶν . . . ὤμων)”. ὡς . . . ὣς: is a mannered way of describing the almost ritualistic care with which, after having carried the Argo (“their Mother”) for so long, they gently place her into the waters of the lake rather than risking the heavy impact of lowering her abruptly, with even their knees probably buckling, on to dry land. Τριτωνίδος ὕδασι λίμνης: a locative dative; see further Smyth § 1531, (Oswald 1904, 88). For the location of Lake Triton see 1311n. Herodotus (4.178–79, 186–88, 191) places Lake Triton much further to the W than do our other sources, beyond the Lesser Syrtes; whereas Pindar, Apollonius and Strabo agree on a site E of the Greater Syrtes, somewhere near Euhespéridés = Bereníké = modern Benghazi (Pind. Pyth. 4.20–21; Strabo 17.3.20, C. 836).

1393: λυσσαλέοις δἤπειτ᾿ ἴκελοι: “then like crazed dogs”. δἤπειτ: = crasis for δὴ ἔπειτα (see Smyth § 62-9). λυσσαλέος is a rare word (LSJ s.v. adding Nonnus D. 11.26, 16.69, 28.49, with Il. 8.299 κύνα λυσσητῆρα), perhaps A. was remembering that Lyssa was the goddess of rage, fury, and rabies, (known for driving mad the dogs of the hunter Acteon and causing them to kill their master). Democritus described rabies, and Hippocrates is believed to refer to the disease when he said that “persons in a frenzy drink very little, are disturbed and frightened, tremble at the least noise, or are seized with convulsions”; see further (Fleming 1872, 8).

1393-4: ἀίσσοντες / πίδακα μαστεύεσκον: “they rushed around in search of a spring”. They are understandably thirsty (ξηρὴ . . . δίψα) after their ordeal (δυηπαθίῃ τε καὶ ἄλγεσιν).

1395-6: οὐδ᾿ ἐμάτησαν / πλαζόμενοι: “nor were they disappointed in their search”.

1396: ἷξον δ᾿ ἱερὸν πέδον: “ they reached the sacred garden”. ἷξον: aor. ind. act. 3^rd. pl. <ἵκω. The Argonauts have reached the fabled “garden of the Hesperides”. ᾧ ἔνι Λάδων: Ap. is the only source to name the serpent set to guard the golden apples and to add a note of ‘mystery’ for the reader, he is not certainly identified until 1398 χθόνιος ὄφις. The Hesperides' sacred garden was more often located in the far west—hence their association with Atlas (Hes. Th. 517–20; Eur. Hipp. 742–51); or, sometimes, in the north, among the Hyperboreans. A.'s Libyan version is also recorded by Apollodoros (2.5.11, pp. 220–21 Frazer), Diodoros (4.26.2–4) and Lucan BC 9.355-67; see further LIMC: https://weblimc.org/page/home/Ladon ((‘Digital LIMC’ 2021)).

1397: εἰσέτι που χθιζὸν: “until yesterday ( που: as it were)”. Whether or not, this is a remark by the poet or a conclusion drawn by the Argonauts, there seems to be almost a degree of wistfulness about this phrase. The Argonauts seem to be breaking in to an old tale and taken by surprise at what they find; on the whole scene, see further (Phillips 2020, 192). παγχρύσεα ῥύετο μῆλα: “was protecting the golden apples”. The killing of Ladon by Heracles, in order to carry off these golden apples, formed either the eleventh (see link above) or the last (see link above) of the Twelve Labours.

1398: χώρῳ ἐν Ἄτλαντος: “in the garden of Atlas”; see links above (1396) for the association of Atlas and the Hesperides. χθόνιος ὄφις: “a snake born of the (Libyan) soil”. On the importance of sacred, guardian snakes, see further 127-9n.

1399: ποίπνυον: “busy at their tasks”. ἐφίμερον ἀείδουσαι: “singing their beautiful song”. The beauty of the singing contrasts with the savagery which A. is about to describe.

1400: δὴ τότε γ᾿ ἤδη: “but at that particular time”. The text of the opening of this line has been seen as problematic. There is a variant: δὴ τότε δὴ τῆμος which is difficult to explain. The text printed here is supported by Od. 22.186 δὴ τότε γ' ἤδη κεῖτο (referring to Laertes’ shield, which has lain discarded before being taken up by Melanthius). The basic context is not dissimilar. The reading printed here originates from a ms. known as the Soloranus (1280 AD), probably copied from sources that differ from the main tradition, which, on occasion, preserves a superior text. κεῖνος, perhaps phonically echoing κεῖτο, would be typical of A. δαϊχθεὶς: “slaughtered”. δαΐζω is a savage word resonant of Iliadic battle: aor. part. pass. masc. nom. < δαίζω.

1401: μήλειον βέβλητο ποτὶ στύπος: “struck down against the trunk of the apple tree”. βέβλητο: plup. ind. mp. 3^rd. sg. (epic) <βάλλω. Combined with A.’s next remark (“the tip of the tail was still twitching), this introduces a note of pathos into the description.

1401-2: οἰόθι δ᾿ ἄκρη / οὐρή: “the tip alone”: using enjambment to emphasise the point.

1402: σκαίρεσκεν: often used of animals frisking: its use here seems intentionally macabre (LSJ s.v.) and more vivid than the emendation σπαίρεσκεν, which is sometimes adopted.

1403: ἀπὸ κρατὸς δὲ κελαινὴν / ἄχρις ἐπ᾿ ἄκνηστιν: “from his head (ἀπὸ κρατὸς), all along to the very tip of (ἄχρις ἐπ) of his dark spine”. ἄκνηστιν: a rare, perhaps originating from ancient discussion of the Homeric text (a spine or backbone of animals, Od.10.161 (unless you read κατὰ κνῆστιν), A.R. 4.1403). κεῖτ᾿ ἄπνοος: “sprawled lifeless”.

1403-4: ἐν δὲ λιπόντων . . . ὀιστῶν: genitive absolute: “the arrows leaving”, with χόλον . . . πικρὸν as the object. ὕδρης Λερναίης: “of the Lernaean Hydra”.

1405: πυθομένοισιν ἐφ᾿ ἕλκεσι: “on the festering wounds”, perhaps recalling the “Pythian” serpent slain by Apollo. τερσαίνοντο: “were withering”, another grotesque note. The verb is elsewhere used of blood drying on a wound (Il. 16.529 αἷμα μέλαν τέρσηνε). To talk of the flies (μυῖαι) literally drying on the wound is a typical Apollonian innovation.

1406: ἀγχοῦ δ᾿ Ἑσπερίδες: the narrative focus now switches to the Hesperides themselves. The radiance of the following line and a half contrasts with the horror of the wound: see further https://weblimc.org/page/home/Hesperides%20Ladon for examples of the Hesperides caring for the snake.

1407: ἀργυφέας: more usually used of cloth (LSJ s.v.) but if στήθεα can be “shining white” (Hom. Hym. 6.10) so can χεῖρας (in the previous line): Iphigeneia’s fair complexion is also seen as beautiful at Eur. IA 681. λίγ᾿ ἔστενον: the Hesperides’ lamentation is a clear-noted keening like Briseis’ over the slain Patroclus: Il. 19.284 ἀμφʼ αὐτῷ χυμένη λίγʼ ἐκώκυε.

1407-9: At the sudden approach (ἐπέλασσαν / ἄφνω ὁμοῦ) of the Argonauts, the Hesperides disappear into thin air (αἶψα κόνις καὶ γαῖα . . . ἐγένοντο) in the same way as the Libyan Heroines had previously done. νώσατο δʼ Ὀρφεὺς: “understοοd the divine signs (θεῖα τέρα)”. The contracted form of νοέω is of a type common in Herodotus: aor. ind. mid. 3^rd. sg. (ionic). This and the next line have an Ionic flavour about them.

1410: τὰς δέ σφι παρηγορέεσκε λιτῇσιν: “exhorted them with prayers on behalf of them (σφι, i.e. the Argonauts)”. The use of the dative with παρηγορέω cannot be paralleled. However, the construction seems to be Homeric (Od. 11.34 λιτῇσι ἐλλισάμην) with some added Herodotean / Ionic colour (σφι παρηγορέεσκε); see further Smyth § 1792.

1411: δαίμονες ὦ καλαὶ καὶ ἐύφρονες: “O divine ones, fair and kind”. The formulaic expressions δαίμονες ὦ καλαὶ and νύμφαι· ἴτ᾿, ὦ νύμφαι are singularly appropriate to the character of Orpheus: praying was his business, when Jason-a hero, not a priest! - makes a similar address at 4. 1333, he calls them θεαί, without ὦ, which here, in its delayed position adds a note of solemnity. ἵλατ᾿, ἄνασσαι: “be gracious, Queens”. ἵλατ’(ε): aorist imperative < ἱλάομαι / ἱλάσκομαι, ‘be gracious.’ Orpheus propriates the goddesses with a verb used throughout the poem (and elsewhere) in contexts of address to deities; see further 1773n.

1412-13: εἴτ᾿ . . . / εἴτε: “whether . . . whether”. An epicletic formula typical of the kind of prayer that Orpheus is making (Theocr. 1.123-4 ὦ Πὰν Πάν, εἴτ᾽, . . . εἴτε). The first step is to check on the possible locations of the deity.

1413: οἰοπόλοι καλέεσθε: pres. ind. mp. 2^nd. pl. (epic ionic) <καλέω: “be called solitary nymphs”, an understandable reference back to the heroines of Libya. The second step is to select the correct mode of address.

1414: ἴτ᾿, ὦ νύμφαι: another hymnal formula: “come O Nymphs”. The repetition of νύμφαι adds to the prayer-like quality of the speech (Virg. Aen. 8.71 Nymphae, Laurentes Nymphae, genus amnibus unde est). ἱερὸν γένος Ὠκεανοῖο: “daughters of Ocean”, a learned reference to both Od. 6.123 and Hes. Th. 346. Orpheus clearly hopes that they are “nymphs, holy offspring of Ocean”, since such would naturally have access to, and be in control of, a range of springs and fountains, sources of water being a matter of some importance and interest to the Argonauts at the moment.

1415: ἐελδομένοισιν . . . ἄμμι: “to our expectant eyes”, ἄμμι: masc/fem. dat. 1^st. pl. (epic aeolic) <ἐγώ, interlaced with ἐνωπαδὶς . . . φανεῖσαι: “appearing clearly”, aor. part. pass. fem. nom. pl. < φαίνω.

1416: πετραίην χύσιν ὕδατος: “some spring of water from the rock = Aratus. Phain. 393.

1417: ἱερὸν ἐκβλύοντα . . . ῥόον: “some sacred flowing stream”.

1417-8: ἀπὸ . . . λωφήσομεν: tmesis of the verb: “we may quench”. δίψαν / αἰθομένην ἄμοτον: “insatiably (ἄμοτον) burning thirst”. εἰ δέ κεν αὖτις: “if ever again”, the final clause in the contract that Orpheus is proposing with the divine: “Answer our prayers and this is what we offer”.

1419: ἱκώμεθα ναυτιλίῃσιν: a variation on lines such as 4.98 εὖτ᾽ ἂν ἐς Ἑλλάδα γαῖαν ἱκώμεθα νοστήσαντες, “return” (νόστος) being one of the major themes of the Argonautica.

1420: μυρία δῶρα: “countless gifts”. μετὰ πρώτῃσι θεάων: “among the first of goddesses”.

1421: λοιβάς τ᾿ εἰλαπίνας τε: “libations and sacrifices”. εὐμενέοντες: “with willing hearts, showing our gratitude”, recalling Orpheus’ opening address to δαίμονες . . . ἐύφρονες.

Bibliography:

‘Digital LIMC’. 2021. 2021. https://weblimc.org/page/home/Ladon.

Fleming, George. 1872. Rabies and Hydrophobia: Their History, Nature, Causes, Symptoms, and Prevention. Chapman and Hall.

Klooster, Jacqueline. 2013. Apostrophe in Homer, Apollonius and Callimachus. Über die Grenze. De Gruyter. https://www.degruyter.com/view/book/9783110331721/10.1515/9783110331721….

Oswald, Michael Matthias F. 1904. The Use of the Prepositions in Apollonius Rhodius, Compared with Their Use in Homer. Notre Dame, Ind., Notre Dame University Press. http://archive.org/details/PrepositionsInApolloniusRhodius.

Phillips, Tom. 2020. Untimely Epic: Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica. Oxford University Press.