Reception | Dickinson College Commentaries

RECEPTION OF THE ARGONAUTICA

In Antiquity:

Almost as soon as the first copies of the poem were made, scholarly comment began: a friend of Apollonius, Chares, wrote about the sources of his poem and began a tradition of expounding the text which continued throughout antiquity. The names of commentators such as Theon of Alexandria (first century BC), Lucillus of Tarrha (mid-first century AD) and Sophocles (second century AD) are mentioned at the end of Book 4 of the mediaeval scholia. There is evidence that ancient texts of the Argonautica were annotated with variant readings, glosses, and marginal notes.

Roughly Forty-nine Apollonian papyri survive. Most date from between the first and the fourth centuries AD and come from Oxyrhynchus, although some take the evidence for texts of Apollonius up to the end of the seventh or eighth century AD,bridging the gap between antiquity and the early Middle Ages. Book 1 has the largest number of fragments by a long way, twenty-four, Book 2 has nine, Book 3 ten and Book 4 six. In antiquity, as now, readers who started long works did not always get to the end, or possibly they skipped to, or had copied out, their favourite passages. Among the texts from Book 1, seven are from the episode of the Lemnian Women and five are concerned with some aspect of the Argonauts’ departure. The fragments from Book 2 include one mention of the appearance of the ghost of Sthenelos, two from the description of the battle between the Argonauts and the Bebryces, and one from the meeting with the sons of Phrixos. The surprisingly small number from Book 3 cover Jason’s encounter with the bulls (3), scenes with Medea and Chalciope (2), the opening of the book on Mt. Olympus (2), but only one extract from the meeting between Jason and Medea. The sequence of episodes from Book 4 includes the murder of Apsyrtus (2), the visit to Phaeacia (1), and the speech of Argos (1). Although the numbers concerned are small, patterns are discernible. For example, perhaps the opening scenes of the poem with its emotional encounter between Jason and his mother, Alcimede, attracted an audience brought up on Euripidean tragedy.

The papyri chiefly discussed in this commentary are P.Oxy. 2694 (containing 2.917–53, 4.317–22, 4.416–61, 468–512), P.Oxy. 2691 (containing 4.348–56, 1128–35), together with several important fragments contained in the latest publication of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri (vol. LXXXIV, 2019).

Apollonius soon found imitators as well as copyists. The Sicilian Greek Moschus wrote Europa sometime during the second century BC. He shows a ‘pervasive verbal debt to Homer and Apollonius (sometimes both together), covering both vocabulary and specific, contextualised echoes’. At Rome Lucius Accius (c.170–86 BC), in what remains of his play Medea sive Argonautae, seems to show direct knowledge of 4.303–81. The play probably opens with the arrival of the Argo which terrifies a barbarian shepherd who has never seen a ship before, and then alludes to the plot between Jason and Medea to kill Apsyrtus.

After Accius, the poem continued to be much read and imitated among Latin poets. Only a few years after Catullus wrote poem 64, a Latin translation of the Argonautica was produced by Varro of Atax in Gallia Narbonensis, who seems to have made use of some form of the scholia to Apollonius. This is also true of Virgil whose overall debt to his Greek predecessor is considerable.Critics have emphasised the size of the ancient libraries that might have been available to him and the use that he would have made of ancient scholarship on both Homer and Apollonius.

Both Propertius and Ovid deal with different aspects of the Argonautic legend. The latter demonstrates a continuing fascination with the character of Medea, constantly adapting and building on the portraits drawn by Euripides and Apollonius. While carrying ‘out radical surgery on the plot as he found it’, he, nonetheless, shows deep knowledge of the Argonautica as he produces his own interpretation. Both Seneca and his nephew Lucan wrote tragedies entitled Medea, with the latter showing direct knowledge of Apollonius in his epic poem Bellum Civile. While Apollonian influences have been perceived on Statius’ Thebaid (c. 92 AD) it is with Valerius Flaccus that we have further evidence of engagement with Apollonius’ text and with scholarship connected with it.

After Statius, the authors who show knowledge of Apollonius are again Greek: Dionysius of Alexandria (c. 130 AD), two Oppians (AD 177–80 / 212–17), Quintus Smyrnaeus (3rd. century AD), Triphiodorus (end of 3rd. century AD), Nonnus (5th. century) and the author of the Orphic Argonautica (second half of the fifth century). About AD 140 Apollonius of Chalcedon, the Stoic philosopher was on his way to Rome to take up the post of tutor to the future emperor Marcus, accompanied by a large band of pupils. When Demonax, the Cynic, caught sight of him, he remarked: “Here comes Apollonius and his Argonauts,” Bearing in mind, the Stoic’s reputation for acquiring wealth, the joke seems to be comparing his trip to Rome, with Jason’s voyage to gain the Golden Fleece. Lucian’s story, therefore, suggests that the Argonautica was well-known in this period.

Some of these authors, mentioned above, imitated A. with direct reference to Book 4: Quintus Smyrnaeus alludes to Medea’s flight when describing Oinone’s secret departure during the night. Triphiodorus echoes A. in some thirty passages, while Nonnus’ imitations are of a more varied and subtle nature. The author of the late Orphic Argonautica is heavily indebted to his Alexandrian predecessor.

In Modern Times:

Abbrev.	Name	Date	Description, Edition and/or translation
JG	John Garland	1215	Due lotrices
VA	Maffeo Vegio, Vellus Aureum	1431	Putnam, M. C. J. (ed.) (2004), Maffeo Vegio: Short Epics, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Lefèvre or Caxton/ Lefèvre	Raoul Lefèvre, History of Jason	1477	Munro, J. (1913), The History of Jason, London: Kegan Paul. Translated by William Caxton.
Giasone	Cavalli Giasone	1649	Cavalli, Il Giasone (2012), [opera DVD] Cond. Federico Maria Sardelli, Dir. Mariame Clément. Austria: Dynamic SRL.
Grillparzer	Franz Grillparzer, The Golden Fleece	1821	Grillparzer, F. (1995), Das goldene Vliess, Stuttgart: Reclam. Solomon, S. (1969), Franz Grillparzer: Plays on Classic Themes, New York: Random House.
Hawthorne	Nathaniel Hawthorne, Tanglewood Tales	1853	Hawthorne, N. (1950), Tanglewood Tales, London: Dent.
Kingsley	Charles Kingsley, The Heroes	1855	Kingsley, C. (1912), The Heroes or Greek Fairy Tales for my Children, London: Riccardi Press.
Morris	William Morris, The Life and Death of Jason	1867	Morris, W. (n.d.) ‘The Life and Death of Jason’,in The William Morris Archive, ed. Florence Boos. Available online: http://morrisedition.lib.uiowa.edu/jason-w-images.html (accessed 17th August 2019). This text collates the draft, 1867, 1882 and 1895 editions.
Colum	Padraig Colum, The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles	1921	Colum, P. (1921), The Golden Fleece and the Heroes who Lived Before Achilles, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Golden Fleece, GF	Robert Graves, The Golden Fleece	1944	Graves, R. (1944), The Golden Fleece, London: Hutchinson.
Graves’s Greek Myths	Robert Graves, The Greek Myths	1955	Graves, R. (1955), The Greek Myths, Vol. 2, London: Penguin.
Lancelyn Green	Roger Lancelyn Green, Tales of the Greek Heroes	1958	Lancelyn Green, R. (1958), Tales of the Greek Heroes, London: Penguin.
Le Fatiche di Ercole	Le Fatiche di Ercole	1958	Le Fatiche di Ercole (1958), [Film] Dir. Pietro Francisci, Italy: Lux Film.
I Giganti della Tessaglia	I Giganti della Tessaglia	1960	I Giganti della Tessaglia (1960), [Film] Dir. Riccardo Freda, Italy and France: Alexandra and Lyre.
Treece	Henry Treece, Jason	1961	Treece, H. (1961), Jason, London: Sphere.
Harryhausen	Ray Harryhausen, Jason and the Argonauts	1963	Jason and the Argonauts (1963), [Film] Dir. Don Chaffey, USA: Columbia Pictures.
Seraillier	Ian Seraillier, The Clashing Rocks	1963	Seraillier, I. (1963), The Clashing Rocks, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pasolini	Pier Paolo Pasolini, Medea	1969	Medea (1969), [Film] Dir. Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy: San Marco.
Gardner	John Gardner, Jason and Medeia	1973	Gardner, J. (1973), Jason and Medeia, New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Naden	C. J. Naden, Jason and the Golden Fleece	1981	Naden, C. J. (1981), Jason and the Golden Fleece, Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates. Illustrated by Robert Baxter.
Zeff	Claudia Zeff, Jason and the Golden Fleece	1982	Zeff, C. ([1982] 2003), Jason and the Golden Fleece, London: Usborne. Illustrated by Stephen Cartwright.
Severin	Tim Severin, The Jason Voyage	1985	Severin, T. (1985), The Jason Voyage: The Quest for the Golden Fleece, London: Hutchinson.
Evslin	Bernard Evslin, Jason and the Argonauts	1986	Evslin, B. (1986), Jason and the Argonauts, New York: Morrow. Illustrated by Bert Dodson.
Sawyer	Robert Sawyer, Golden Fleece	1990	Sawyer, R. ([1990] 2016), Golden Fleece, Mississauga: SFwriter.com.
Zarabouka	Sofia Zarabouka, Jason and the Golden Fleece	1993	Zarabouka, S. ([1993] 2004), Jason and the Golden Fleece, Los Angeles: Getty.
Brooks	Felicity Brooks, Jason and the Argonauts	1995	Brooks, F. ([1995] 1997), Jason and the Argonauts, London: Usborne. Illustrated by Graham Humphreys.
Wolf	Christa Wolf, Medea	1998 [1996]	Wolf, C. ([1996] 1998), Medea, London: Virago. Trans. John Cullen.
Young Hercules	Young Hercules(TV series)	1998-1999	Young Hercules (1998-1999), [TV series] Creators: Andrew Dettmann, Rob Tapert, Daniel Truly. USA, NZ: MCA Television, Renaissance Pictures.
2000 mini-series	Jason and the Argonauts	2000	Jason and the Argonauts (2000), [Mini-series] Dir. Nick Willing. USA: Hallmark.
Catran	Ken Catran, Voyage with Jason	2000	Catran, K. (2000), Voyage with Jason, Melbourne: Lothian.
Riordan/ Cockroft	James Riordan, Jason and the Golden Fleece	2003	Riordan, J. and Cockcroft, J. (2003), Jason and the Golden Fleece, London: Frances Lincoln. Text by Riordan and illustrations by Cockcroft.
Bradman/ Ross	Tony Bradman, Jason and the Voyage to the Edge of the World	2004	Bradman, T. and Ross, T. (2004), Jason and the Voyage to the Edge of the World, Orchard Books: London. Text by Bradman and illustrations by Ross.
Yolen/Harris	Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris, Jason and the Gorgon’s Blood	2004	Yolen, J. and Harris, R. J. (2004), Jason and the Gorgon's Blood, New York: HarperCollins.
Malam/ Antram	John Malam, Jason and the Argonauts	2005	Malam, J. and Antram, D. (2005), Jason and the Argonauts, Brighton: Book House.
West	Colston West, Jason	2005	West, C. (2005), Jason!, Bristol: Eagle House Press.
Wood	Michael Wood, In Search of Myths and Heroes	2005	Wood, M. (2005), In Search of Myths and Heroes, London: BBC Books. Book to accompany TV series: In Search of Myths and Heroes (2005), [TV Mini-series] BBC2, last broadcast 9 May 2007.
Holdstock	Robert Holdstock, The Merlin Codex	2001-2006	Holdstock, R. (2001), Celtika, London: Simon and Schuster. Holdstock, R. (2002), The Iron Grail, London: Simon and Schuster. Holdstock, R. (2006), The Broken Kings, London: Gollancz.
Rise of the Argonauts	Rise of the Argonauts	2007	Rise of the Argonauts (2007), [Computer game] UK: Codemasters.
Pirotta/Lewis	Saviour Pirotta, Jason and the Golden Fleece	2008	Pirotta, S. and Lewis, J. (2008), First Greek Myths: Jason and the Golden Fleece, London: Orchard Books. Text by Saviour Pirotta. Illustrations by Jan Lewis.
Yomtov/ Sandoval	Nel Yomtov and Gerardo Sandoval, Jason and the Golden Fleece	2009	Yomtov, N. and Sandoval, G. (2009), [Comic] Jason and the Golden Fleece, Minneapolis: Stone Arch Books. Text: Yomtov; art: Sandoval.
Whitehead/ Banerjee	Dan Whitehead and Sankha Banerjee, Jason and the Argonauts	2011	Whitehead, D. and Banerjee, S. (2011), [Comic] Jason and the Argonauts, New Delhi: Campfire. Text: Whitehead; art: Banerjee.
Gunderson/ Takvorian	Jessica Gunderson and Nadine Takvorian, Jason and the Argonauts	2012	Gunderson, J. and Takvorian, N. (2012), Jason and the Argonauts, London: Raintree. Text: Gunderson; art: Takvorian.
Atlantis	Atlantis TV series	2013-2015	Atlantis (2013-2015), [TV series] Creators: Johnny Capps, Julian Murphy, Howard Overman. UK: Urban Myth Films, BBC Cymru Wales, BBC America.
Jeffrey/ Verma	Gary Jeffrey and Dheeraj Verma, Jason and the Argonauts	2013	Jeffrey, G. and Verma, D. (2013), [Comic] Jason and the Argonauts, New York: Gareth Stevens Publishing. Text: Jeffrey, art: Verma.
Zimmerman	Mary Zimmerman, Argonautika	2013	Zimmerman, M. (2013), Argonautika: The Voyage of Jason and the Argonauts, [Script] Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
Argonautsboard game	Argonauts board game	2014	Argonauts (2014), [Board game] Creators: Lefteris Iroglidis, Konstantinos Iovis and Ioannis Stammatis. Athens: AF Games.
Spence	Simon Spence, Jason and the Golden Fleece	2014	Spence, S. (2014), Jason and the Golden Fleece, Itunes: Early Myth.
Hoena/ Estudio Haus	Blake Hoena and Estudio Haus, Jason and the Argonauts	2015	Hoena, B. and Estudio Haus (2015), [Comic] Jason and the Argonauts, Minnesota: Capstone. Text: Hoena; art: Estudio Haus.
Byrd	Robert Byrd, Jason and the Argonauts	2016	Byrd, R. (2016), Jason and the Argonauts, New York: Dial Books.
Kneupper	Kevin Kneupper, Argonauts	2016	Kneupper, K. (2016), Argonauts, Createspace: Kevin Kneupper.
Hauser	Emily Hauser, For the Winner	2017	Hauser, E. ([2017] 2018), For the Winner, London: Black Swan.
Hoena/ Takvorian	Blake Hoena, Nadine Takvorian, James Nathan, Jason, the Argonauts and the Golden Fleece	2017	Hoena, B., Takvorian, N. and Nathan, J. (2017), [Choose your own adventure book] Jason, the Argonauts and the Golden Fleece, Minnesota: Capstone. Text: Hoena; illustrations: Takvorian and Nathan.