Apollonius Argonautica

River Kur (Kyrus)

    Apollonius' geography has often been seen as faulty in the past but how could it be-he probably knew Eratosthenes the Great Geographer! If you look up Lykus in Barrington’s Atlas, there are lots of occurences of the name in the area. The map shows how A. might have thought that the Kyrus joined up with the Phasis. It's a feasible supposition.

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    Creative Commons Attribution
    Date
    2021

    Jason eagerly leaps ashore

      Jason is shown in heroic mode in 79–81. In his eagerness to play the rescuer, he does not wait for the ship to beach before jumping ashore; cf. Protesilaus, who was the first to leap ashore at Troy (Lucian 77.27–8, 530–1, Ov. Her. 13.93–4, Hyg. Fab. 103) and also the François Vase (Black Figure Krater, Kleitias, ABV, 76,1) which shows the ship coming to pick up Theseus with the young Athenians he rescued from the Minotaur, or just arriving in Crete. 

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      Creative Commons Attribution

      Bronze statuette of a veiled and masked dancer

        "The complex motion of this dancer is conveyed exclusively through the interaction of the body with several layers of dress. Over an undergarment that falls in deep folds and trails heavily, the figure wears a lightweight mantle, drawn tautly over her head and body by the pressure applied to it by her right arm, left hand, and right leg. Its substance is conveyed by the alternation of the tubular folds pushing through from below and the freely curling softness of the fringe. The woman's face is covered by the sheerest of veils, discernible at its edge below her hairline and at the cutouts for the eyes," says the description on the Metropolitan Museum website but it does seem similar to have points of similarity with Apollonius' description of Medea's escape.

        Associated Passages
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        Creative Commons Attribution
        Date
        3rd–2nd century B.C.
        Location
        New York

        Escape from Colchis

          An original cartoon by Rosemary Hulse, showing the opening events of Book 4. Medea can be seen out of the doors of the Palace. She finds the Argonauts and leads them to the Golden Fleece and the Dragon. Jason finally achieves his prize: "Hooray! All mine now!"

          Associated Passages
          Type
          Image
          License
          Creative Commons Attribution
          Date
          2021
          Location
          UK
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