chapter 19 lecture one of two jason and the myths of iolchus and calydon ©2012 pearson education...

Chapter 19Lecture One of Two

Jason and the Myths of Iolchus and Calydon

©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Myths of Jason and Thessaly

• Thessaly; a large plain north of Thermopylae• Neolithic and Mycenaean settlements• Port city of Iolchus (modern-day Volos) the

point of debarkation for Jason’s adventure


PRELUDE TO THE ARGONAUTICAPhrixus, Hellê, and the Golden Fleece


Phrixus, Hellê, and the Golden Fleece

• Aeolus => – The Aeolids– Athamas

• Athamas + Nephelê– Phrixus (son)– Hellê (daughter)



• Athamas then marries another, Ino, daughter of Cadmus in Thebes– Two sons

• Ino arranges a trap to have Phrixus (her step son) murdered– Parches grain– Intercepts messenger to Delphi– Prophecy says Phrixus must be sacrificed– A golden ram appears just in time – The two – Phrixus and Hellê ride away on it



• Hellê falls off the ram at the “Hellespont”• Ram flies on to Colchis, where Aeëtes is king

– The fleece is given to Aeëtes, who receives Phrixus


PRELUDE TO THE ARGONAUTICAPelias and Aeson


Pelias and Aeson

• Athamas’s niece (Tyro) • She has two sons by Poseidon

– Pelias, who will become king in Iolchus– Neleus, who will become king in Pylos

• She has two sons by the mortal, Cretheus– Aeson and Pheres


Pelias and Aeson

• Pelias drives out his brother Neleus• Imprisons his half-brother Aeson• But Aeson’s wife bears Jason

– Spirited away and raise by Chiron the Centaur on Mt. Pelion (near Iolcus)

• Aeson warned to beware a man with one sandal


Pelias and Aeson

• Now a young man, Jason comes down from Mt. Pelion to Iolcus

• Helps Hera in disguise to cross a river and he loses a sandal– Hera is out to punish Aeson for not worshipping

her. Her plan is to bring Medea to Iolcus, and that means having Jason go to Aeëtes’s kingdom to get her!


Pelias and Aeson

• Jason is tricked into going to search for the Golden Fleece– “What would you do if you knew someone was

going to kill you?”


THE VOYAGE OF THE ARGO


The Voyage of the Argo

• A ship is built by Argus– The bow is from Dodona– Called the Argo after Argus

• Jason collects the best warriors of the day


Fig. 19.1Gathering of the Argonauts


Musée du Louvre, Paris; Réunion des Musées Nationaux / Art Resource, New York

EARLY ADVENTURES


Early Adventures

• The women of Lemnos– Had earlier killed their men for refusing their them

(except for Queen Hypsipylê)– The Argonauts service the sex-starved women– Heracles preserves the company of his boyfriend

(Hylas)

• Next they were received by Cyzicus at Samothrace


Early Adventures

• A storm blows the Argo back to Samothrace at night and, thinking his island was being attacked by strangers, Cyzicus brings out his army– King is killed by Jason

• Heracles lost when Hylas is abducted by water nymphs on Mysia– John Waterhouse, Hylas and the Nymphs


http://www.johnwilliamwaterhouse.com/paintings/painting1385.aspx

http://www.johnwilliamwaterhouse.com/paintings/painting1385.aspx

Early Adventures

• Bebryces• Amycus

– Defeated by Polydecues in boxing


Fig. 19.2 The Binding of Amycus


Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris

PHINEUS AND HARPIES


Fig. 19.3 Phineus and HarpiesFig.King Phineus and the HarpiesFreed by Zetes and Calaïs


Réunion des Musées Nationaux / Art Resource, New York

THE SYMPLEGADES


The Symplegades

• Phineus gives them advice about their future adventures– Release a dove


Fig. 19.4 Greek Ship of the Classical Period


Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

MEDEA AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE


Medea and the Golden Fleece

• Medea, daughter of Aeëtes, first sees Jason– Aphrodite sends Eros to make her fall in love with

him

• Aeëtes is expecting a “stranger” to be his downfall and refuses the fleece– Must first yoke fire-breathing bulls and sow

dragon’s teeth (which would produce murderous warriors)


Medea and the Golden Fleece

• Medea gives him ointments to protect him from the bulls

• When the warriors are grown . . . the rock• Medea helps Jason get the fleece• Aeëtes in pursuit

– Apsyrtus (his two fates)• The geography of the chase

– Eridanus, southern France, the Phaeacians . . .


Fig. 19.5In an otherwise unattested event for him, Jason is vomited out by a serpent on this vase.


Photo Vatican Museums

LIBYA


Libya

• The Argo is dropped into the middle of desert• The Nymphs of the Hesperides• The close encounter with Heracles• Triton helps them• Talus of Crete

– Medea’s “evil eye”

• Poem stops as they’ve left Crete


OBSERVATIONSThe Deflated Hero


The Deflated Hero

• Evidence for Bronze Age travel into the Black Sea?– To this legendary voyage are added details of

folktale (the quest): hero’s troubles at birth, magical animal raised him, magical land and impossible tasks, marriage as a reward . . .

– But he did not get a glorious kingship


The Deflated Hero

• Apollonius writing for a literate audience who would appreciate the twists and variations on the standard hero theme– Focus on individual emotions, precious

descriptions . . . – Greatly influenced subsequent epic and poetry,

especially Vergil and his Aeneid


Fig. 19.6The death of Talus


Museo Nazionale Jatta, Ruvo; Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Rome

End


chapter 19 lecture one of two jason and the myths of iolchus and calydon ©2012 pearson education...

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