Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-02T23:42:40.572Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Iphias: Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.311–611

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Damien P. Nelis
Damien P. Nelis
Affiliation:
Fribourg, Switzerland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

As an Apollo-like (1.307–9) Jason leaves home to start the long journey in quest of the Golden Fleece a strange incident occurs: The first thing to be said about this scene is that it is almost certainly an invention of Apollonius Rhodius.

Type
Articles
Information
The Classical Quarterly , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , May 1991 , pp. 96 - 105
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

2 Unless stated otherwise all references are to the Argonautica.

3 See Händel, P., Beobachtungen zur epischen Technik des Apollonios Rhodios, Zetemata 7 (Munich, 1954), p. 46Google Scholar; Fusillo, M., Il Tempo delle Argonautiche, Filologia e Critica 49 (Rome, 1985), p. 270.Google Scholar

4 See Stoessl, F., Apollonios Rhodios, Interpretationen zur Erzählungskunst und Quellenverwertung (Bern/Leipzig, 1941), pp. 61–70Google Scholar on a hypothetical Aeschylean model.

5 See Herter, H., ‘Bericht über die Literatur zur hellenistischen Dichtung seit dem Jahre 1921, II. Teil: Apollonios von Rhodos’, JAW 285 (1944–1955), 341Google Scholar; Radt, S., TrGF, iii (Göttingen, 1985), p. 135.Google Scholar

6 Hellenistische Dichtung in der Zeit des Kallimachos (Berlin, 1924), ii.219.Google Scholar

7 See Herter, art. cit. (n. 5), 342.

8 Fusillo, op. cit. (n. 3), p. 270.

9 This act is interpreted as a gesture of farewell by Sittl, C., Die Gebärden der Griechen und Römer (Leipzig, 1890), p. 166Google Scholar n. 11 and Grajew, F., Untersuchungen über die Bedeutung der Gebärden in der griechischen Epik, Diss. Freiburg i. Br. (Berlin, 1934), p. 46.Google Scholar

10 See Burkert, W., Greek Religion, Trans. Raffan, J. (Cambridge, MA, 1985), p. 97Google Scholar = Griechische Religion der archaischen und klassischen Epoche (Stuttgart, 1977), p. 161.Google Scholar

11 See Burkert, op. cit. (n. 10), p. 112 and p. 392 n. 23 = op. cit., p. 182 on the way in which such an encounter could be taken as an omen.

12 The statement of the scholiast is echoed by Vian, F. and Delage, E., Apollonios de Rhodes, Argonautiques (Paris, 1975–1981), i.13Google Scholar, where the Iphias scene is ‘l'annonce des signes favorables qui marqueront le départ’.

13 See Powell, J. G. F., Cicero, Cato Maior de Senectute, Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries 28 (Cambridge, 1988), p. 147.Google Scholar

14 Polyxo and Phineus are compared by Hübscher, P. A., Die Charakteristik der Personen in Apollonios' Argonautika (Diss. Freiburg, Schweiz, 1940), pp. 69–70.Google Scholar

15 Various features of the descriptions of old age in all three of these characters are compared by Huber, G., Lebensschilderung und Kleinmalerei im Hellenistischen Epos, Diss. Basel (Solothurn, 1926), pp. 72–3Google Scholar and Zanker, G., Realism in Alexandrian Poetry: a Literature and its Audience (London, 1987), pp. 71; 208.Google Scholar

16 The imitation is noted by Ardizzoni, A., Le Argonautiche, Libro 1 (Rome, 1967), ad loc.Google Scholar; cf. Campbell, M., Echoes and Imitations of Early Epic in Apollonius Rhodius, Mnemosyne Suppl. 72 (Leiden, 1981), p. 6.Google Scholar

17 See RE xvii. 1 col. 120.

18 See Kirk, G. S., The Iliad, A Commentary, Books 1–4 (Cambridge, 1985)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, ad Il. 1.247.

19 For this passive usage see Empedocles, fr. 22.3, DK ( = fr. 25, Wright).

20 See Sittl, op. cit. (n. 9), p. 4 1.

21 For the kissing of the hand as an act of supplication see Il. 24.478; 506 and Gould, J., ‘Hiketeia’, JHS 93 (1973), 77CrossRefGoogle Scholar; 96; cf. Euripides, H.F. 1206–10, I.A. 909; Plutarch, Brut. 17.2.

22 Apollonius Rhodius, The Argonautica (Cambridge, MA and London, 1912).Google Scholar

23 Apollonius is in fact the only writer to use the verb in the active voice. See Ardizzoni, op. cit. (n. 16), ad Arg. 1.1220.

24 Not for the last time in the poem. On Apollonius' ambiguous presentation of Jason see the pertinent remarks of Hunter, R., ‘Short on Heroics: Jason in the Argonautica’, CQ 38 (1988), 443–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

25 See Zanker, op. cit. (n. 15), p. 71.

26 Beye, C. R., ‘Jason as Love-Hero in Apollinius' Argonautica’, GRBS 10 (1969), 41–2Google Scholar, notes the sadness of the scene.

27 It is a common motif in folklore that the hero receives help from an old woman (see Thompson, S., Motif-Index of Folk Literature (Copenhagen, 1955–1958), N. 825.3)Google Scholar and so the Iphias scene might possibly be seen in this context since she tries to help Jason. There is the possibility, therefore, that an early version of the Argonautic saga contained a scene or scenes in which an old woman helped Jason to win the Fleece. Whether such a model was available to Apollonius is at least doubtful and this whole area is such a vague and poorly documented one that it is wise not to indulge in speculation. For all practical purposes it can almost certainly be assumed that the Iphias scene as we have it originated in the mind of Apollonius.

28 On the geographical detail see the ancient scholia ed. Wendel, C. (Berlin, 1934)Google Scholar, ad 1.571 and Fränkel, H., Noten zu den Argonautika des Apollonios Rhodios (Munich, 1968), p. 87 n. 163.Google Scholar

29 On the link between the two passages see de La Ville de Mirmont, H., Apollonios de Rhodes et Virgile: La Mythologie et les Dieux dans les Argonautiques et dans l'Enéide (Paris, 1894), pp. 534–6.Google Scholar

30 On the meaning of this word see the scholia ad 1.570 and Mooney, G. W., The Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius, Edited with Introduction and Commentary (Dublin, 1912)Google Scholar, ad loc. The parallel with πολιηόχου favours the translation ‘protectress of ships’ rather than ‘driver of ships’, i.e. the word comes from σώζειν rather than σεύειν.

31 See Burkert, R., Le Problème des Argonautes (Paris, 1949), pp. 140–1.Google Scholar

32 See Burkert, op. cit. (n. 10), p. 150 = op. cit., p. 235.

33 On the links between the scenes involving Alcimede and Iphias see Hurst, A., Apollonios de Rhodes, Manière et Cohérence: Contribution à l'Etude de l'Esthétique Alexandrine, Bibliotheca Helvetica Romana 8 (Rome, 1967), pp. 49–50Google Scholar; Vian, op. cit. (n. 12), i.13; Fusillo, op. cit. (n. 3), p. 270. The closeness of the two scenes involving Alcimede and Iphias underlines the separation between Jason and the world of his elders.

34 See 1.269–75 where Alcimede embracing Jason is compared to a young girl embracing her aged nurse. The reversal of the narrative situation in the simile, with the old woman being compared to a κούρη, lays great emphasis on the problem of the relationship between the generations (see Levin, D. N., Apollonius' Argonautica Re-examined: the Neglected First and Second Books, Mnemosyne Suppl. 13 (Leiden, 1971), pp. 42–3)Google Scholar. For a similarly bizarre mingling of youth and age compare the grey-haired virgins at 1.671–2. As well as the episodes involving Polyxo and Phineus already mentioned, see also the catalogue of the Argonauts where the youthfulness of the majority of the crew is an important aspect of the identity of the group as a whole (see Roux, op. cit. [n. 31], pp. 137–9; Herter, art. cit. [n. 5], 294; Fränkel, op. cit. [n. 28], p. 44; Vian, op cit. [n. 12], i.10). Stress is laid on the youth of Cyzicus and Cleite and it is an important feature of their tragedy (1.971–9). Polydeuces' youthfulness is emphasized in the account of the fight with the older Amycus (2.43–4). Throughout books 3 and 4 the relationship between Medea and her father Aeetes is of the greatest importance.

35 See Lawell, G., ‘Apollonius' Argonautica: Jason as Anti-Hero,’ YCS 19 (1966), 148–69.Google Scholar

36 See RE ii.l col. 1346; Calame, C., Les Choeurs des jeunes filles en Grèce archaïque (Rome, 1977), pp. 174–90Google Scholar; Lloyd-Jones, H., ‘Artemis and Iphigeneia’, JHS 103 (1983), 98–101CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Graf, F., Nordionische Kulte, Bibliotheca Helvetica Romana 21 (Rome, 1985), p. 249Google Scholar; Vernant, J.-P., ‘Artémis et le sacrifice préliminaire au combat’, REG 101 (1988), 223Google Scholar; Dowden, K., Death and the Maiden (London, 1989), passim.Google Scholar

37 Clearly relevant in this context is the comparison between Jason and Apollo, the model κοûρο, and the choice of the word όπλοτέρων (1.316) for the youth on the way to full hoplite status. See Hunter, art. cit. (n. 24), 450–2.

38 Orpheus: ‘A Poet among Men’, in Bremmer, J., Interpretations of Greek Mythology (London, 1987), pp. 95–9.Google Scholar

39 Hunter, art. cit. (n. 24), 450–2; Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica Book Three (Cambridge, 1989), pp. 30–1.Google Scholar

40 Braswell, B. K., A Commentary on the Fourth Pythian Ode of Pindar (Berlin and New York, 1988)Google Scholar, ad 83–5. Cf. Hunter, op. cit. (1988), p. 450.

41 See Beye, C. R., ‘Jason as Love-Hero in Apollonius' Argonautica’, GRBS 10 (1969), 31–55Google Scholar; Zanker, G., ‘The Love Theme in Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica’, WS 13 (1979), 52–75.Google Scholar

42 See Levin, op. cit. (n. 34), p. 117. I intend to discuss the relevance of the Atalanta and Hylas episodes to the poem as a whole in a forthcoming article.

43 op. cit. (n. 39), ad 883–4; cf. Campbell, M., Studies in the Third Book of Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica, Altertumswissenschaftliche Texte und Studien 9 (Hildesheim, 1983), pp. 58–9.Google Scholar

44 See Bulloch, A. W., ‘Callimachus' Erysichthon, Homer and Apollonius Rhodius’, AJP 98 (1977), 103.Google Scholar

45 Up to this point Medea has only been mentioned by name in the proem to book 3 and been talked about by Hera and Aphrodite (3.3, 27, 86, 142, 153).

46 See RE ii.i coll. 1356–7; Farnell, L. R., The Cults of the Greek City States (Oxford, 1896–1909), ii.601–2Google Scholar; Friis-Johansen, H. & Whittle, E. W., Aeschylus, The Suppliants (Copenhagen, 1980)Google Scholar, ad 676; on Apollonius' use of this syncresis in book three see Campbell, op. cit. (n. 43), pp. 57–8; Hunter, op. cit. (n. 39), ad 847; ad 876–86.

47 For interesting discussion of links between maidens and aged priestesses in Greek religion see Dowden, op. cit. (n. 36), pp. 131–3.

48 For excellent discussion see Campbell, op. cit. (n. 43), pp. 56–9; Hunter, op. cit. (n. 39), pp. 192–6.

49 See Elderkin, G. W., ‘Repetitions in the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius’, AJP 34 (1913), 198–201Google Scholar; Herter, art. cit. (n. 5), 325–6.

50 See Hurst, op. cit. (n. 33), passim on the way in which Apollonius expects his reader to appreciate complex links between different sections of the poem.

51 The Iphias scene is thus indeed related to Jason's success but not quite in the way noted by the scholiast (see p. 96 above).

52 See Campbell, op. cit. (n. 43), pp. 58–9; Hunter, op. cit. (n. 39), ad 869–86.

53 See conveniently Hunter, op. cit. (n. 39), ad 876–86, p. 194 and the bibliography cited in note 36 above.

54 See Campbell, op. cit. (n. 43), p. 57; Hunter, op. cit. (n. 39), ad 876–86, p. 194.

55 See Campbell, op. cit. (n. 43), p. 57.

56 Vian, op. cit. (n. 12), i.64 n. 3, may be right to suggest a reference in the Iphias scene to the Thessalian goddess Pheraia, assimilated to Artemis / Hecate. Pherae is situated close to Iolcus and mention of a Thessalian cult of Artemis might easily conjure up for the learned reader the reputation for Hecatean witchcraft of that region. In this case the figure of Iphias would subtly evoke this Hecatean background as well as the beneficent aspect of Artemis ‘protectress of the city’ in a way which would be quite in keeping with the ambiguous nature of the scene as a whole. Apollonius clearly has in mind here, however, Artemis 'Ιωλκία, a goddess, as Vian himself notes (loc. cit.; see also Roscher, ii.l col. 290), attested elsewhere and apparently quite distinct from Artemis Pheraia. It might be wise, therefore, to be doubtful about any allusion to the goddess of Pherae here, attractive as that would be, given the Hecatean associations of the deity (on which see Kraus, T., Hekate, Heidelberger Kunstgeschichtliche Abhandlungen (Heidelberg, 1960), pp. 77–83)Google Scholar, to my argument that Iphias is intimately connected with the Hecatean Medea. On the theme of the struggle between Olympian and chthonic forces in the poem as a whole see Lawall, art. cit. (n. 35), 133 n. 21.

57 Rusten, J., Dionysius Scytobrachion, Papyrologia Coloniensia 10 (Opladen, 1982)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, fr. 36 = F. Jacoby, FGrHist 32 F 14.

58 In the other more frequently attested version of the story Medea presents herself to Pelias as a suppliant. See RE xv.l col. 40.

59 Hyginus (24.2) relates a similar account with Medea as a priestess of Diana, but he makes no reference to her old age.

60 See Rusten, op. cit. (n. 57), p. 100.

61 See Rusten, op. cit. (n. 57), pp. 85–92.

62 (1989), p. 20; cf. Rusten, op. cit. (n. 57), p. 93 n. 2.

63 See Campbell, M., review of Rusten's Dionysius Scytobrachion, CR 33 (1983), 315.Google Scholar

64 In later versions of the Medea story priestesses of Artemis/Diana proliferate, in a variety of roles. See Hyginus, 26.2, 27.3; Dracontius, Medea 303. These figures must be seen as variants of the old priestesses of Artemis described by Apollonius and Dionysius.

65 On these names see RE ix.2 col. 2588.

66 For this name see Hesiod, Cat. fr. 23 (a). 15, 17. On the meaning of the Iphi- prefix see most recently Dowden, op. cit. (n. 36), p. 46.

67 op. cit. (n. 12), i.64–5 n. 3.

68 See RE xv.l coll. 34–35.

69 See Roscher, i.l col. 56.

70 See Janko, R., ‘P. OXY: 2513: Hexameters on the Sacrifice of Iphigeneia?’, ZPE 49 (1982), 25–9.Google Scholar

71 See Haslam, M. W., Oxyrhynchus Papyri, vol. 53 (London, 1986), p. 10Google Scholar. See, however, Davies, M., review of Oxyrhynchus Papyri, vol. 53, JHS 109 (1989), 248.Google Scholar

72 See Rusten, op. cit. (n. 57), p. 100.

73 See Herter, art. cit. (n. 5), 371; Campbell, op. cit. (n. 43), p. 99 n. 29; Hunter, op. cit. (n. 39), ad 66–75.