apollonius' jason: human being in an epic scenario author(s):

Apollonius' Jason: Human Being in an Epic ScenarioAuthor(s): Steven JacksonSource: Greece & Rome, Second Series, Vol. 39, No. 2 (Oct., 1992), pp. 155-162Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/643264 .Accessed: 23/02/2015 16:31

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Greece & Rome, Vol. xxxix, No. 2, October 1992

APOLLONIUS' JASON: HUMAN BEING IN AN EPIC SCENARIO*

By STEVEN JACKSON

Apollonius' Jason has been variously described by scholars as a 'weak and insignificant hero',1 a 'tame and insipid' character compared with that of Medea,2 'discreet, proper, quite weak, and somewhat colourless',3 'never quite equal to the emergency, and can never rise above his immediate troubles',4 'cold and selfish',' 'uninteresting when he is not repellent',6 an anti-hero,7 and a love-hero.8 But, with the exception of R. Hunter's view' of Jason as a human being forced by necessity to carry out tasks which no Homeric hero was ever called upon to do, most scholars have erred in comparing the Hellenistic hero Jason with the archetypal hero of epic tradition.

As a Hellenistic hero Jason is, in fact, not a hero of non-human proportions at all, but a man, with all man's qualities and faults. He not only meets physical dangers; he must face moral dilemmas too. Apollonius' Argonautica is a work of Hellenistic sensibility composed within the traditional framework of epic convention, motif, and idiom. The poem is concerned with man's inter-relationship with both his fellow-man and with the gods. Regarding man's attitude to the gods, the poet advocates themis (respect for divine law), avoidance of hubris (insolence to the gods), and speaks of the futility of man's actions without divine blessing and help. These tenets are reflected throughout the poem in the poet's description of Jason's character and its role in the tale. Jason makes full use of heaven's assistance, especially in the shapes of Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena; he has, it seems, learned well the lessons gleaned from the fate of Phineus (2.178- 499) and from the death of Idmon (2.815 ff.). But, in truly human fashion, he also is prepared to seek help from less exalted regions in the form of Hecate. Like most men, too, Jason has his purpureus pannus, in his case the so called aristeia (bravery) of Book 3, but this is accomplished successfully only with the help of heaven working through Medea. Jason certainly is not afraid to be seen using female advice and help."'

Lack of decision has always been scholars' main criticism of Jason, with much scholastic emphasis on the epithet amechanos (helpless), which Apollonius uses passim." But this is part of most scholars' a priori error in


156 APOLLONIUS' JASON

thinking of Jason as an archetypal epic hero. If we consider the epithet as applying to a man rather than to a hero, a man who by his own kind's nature has thoughts and doubts, a man who realizes he is not self- sufficient, a man who has qualities and faults, then, we soon realize that Apollonius' description of Jason as amechanos does not detract from Jason the man any more than Homer's description of Achilles weeping in his tent detracts from Achilles the hero. The epithet amechanos is not only an Apollonian variation of the Homeric polymetis (very cunning) used of Odysseus but is also redolent of Apollonian irony when one remembers Odysseus weeping beside the sea, giving up all hope of returning home, winning his final victory over his enemies only with the aid of Athena, and this despite Odysseus' constant disbelief in repeated heavenly assurances that all would be well. At least Apollonius' Jason only once flies in the face of heaven, namely in his murder of Apsyrtus (4.395 ff.). Both before and after this episode Jason fully respects the power of heaven. Unlike Odysseus, too, Jason never shows a callous indifference to the violent death or loss of any of his men. When Heracles, Polyphemus, and Hylas are left behind in Mysia (1.1207 ff.), Jason is emotionally crushed by this disaster,12 so much so that he almost loses control to Telamon, but is rescued by heaven in the guise of the sea-god Nereus' spokesman Glaucus who proclaims it is fated that these three should be abandoned here.13 At this point more than at any other in the entire poem Jason is indecisive, yet it is the traditional epic hero Telamon who comes badly out of the episode. He has been made to look hot-headed and fatuous. He immediately apologises to Jason who, despite this insult, gracefully accepts his apology saying that he would not nurse a grudge and that Telamon's outburst was understand- able. After all, Jason continues, Telamon was not ranting and raving over a flock of sheep or some sort of worldly goods but over human lives. Surely we see here an oblique allusion by Apollonius to the fate of Telamon's son Aias.14 The point is that the crude Telamon has been discredited by Apol- lonius and the genteel Jason is indisputably in charge. Apollonius, cleverly, has turned the situation on its head. Finally Jason says that he would like to think that if ever the occasion arose Telamon would speak up for him in the same way as he had for Heracles. Yet, ironically, Jason must have just finished thinking that he did not have time to send out search parties, for, after all, had he himself not received the harshest of rebukes by Heracles at Lemnos for delaying the quest?

And it is no good praying for a miracle. Fleeces do not come of their own accord. (1.870-1)


APOLLONIUS' JASON 157

One by one the archetypal heroes who appear in Apollonius' poem are discredited. Telamon once again suffers (3.382 ff.) when, about to fly into a rage with Aeetes who has insulted the Argonauts, he is checked by Jason, who proceeds to give a more politic reply to the king. Idas, the archetypal miles gloriosus (braggart soldier), learns nothing from Idmon's death and his actions are quite clearly futile in the circumstances surrounding it (2.815 ff.). Idas' answer to every situation is one of aggression, and the proposal to enlist female support to acquire the fleece is complete anathema to him (3.555-63). Heracles' brute force and ignorance is of no avail to him in his search for Hylas (1.1261-72), and Apollonius makes the serious point that great physical strength does not achieve everything when he portrays Heracles as an almost comical figure breaking his oar in a choppy sea and falling sideways off the rowing bench (1.1161-71). In discrediting the traditonal heroes of epic in this way, Apollonius is not just reflecting an Alexandrian literary bent," but he is throwing into relief Jason's character, thoughts, and potential. Jason may be seen to think and doubt, but he does make decisions: and, far from being weak and feeble, his potential to succeed is much greater than that of any of the archetypal epic heroes.

At Colchis, Jason's initial decision fails: namely, to persuade Aeetes by politic speech to give up the fleece which rightly belongs to the Colchian king (3.171ff.). However, Jason succeeds in avoiding war and in recon- noitring the opposition camp, which were two of his original intentions. But Aeetes decides to test the leader of the Argonauts (3.401 ff.) by getting him to yoke the fire-breathing bulls, sow the dragon's teeth, and kill the crop of earth-born men. When Jason first hears this declaration of the king's: he listened to this with his eyes fixed on the floor; and when the king had finished, he sat there just as he was, without a word, resourceless in the face of his dilemma. For a long time he turned the matter over in his mind, unable boldly to accept a task so clearly fraught with peril. (3.422-5) These are not the actions and thoughts of a traditional epic hero, certainly, but they are not the reactions of a coward either. They are the normal and sensible reactions of a brave man faced with a dangerous situation.16 Jason replies not with the traditionally bombastic words of the epic hero but with the reasoned logic of the thinking man:

Your Majesty, right is on your side and you leave me no escape whatever. Therefore I will take up your challenge, in spite of its preposterous terms, and though I may be courting death. Men serve no harsher mistress than Necessity, who drives me now and forced me to come here at another king's behest. (3.427-31)


158 APOLLONIUS' JASON

Necessity, then, forced Jason to carry out this task, just as it compelled him to set out on the voyage in the first place. But once having made his decision Jason is determined to see things through.

It is most important to remember that Apollonius throughout his poem wishes to lay the stress on Jason's character, actions, and thoughts in any given situation. Even during the events at Colchis leading eventually to the murder of Apsyrtus Apollonius places more emphasis on Jason's thoughts and decisions than he does on the very important character of Medea. It is Medea who is affected by schetlios Eros (cruel Love - 4.445); Jason never loves Medea but simply uses her love for him to his own advantage. He did not wish to take her with him from Colchis, and he certainly never wanted to marry her.

However, to engage Medea's help he is quite willing to use the formid- able attraction which he discovered in Lemnos he holds for the opposite sex. Jason is always the pragmatist; for him the one true god is Anagke (Necessity). He tries at first to gain Medea's aid by promising always to remember her (3.1080) but, when this fails, he says he will take her with him and they will marry once they reach his home (3.1128). Nevertheless, he is prepared to take a formal oath on this only when he realizes that, without it, he will not carry off the golden fleece (4.95-98). Necessity, then, forces Jason to undertake the tasks set him by Aeetes, to swear on oath to marry Medea, and, as we will see, to murder Apsyrtus (4.395 ff.) and to marry Medea before he intended (4.1161-4).17

When initially trying to persuade her to help him (3.997 ff.), Jason recounts to Medea the story of Theseus and Ariadne. Here, Apollonius' predilection for both irony and literary games comes into play. For Jason omits to tell Medea that Theseus abandoned Ariadne on Naxos once her usefulness to him had ended. That Apollonius knew the desertion story of Ariadne becomes clear when he later speaks of a robe as the main lure to entrap Apsyrtus (4.423-34)."1 This robe, the poet explains, still exuded the perfume it received when Dionysus lay on it with Ariadne whom Theseus had carried off from Cnossus and abandoned on the island of Dia. The Graces had made the robe on Dia for Dionysus who later gave it to his son Thoas. He left it to his daughter Hypsipyle who gave it to Jason as a memento of their love-making. Thus Apollonius has cleverly used a circular structure for this literary game; and as Theseus used Ariadne so Jason would use Medea. But we must remember that just as Theseus' action did not affect his status as a hero so Jason's stature remains unaffected by his attitude to Medea.

Jason, then after due consideration, has decided that necessity compels


APOLLONIUS' JASON 159 him to undertake the task of yoking the fire-breathing bulls and of slaying the earth-born men. He has also decided to accept any help forthcoming from Medea, who, he knows, is in love with him. Apollonius places the whole emphasis on Jason and on his decision-making. When Jason tells the Argonauts of the task before him (3.492 ff.), Peleus, Telamon, Idas, Castor and Polydeuces, and Meleager each in turn volunteer to do the deed for him. Apollonius' point here is once again to decry the attitude of the traditional epic hero; Peleus' own words closely reflect this attitude:

I, for one, am willing. The worst that I shall suffer will be death. (3.513-4)

Contrast these thoughts with Jason's long consideration before he answered Aeetes and his decision to undertake the task only because he was forced to do so. Peleus and the other archetypal heroes, too, would charge into the fray unaided, but Jason was willing to accept possibly insidious help, even from a woman.

Once Medea has reached Argo safely after the completion of the task, and warned the Argonauts to fetch the golden fleece and to flee straight away (4.66ff.), she forces Jason, in return for her help in acquiring the fleece, to vow before the gods and his men to fulfil his promises he had made her. Necessity once again compels Jason to promise her, with the gods as his witnesses, to marry her as soon as they are home. Apollonius certainly portrays a very insecure Medea, and carefully avoids the depress- ing and rather monstrous picture of her as painted by Euripides. Indeed, now it is Medea who is amechanos. As Argo sailed for the sacred wood to fetch the fleece, It was then that Medea had a wild moment of regret. She started to go back, stretching her hands out to the shore. (4.106-7) But Jason is alert to Medea's vacillation; without her help, all is lost. For a crucial moment Jason could see survival, through success, slipping away from him. Necessity urges him to act with alacrity. This he does by using his best 'weapon', his power over women. He quickly halts her desperation with reassuring words. This is one of the most decisive and poignant episodes of the entire drama, and, by transferring the epithet amechanos from Jason to Medea, Apollonius cleverly throws into relief the motivation behind Jason's actions. Jason is determined to get what he needs, and to survive, no matter what it entails. For the first time in the poem we realize that Jason will disregard the instructions of Phineus and the lessons of Idmon's death if necessity demands.


160 APOLLONIUS' JASON As soon as Jason and Medea reach the sacred wood and approach the

guardian of the fleece, Medea comes into her own. She first hypnotizes the serpent with an enchanting song, and then, with a juniper sprig, sprinkles a sleep-inducing drug on its eyes, while Jason looks on from behind pephobemenos (terrified - 4.149). Only when Medea gives him the word does Jason snatch the fleece. Medea remains smearing the serpent's head with the drug until Jason has to urge her to return to the ship. He does this for no altruistic reasons, but he knows he still may need her to make good his escape. Jason is always the man, never the archetypal epic hero. At one moment Jason was triumphant after his ordeal with the bulls and earth- born men, and was in complete control over his own, and Medea's emotions. Medea, conversely, was amechanos. But, on facing the serpent, Jason is once again amechanos in the sense that he is thoroughly terrified (pephobemenos), and Medea is in control; he only snatches the fleece on her instruction: koures keklomenes (on the maiden's call - 4.163). Once, however, the serpent closes its eyes, Jason again assumes control.

When Apsyrtus in pursuit of the Argonauts eventually blockades them on the Illyrian branch of the Ister and succeeds in persuading the natives to support the Colchian fleet, Jason realizes that if the Argonauts, completely out-numbered, join battle they will be utterly destroyed: If the Minyae, outnumbered as they were, had fought it out at this point they would have met with disaster. (4.338-9)

So, Jason negotiates with Apsyrtus and persuades the Colchian commander to allow the Argonauts to keep the fleece, which Aeetes had promised them if Jason successfully completed the tasks the king had set him. As for Medea, they would leave her in the protection of Artemis until one of the kings entitled to mete out justice should decide whether she should go home to Colchis or follow Jason to Greece. Jason must have felt satisfied at these terms, for he had achieved what he wanted - success in the acquisition of the fleece, and survival for himself and his crew. There was a very good chance, too, of Medea being eventually returned to her father. It would seem that breaking an oath to a lover does not worryJason,19 but that his original oath to bring back the fleece was of the utmost importance to him.20

However, when Medea finds out all of this, she becomes almost hysteri- cal and utters all types of threats. Here Apollonius shows us just a glimpse of the Euripidean characterization of Medea. Jason, of course, has already benefited from her seemingly superhuman powers, and he has no wish to feel them against him and his men. So, his initial plan has failed and he is


APOLLONIUS' JASON 161

left with the dilemma of Medea's hostility on the one hand and that of the Colchians on the other. His second strategy is, as one would expect, not so satisfactory and much more desperate, but, once again, necessity impels him. Jason replies to Medea's outburst by telling her that, after all, this truce he had made with the Colchians was only to buy time to plan a trap for Apsyrtus; for, with Apsyrtus removed, the natives would no longer give their support:

However, this truce will leave us free to plan a pitfall for Apsyrtus; and I cannot think that the natives would attack us for your sake to oblige the Colchians, if the Colchian commander, who is your brother and protector, were removed. (4.404-7)

Then, with Medea's help and the aid of presents, including the infamous robe of Dionysus, Apsyrtus is lured to a secret meeting, and Jason murders him before the temple of Artemis, while Medea turns aside and covers her eyes with her veil - a reversal by Apollonius of the roles played by his two main characters in the serpent-guardian episode. The strategy works, and the Argonauts escape.

So, Jason is yet again decisive when it is necessary, and it is he who proposed the sacrilegious murder, not Medea.2" But, as was indicated during the episode of the actual acquisition of the fleece (4.106 ff.), Jason has now transgressed the advice given to him by Phineus and has ignored the lessons of Idmon's death. He has proved himself to be a man, with all man's faults - a human being in an epic scenario. But, as such, Jason is prepared to go, and is capable of going, much further than any archetypal epic hero. This portrayal of his protagonist by Apollonius would have delighted his Hellenistic audience.

NOTES * My thanks are due to Professor John Dillon of Trinity College Dublin and to Professor Frederick Williams of the Queen's University of Belfast for their interest and useful comments while I was

preparing this article. The translations which appear throughout it are by E. V. Rieu (Penguin, 1959). 1. F. A. Wright, A History of Later Greek Literature (London, 1932), p. 100. 2. G. W. Mooney, The Argonautica ofApollonius Rhodius (Dublin, 1912), p. 37. 3. A. Korte, Hellenistic Poetry (New York, 1929), p. 183. 4. M. M. Gillies, The Argonautica ofApollonius Rhodius: Book 3 (Cambridge, 1928), p. 40. 5. J. W. Mackail, Lectures on Greek Poetry (London, 1911), p. 263. 6. C. M. Bowra, Ancient Greek Literature (London, 1933), p. 221. 7. G. Lawall, 'Apollonius' Argonautica:Jason as Anti-Hero', YCS 19 (1966), 121-69. 8. C. R. Beye, 'Jason as Love-hero in Apollonios' Argonautika', GRBS 10 (1969), 31-55. For further

comment on Jason's 'heroism' in Apollonius' poem see F. Vian, Apollonios de Rhodes-Argonautiques, vol. 2 (Paris, 1980), pp. 32-38; also T. Klein, 'Apollonius' Jason, Hero and Scoundrel', QUCC 42 (1983), 115-26.


APOLLONIUS' JASON 9. R. L. Hunter, "'Short on heroics": Jason in the Argonautica', CQ 38 (1988), 436-53; see also

Hunter's 'Medea's flight: the fourth book of the Argonautica', CQ 37 (1987), 129-39. 10. Gained by his handsomeness and charm over women. 11. M. Hadas ('The Tradition of a FeebleJason', CP 31 [1936], 166-8) catalogues the instances on

p. 167 n. 3. Hadas argues that there was a tradition of a feeble and effeminate Jason dating from the fifth century. But this has very little to do with the Apollonian Jason.

12. In this light, surely, we cannot say that Jason was 'cold and selfish'; see Mackail's view above n. 5.

13. Cf. the fated deaths of Idmon and Tiphys (2.815 ff.). 14. It will be remembered that in Sophocles' Aias Telamon's son became so demented after

Agamemnon and Menelaus had presented Odysseus rather than himself with the arms of Achilles that he slaughtered a whole flock of sheep supposing them to be the sons of Atreus.

15. Cf Callimachus' treatment of Theseus in his Hecale and Theocritus' portrayal of Heracles in Id. 13.

16. So often have scholars maligned and misunderstood Jason's common sense. When, for example, Phineus has finished his catalogue of the rest of the outward voyage, Jason is again described as amechaneon kakoteti (helpless in his distress), and says to Phineus: 'You have given us the clue for our passage through the hateful Rocks into the Black Sea. But what I also wish to learn from you is whether, after escaping them, we shall get safely back to Hellas. How shall I manage? How am I to find my way once more across that vast expanse of water? My comrades are as inexperienced as I am' (2.412-7). That Jason should be sufficiently far-seeing to consider the safety of his crew on the return journey as well as on the outward and that he should recognize his own limitations in the situation (how different from the egotistical views of the archetypal epic hero!) are both signs of a true leader, not of the opposite. Not many men would have cried with joy when they had heard Phineus' predictions. Amechaneon kakoteti is a fair enough description; while not detracting from Jason's manliness it adds depth to his character in that clearly this particular leader thinks.

17. 'It was Necessity that made them marry now' (4.1164): King Alcinous of Phaeacia had decided to surrender Medea to the Colchians if she was still a virgin, but if she was a married woman he would support Jason (4.1098 ff.).

18. Cf. G. Zanker ('The Love Theme in Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica', Wiener Studien 13 [1979], 52-75), 67-68 n. 44; also A. Rose, 'Clothing Imagery in Apollonius' Argonautica', QUCC 50 (1985), 29-44.

19. For further information on the motif of the horkos Aphrodisios, see G. Pasquali, Orazio Lirico (Florence, 1920), pp. 477 ff.

20. Possibly Pindar (Pyth. 4.159) was right in his unique idea that giving rest to the spirit of Phrixus was the reason for Jason's feeling compelled to undertake the quest. What other reason would have been so strong as to force a man away from his own country where a usurper had taken charge, especially as he had been asked to go in the first place by the aforesaid usurper? We know that Pindar was basing his thesis on a traditional rite as recorded in early epic, viz. Hom. Od. 9.64 anaklesis tes psyches (invocation of the soul), and, particularly, Sch. Pind. 2. Pyth. 4.281, pp. 135-6 Drachmann. For Pindar, both the relieving of Phrixus' soul and the recovery of the fleece are one and the same. Jason must recover the fleece and bring it home, and by so doing lay to rest the soul of Phrixus; he cannot do one without the other. It stands to reason that Jason would never have agreed to undertake such a voyage (i.e. for the fleece alone) unless he were obliged to do so by the restless soul of a member of his family.

Apollonius does not give any reason as to why Jason should simply leave his homeland and undertake the quest, but he does make it abundantly clear that it is of the utmost importance that he should succeed.

21. J. F. Carspecken ('Apollonius Rhodius and the Homeric Epic', YCS 13 [1952], 35-143) is incorrect when he states (p. 103) that Medea proposes the murder of Apsyrtus.


Article Contentsp. [155]p. 156p. 157p. 158p. 159p. 160p. 161p. [162]

Issue Table of ContentsGreece & Rome, Second Series, Vol. 39, No. 2 (Oct., 1992), pp. 139-272Volume InformationFront MatterHomeric Survivals in the Medieval and Modern Greek Folksong Tradition? [pp. 139-154]Apollonius' Jason: Human Being in an Epic Scenario [pp. 155-162]Cicero's 'Familia Urbana' [pp. 163-172]The Latest Work on the Export of Baetican Olive Oil to Rome and the Army [pp. 173-188]Plotinus at Work on Platonism [pp. 189-204]Symbols of Marginality from Early Pythagoreans to Late Antique Monks [pp. 205-214]ReviewReview: untitled [p. 215]

Review: Subject Reviews [pp. 216-256]Books Received [pp. 257-269]Back Matter [pp. 270-272]

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