Argonauts

The Argoby Lorenzo Costa el Viejo.

The argonauts (in ancient Greek: Ἀργοναῦται, Argonâutai, 'sailors on the ship Argo'), in Greek mythology, were the heroes who sailed from Págasas to Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece, commanded by Jason. His exploits were recounted in several epic poems of Antiquity whose details often differ from each other.

The name Argonaut comes from the Latin argonauta and this from the Greek αργοναύτης, from Ἀργώ / Argó (name of the ship) and ναύτης / naútēs (sailor). Argo was the name of the ship in which they traveled, named after its builder Argos, although this name was also etymologically related to ἀργός, which means "fast".

The story of the Argonauts is one of the oldest Greek legends and incorporates many elements common to popular stories: a hero sent on a perilous journey to get rid of him, setting him an impossible task, but from which he emerges victorious thanks to the help of unexpected allies.

Old fonts

"Hércules en la nave de los argonautas", 1994 (Gonzalo Viana). This work located in the vicinity of the Tower of Hercules, (La Coruña, Galicia, Spain) represents Hercules in charge of the Argonauts in search of the gold cell.

The events of the mythical journey of the Argonauts were narrated in numerous literary works of Antiquity. Homer cites the ship Argo as the first to be able to traverse the Wandering Rocks, sailing from Colchis, but makes no mention of the Golden Fleece. He also briefly mentions Hesiod's voyage. The earliest surviving complete account of the expedition is Pindar's Pyticas IV, which belongs to the V a. C. There were other older poems that had to narrate the trip, one of them attributed to Eumelus of Corinth, which is usually dated to the VIII a. C. and another called Naupactias, which must have been before the V century B.C. C. but only a few fragments of them are preserved. C. also belongs to Euripides' Medea which, although it narrates events after the trip, offers some details about it in its development.

Century III a. C. belongs to the account that is considered the most complete of the expedition, the Argonáuticas of Apolonio de Rodas. Between the 1st centuries B.C. C. and II d. C., the Historical Library of Diodoro Sículo, the Argonáuticas of Valerio Flaco, —although this work was left unfinished—, the Mythological Library of Apolodoro and Higino's Fables also offer detailed accounts of the myth. Later are the Orphic Argonautics, perhaps from the IV century.

Some of these works used as their source works by mythographers that have not been preserved, such as Cleón de Curio, Herodoro, Ferécides, Teólito de Metimna, Demarato or Dionisio Escitobraquión.

In artistic representations, the metopes of the Monoptera of the Sicyon Treasury at Delphi stand out for their antiquity and artistic quality, which have been dated to around 570 BC. C. and have representations of Frixo and the ship Argo, where Orpheus is included. The Argonauts were also represented participating in the funeral games in honor of Pelias in the famous Cypselo chest, according to information from Pausanias, but this artistic work has not been preserved. Within ceramics, representations of specific aspects of the myth have been known since the VII-VI a. C.

Travel background

Frixo mounted on the winged ram.

The throne of the city of Yolcos had been occupied by Pelias, having been appointed regent by his mother-brother, Aeson, or having been forcibly dethroned. When Jason, son of Aeson, reached maturity, he came to Iolcos in order to reclaim the kingdom that had belonged to his father or, according to a variant, to participate in a sacrifice in honor of Poseidon, but an oracle had warned Pelias against a man shod with only one sandal and that is how Jason came to be. Thus, Pelias agreed to hand over the throne to him on the condition that he perform the feat of bringing back the spirit of Phrixus and the Golden Fleece from Colchis. This fleece was the golden skin of a winged ram that had saved Frixo from his stepmother Ino.

This mission had been devised by Pelias with the pretense that Jason would die during its development or, according to another variant, following the suggestion of Jason himself, whom Pelias had asked what he would do if an oracle had prophesied that a citizen I would kill him. Jason's response had been prompted by the goddess Hera, who hated Pelias for some wrongs the king had committed and wanted the mission to be successful.

Building the Argo

Construction Argo: Athena adjusts the candle while Tifis holds the dick and Argos works on the stern. Roman bas-relieve of terracotta (the century agoI), British Museum, London.

Jason consulted the oracle, which encouraged him to have a ship and make the expedition. So, a ship had to be built which was called Argo, in honor of his builder, who was called Argos.

The ship Argo was built under the direction of Athena, with wood from the forests of Mount Pelion in Thessaly. He had fifty oars. The ship's prow, built of Dodona wood, had the gift of speech and prophecy.

List of Argonauts

Jason sent heralds throughout Hellas to announce the completion of the future expedition, and numerous heroes arrived who wanted to be part of it. There are various literary sources that include the names of the members of the expedition, who received the name of "Argonauts" due to the name of the ship. They were also called "minias". The list of Apolonio de Rodas consists of 55 names, that of Valerio Flaco of 52, that of Higino of 69, that of the Orphic Argonauticas of 50, and that of Apolodoro of 45. In addition, Diodorus Siculus mentions that there were 54 but only gives a partial list of the names of those he considers most important. Statius says that there were 50 and also gives some names Pindar, who is the oldest surviving source, offers also a partial list.

Among the Argonauts, coming from all regions of Greece, there were many sons of divinities and some had special characteristics. Among these were the brothers Zetes and Calais, who had wings; the soothsayers Idmon and Mopsus; Ceneo, who was born a woman but was granted the wish to become a man; Lynceus, whose eyesight was prodigious, and Orpheus, whose music was said to have even made the oak forests move. Also among them was Pelias's own son, Acastus, who would have joined the expedition against his wishes. of his father, or would have been chosen by Jason so that Pelias favored the development of the trip.

The Journey

• Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category maps of the trip of the Argonautas.

Most versions indicate that Jason was chosen as the leader of the expedition, although a minority tradition mentioned that the leader had been Heracles. In the Argonautics of Apollonius of Rhodes, before setting sail the Argonauts had acclaimed Heracles to become their chief but he refused and proposed that the leadership be given to Jason.

After making sacrifices to Apollo, the ship, piloted by Tifis, set sail from the port of Págasas.

Stay on Lemnos

In a first stage of the trip, after a route that passed near Cape Sepíade, the island of Skiathos, the cities of Melibea and Eurymenas and Cape Canastro, the expedition reached the island of Lemnos (although in Pindar's version, the events on Lemnos occurred on the return voyage). There they found an island inhabited by women, who had killed all the men on the island as revenge because they had married Thracian women because those of Lemnos had begun to smell bad. This bad smell had been caused by the goddess Aphrodite as punishment because the women there had suppressed her cult.

The Argonauts were well received on the island, they established loving ties with the Lemnians, whose highest authority was Queen Hipsipyle, and they remained on the island for a long time (ancient mythographers mention that it was several days, several months, or even two years), until Heracles, or perhaps Orpheus, who had not disembarked, urged them to re-embark and continue the journey.

A variant of the landing of the Argonauts on Lemnos is that it did not take place until they swore to the Lemnians that they would join them.

Samothrace and the land of dolions

Then, at the direction of Orpheus, the Argonauts arrived on the island of Electra (Samothrace), where they began in the mystery rites that were celebrated there. In the story of Diodorus Siculus, from there a storm moved them to Sigeo, next to Troy, where Heracles killed the sea monster sent by Poseidon and that was preparing to devour Hesione.

In the other stories, they sailed to the country of the dolions, where Cícico reigned, who received them hospitably. Later they left again in the Argo but were surprised by a storm that forced them to return at night. Believing that they were enemies, the dolions attacked the Argonauts, who defended themselves with weapons and caused, among other things, the death of their king. When they recognized each other, the fight ceased, they regretted what had happened and paid funeral honors to Cícico.

Kidnapping of Hylas and abandonment of Heracles

Rapture of Hilas by the Nymphs, Roman mosaic of Carranque (Toledo, Spain).

Then they sailed to Mysia, where Hylas, who had been sent to fetch water, was abducted by nymphs from a spring. Heracles and Polyphemus searched for the young Argonaut, without success and, according to the majority tradition, none of the three returned to board the Argo, which left without them when Tifis wanted to take advantage of some gusts of wind. Aboard the ship, Telamon rebuked Tiphys for leaving Heracles behind, but Zetes and Calais defended the ship's pilot and when, shortly after, the sea god Glaucus emerged from the sea, to shout to them that the fate of Heracles, Hylas and Polyphemus was not to reach Colchis but the gods had reserved other destinations for them, Telamon relented in his anger. In Theocritus' account, however, Heracles reached Colchis on foot.

In other variants, Heracles had not even gotten to board at the start of the expedition of the Argonauts because he was serving queen Omphale, or had been abandoned before, in Afetas (Thessaly), because his weight put endangering the stability of the ship.

In the land of the bébrices

Then they arrived at the country of the bébrices, where their king Ámico forced the foreigners to fight against him in a boxing match, where he killed them. So he launched the same challenge to the Argonauts, but Polydeuces, the one chosen to fight against him, was the winner this time and killed him. A fight ensued between the Bébrices and the Argonauts in which many of the former were killed. In another version, Amicus surrendered when he was on the verge of death and promised that from then on he would never receive the Bébris again. outsiders with bad intentions.

Phineus and the Harpies

The persecution of the Harpies, work of Erasmus Quellinus II, Museo del Prado (Madrid).

Then they arrived at a place in Thrace where Phineus lived in solitude, who was a soothsayer and was blind. In addition, he was subjected to the ordeal that the Harpies, who were winged beings, harassed him and prevented him from eating. As the Argonauts wanted to know the future of their trip, Fineo asked them to free him from the Harpies first, so Zetes and Calais, sons of Boreas, who had wings, went out in pursuit of them.

About what happened to the Harpies and the Boreas there are different versions, some of which are quite confusing. In one of them, both the Boreas and the Harpies died during the chase but, according to another variant, the Boreas abandoned the persecution when, upon reaching the Strophades islands, Iris, sister of the Harpies, arrived and swore that they would cause no more harm to Phineus, or when Typhon emerged from Mount Vesuvius and forced the boreads to give up their pursuit. While the Boreas returned with the rest of the Argonauts, the Harpies headed for a cave on the island of Crete.

The Symplegades Rocks

Phineus, grateful, indicated to the Argonauts that they would have to cross a pass between the Symplegades rocks, also known as Cyaneas, which were enormous rocks that did not remain fixed but collided from time to time. He told them to release a dove or a crane and if the bird passed and was safe, they could pass too but not in case the bird died. The Argonauts followed these instructions and although the dove lost some tail feathers, it was able to get to safety. Then the Argonauts, rowing with all their might, were able to get through the pass as well, although the rocks closed in and caused the loss of some of the ship's ornaments that were situated at the stern.

The Argo was the first ship that managed to cross those rocks and since then they have remained fixed and immobile.

In the country of the Mariandinos

The expedition entered the Euxinus Pontus and arrived at the country of the Mariandinos, where they were well received by King Lico since the news had reached him that they had killed Amicus, the king of the Bébrices, who had been his enemy. In this place, according to the most widespread versions, Idmon died, attacked by a wild boar and Tifis, from a disease. Lico made his own son Dáscilo guide and accompany the expedition so that it reached Cólchide without problems. As for the piloting of the ship, it was Ancaeus, son of Poseidon, who replaced Tifis. In another tradition, it was Ergino, another son of Poseidon, who replaced him.

Along the coast of Asia Minor to Colchis

Then they continued sailing along the northern littoral zone of Asia Minor and passed near Sesame, the upper Erythinos, Crobyalos, Cromna, Citoro, Cape Carambis and the mouth of the Halis river, where they joined the Deileon expedition, Autolico and Phlogios, who had accompanied Heracles on an expedition against the Amazons. They continued sailing alongside the land of the Amazons, that of the Calibes, that of the Tibarenos, and that of the Musinecos to the so-called island of Ares, where they were attacked by birds, which they managed to drive away by shouting and clashing their shields. There they met the sons of Phrixus, who had sailed from Colchis to Orchomenus to claim the inheritance of their grandfather Athamas, but who had been shipwrecked, called Argos, Citisoro, Frontis and Melas, who joined the expedition.

From there they passed by the island of Fílira and the countries of the Macrons, the Bequiros, the Sapirs, and the Biceres, then they sighted the peaks of the Caucasus and finally the Colchis. After reaching the mouth of the river Phasis, they entered the current of the river and went up it to Ea, the city where Aeetes had his palace.

Obtaining the Golden Fleece

As soon as they reached Colchis, Jason announced to their king, Aeetes, his intention to obtain the Golden Fleece. The king promised that he would let her go with him if she could harness two fire-breathing bulls with bronze hooves, plow a field with them, sow dragon's teeth in the furrows, and then defeat the serpent or dragon that never slept and that he remained at the foot of the tree where the fleece was. Medea, the daughter of King Aeetes, who was a sorceress, fell passionately in love with Jason, through the work of Aphrodite and Eros. For this reason, and after the intermediation of her sister Calcíope of hers, she helped him to carry out her feat - previous Jason's commitment to take her with him to Iolco -, putting her sorcery into practice.

He gave Jason an oil with magical properties so that he could anoint himself with it and the monstrous bulls would not harm him. After having succeeded in harnessing the bulls, he threw his teeth into the furrows made in the earth. From them sprouted hundreds of armed men, called Espartos, who rushed against the hero, but he, following Medea's instructions, threw a stone between them and the armies faced each other. Then, Medea caused a terrible dream to the snake, Jason seized the precious skin and fled with the rest of the Argonauts and with Medea in his boat, since Aeetes proposed to burn the ship and kill the Argonauts. Herodotus, when explaining the reasons why the Greeks had come into conflict with the Persians, he explains that one of the ancient reasons for contention was that, according to the Persians, Medea had been kidnapped by the Greeks.

An early-century red-figure cilix V a. C. represents Jason regurgitated by the dragon that guarded the golden fleece, which appears hanging from an apple tree, with the goddess Athena next to him. This representation, attributed to Duris, must have come from another version of the myth for which there are no references in surviving literature.

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  Jason obtaining the gold cell and killing the dragon while Medea offers the offspring a potion. Fragment of a crather from the middle of the fourth century to C. painted by the so-called Pintor de Licurgo, National Archaeological Museum of Naples.

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  Cylix painted by Duris in which Jashon appears regurgitated by the dragon guarding the golden hair, with Athena at his side. 480-470 BC, Vatican Museums.

Death of Apsyrtus

In one of the traditions about what happened next, Medea had also had her brother Apsirtos, who was a child, board the Argo. Aeetes's men pursued the ship and Medea made the decision to kill his brother, tear him to pieces and throw him into the sea. King Aeetes collected the remains of his son and lost sight of the Argonauts.In another version, Aepsirtus was not a child, but a grown man who was sent by Aeetes to command a group of armed Colchians in pursuit of the Argonauts.. The Argonauts had started their return journey by the same route they had come, but after Medea made ritual offerings to Hecate at the mouth of the River Halis, in Paphlagon territory, they switched to an alternate route where they did not they had to cross the Symplegades again, but instead headed to the mouth of the Istro River, and then went up it. He caught up with them in the Adriatic Sea, at the court of Alcinous in Istria. There Alcinoo offered himself as judge and secretly told her wife Arete that he would decide to give Medea back to the colchos if she was a virgin but otherwise she would give her to Jason. Arete informed Jason of this and the night before the trial she deflowered Medea, so that the next day she was handed over to her husband. Apsirtus was not content and continued to pursue the Argonauts to an island where Jason was sacrificing and Jason killed Apsirtus. Apsirtus's death is sometimes considered to have been the result of a conspiracy involving Medea as well.

Route to Libya

There are other traditions about the return route the Argonauts followed. Pindar indicates that this occurred through the Red Sea, Apollonius of Rhodes says that after reaching the Adriatic after going up the Istro and the death of Apsirtus, the Argonauts headed south for a while but contrary storms they were taken to the island of Electris and then up the course of the Eridanus River and then down the Rhône River to the sea. While in the Orphic Argonautics the extremely confusing route traced included a journey through Lake Meotide, the region of the Hyperboreans, that of the Cimmerians, the island of Yerne and the Pillars of Hercules. the Bosporus and the Hellespont. Among them were Sophocles or Callimachus. For Diodorus Siculus, after crossing the Hellespont again, they passed through Samothrace again. This author locates a confrontation against the Trojans led by their king Laomedon on the way back, since he refused to give Heracles the mares and his daughter Hesione, as they had agreed after the events reported on the outward journey. Diodorus he also refutes the tradition that they had gone up the Istro River and details another tradition spread by Timaeus that the route had been instead by going up the Tanais River when they learned that the previous route was blocked by the Colchians; later they would have dragged the ship by land to another river that would have led them to the Ocean and then they would have followed a course towards the west until they reached Gadira and entered the Mediterranean again.

After the death of Apsyrtus, the Argonauts went to the island of Aea, where Circe lived, who purified Jason and Medea of that murder or, according to another version, told them that they should go to purify themselves at Cape Malea.Then they passed by the place where the Sirens lived, who attracted the Argo with their songs, but thanks to Orpheus's music they were able to escape their spell, except for Butes, who threw himself into the water. Next they reached the pass of Scylla, Charybdis and the Planctas or Wandering rocks, which they overcame thanks to the help of the sea goddess Thetis and her Nereid companions, who passed the ship through the air to each other as if they were playing ball.

Transport Argo through the desert of Libya, fresco painting by Annibale, Agostino and Ludovico Carracci, Fava Palace, Bologna.

In the version of Apolonio de Rodas, it was after overcoming these dangers when, after passing by the Trinacia meadow, where Helios's cows lived, they arrived at the court of Alcínoo, which according to this author was not in Istria but in Drépane and where the Colcos, unable to obtain the return of Medea, asked to be welcomed so as not to suffer the wrath of Aeetes. Next, the Argonauts left the Gulf of Ambracia and the Equinades islands, but there a storm blew them away. They pushed south to the Gulf of Sirte and ended up in Libya, where the tide pushed them far inland, in a desert area. The Argonauts suffered great hardship there, including having to drag the Argo overland for twelve days, to Lake Triton. Canto died, trying to steal cattle from a shepherd, and Idmon, bitten by a snake. They were only able to sail back into the sea when Jason offered a tripod of Apollo to the divinities of the place, which Triton picked up, who brought the Argo to the sea.

Return to Yolco

Jason takes Pelias with the gold bacon. Crater of red figures (about 240 or 330 BC), Louvre Museum, Paris.

When sailing to Crete, they were attacked by the giant Talos, who prevented them from disembarking until, due to a spell or a ruse by Medea, she died after losing her ichor or was killed by an arrow from Peante in the ankle and the Argonauts were able to land on Crete.

After continuing their route, they were surprised by a great storm but were helped by Apollo, who shot arrows that made the island of Anafe emerge, where the Argonauts erected an altar to the god and offered sacrifices to him. Finally, after stocking up on water in Aegina and navigate the coastal area of Attica, Aulis, Euboea and Opunte, they arrived again at the port of Págasas. The trip, according to Apollodorus, had lasted a total of four months. At Yolcos, Jason gave the Fleece to Pelias and plotted his death with the help of Medea. She convinced the daughters of Pelias that she could restore her father's youth if they cut him into pieces and boiled him. They did so and caused the death of the king. Later, Acasto, son of Pelias, expelled Jason and Medea from Yolcos or, according to a variant, Jason ceded the kingdom to Acasto. They settled in Corinth, or in Corcyra. In honor of Pelias, funeral games were held in which the Argonauts took part. In the account of Diodorus Siculus, the Argonauts decided to create the Games in honor of Zeus Olympius after a proposal of Heracles.

Constellations and tributes

Several constellations were related to the myth of the voyage of the Argonauts: The ship of the Argonauts became the constellation of Argo; the constellation of the Twins was interpreted as the catasterism of the Argonaut twins Castor and Pollux and, on the other hand, the constellation of the Lyre was the result of the catasterism of the lyre of Orpheus, which had been built by Hermes and had belonged to Apollo.

On the other hand, the inhabitants of Tifas showed the place where the Argo had been stranded after the trip. The tripod that had been offered to Triton in Libya was, according to tradition, kept by the inhabitants of the city of Evesperides.

In 2008 the construction of a replica of a Penteconera from the Greek Mycenaean era was completed, which was baptized with the name Argo. It was built in the shipyards of the city of Volos, a place that was in the vicinity of ancient Yolco, in central Greece, and will be permanently exhibited in a museum built for its exhibition.

Interpretations

Since Antiquity, numerous interpretations have been postulated about the origin of the myth of the Golden Fleece: Appian and Strabo suggested that sheep's fleeces were used to collect the gold particles carried by stream currents from Colchis. named Anonymous Vatican proposed that the fleece was actually a book written on skin that contained the way to get gold through alchemy.

Other interpretations have been proposed by modern scholars: Volkert Haass has linked the episode of the dragon of Colchis with the Hittite myth of Illuyanka. On the other hand, Mar Llinares García has defended that the origin of the myth of the expedition was find various aspects related to initiation, in which young people made a transition to adulthood and then reintegrated into the community.

Influence of the myth of the Argonauts on later culture

In art

Numerous pictorial and sculptural works have developed themes related to the expedition of the Argonauts, among which we can highlight:

• A set of eighteen frescoes painted by the Carracci brothers in the Fava Palace of Bologna, in the centuryXVI.

In contemporary literature

Numerous subsequent literary works have been inspired by the myth of the Argonauts. Some of them are:

• 1914: Argonauts, novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez.
• 1944: The Golden FleeceRobert Graves' novel.
• 2011: In the saga of Rick Riordan's Olympic Heroes sail on Argos II honoring the first Argos

In film and television

Several movies and television have been made that deal with the journey of the Argonauts in search of the Fleece:

• 1958: Hercules (Le fatiche di Ercole): film feature produced by Italy and directed by Pietro Francisci (1906 - 1977), with Steve Reeves in the role of Hercules, Sylva Koscina in that of Princess Iole and Fabrizio Mioni in the role of Jason.
• 1960: The giants of Tesalia (I giganti della Tessaglia - Gli Argonauti): film feature co-produced by Italy and France and directed by Riccardo Freda.
• 1963: Jason and the Argonauts (Jason and the Argonauts): film feature produced by the United Kingdom and directed by Don Chaffey, with Todd Armstrong (1937 - 1992) on the role of Jason and Nancy Kovack in Medea. The special effects of Ray Harryhausen stand out in this film.
• 1969: Medea: film feature produced by Italy and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, with Maria Callas on the role of Medea.
• 1971: Argonauts (Аргонавты): short film of cartoons produced by Soyuzmultfilm and directed by Aleksandra Snezhko-Blotskaya (Aлександра Снежко-л Boцкая, 1909 - 1980).
• 1986: The funny chronicle of a dangerous journey (Веселая хроника опасного путешествия), Soviet film starring Zurab Kipshidze, Lika Kavjaradze and Alexander Abdulov.
• 1988: Medea: telefilm directed by Lars von Trier.
• 2000: Jason and the Argonauts (Jason and the Argonauts): TV miniserie produced by Hallmark and directed by Nick Willing, with Jason London (n. 1972) on the role of Jason and Frank Langella in Eetes.
• 2008: The Spirit, adaptation of the homonymous series of Will Eisner comics. The film was directed by Frank Miller, and elements of the story that he narrates are the gold cell and blood of Heracles.
• 2010: In the series "The Magical Godfathers" Jason and the Argonautas were renamed "Jason and the Argogatos"

In other cultural aspects

• The denomination of Toison de Oro, an order of cavalry founded in the centuryXVIt's inspired by the gold cell.