Apollonius Rhodius

VALERIA MELIS
(Università degli Studi di Torino)

(eng) - The trial of Jason in the Argonautica (Ap. 3. 1278-1407): reinterpretation of a myth in the context of the poetry of an Alexandrian.

In the narration of the trial that Jason has to face to conquer the Golden Fleece there are some strange elements that need to be explicated: the muzzle of the bulls of Eeta is made of bronze (Ap. 3. 230-231) and Jason uses hisweapons inappropriately: the helmet is first used as container of the dragon’s teeth that the hero has to sow (3.1281, 1321-1322) and then to contain water (3. 1348-1349), while the spear is used to prick the bulls.
Beginning with the parallel with the main model, the fourth Pythian Ode of Pindar, in which these elements donot appear, and through a series of comparisons with the texts of the Greek and Latin literary tradition in whichthe bulls are described, this article finds a plausible explanation in the realistic attitude that characterizes the wayin which Apollonius narrates the mythical adventures of the Argonauts. This attitude, as it seems, has beenunderstood by Ovid, as his description of the bulls in Metamorphoses 7. 104 and particularly in the twelfth epistle of  Heroides (vv. 41-44) shows. Moreover, the inappropriate use that Jason makes of the helmet and of the spear can be justified by the will of the Hellenistic author to avoid superposing the figure of his character with that of a peasant.

(fr.) Le procès de Jason dans les Argonautiques (Ap. 3. 1278-1407): réinterprétation d’un mythe dans un contexte de poésie alexandrine.

Dans le récit du procès auquel Jason doit faire face pour conquérir la Toison d’Or, certains éléments étrangesdoivent être expliqués: le mufle des bœufs d’Eeta est fait de bronze (Ap. 3. 230-231) et Jason utilise ses armes defaçon inappropriée: le casque est d’abord utilisé
pour recevoir les dents du dragon que le héros doit semer (3.1281, 1321-1322) et par la suite pour contenir de l’eau (3. 1348-1349), alors que la lance est utilisée pour faire avancer les bœufs.
Parant du parallèle avec le modèle principal, la quatrième Pythique de Pindare, dans laquelle ces éléments nesont pas présents, et à travers une série de comparaison avec des textes de la tradition littéraire grecque et latinedans laquelle se trouve la description des taureaux, cet article trouve une explication plausible dans la tendance auréalisme qui caractérise le mode dans lequel Apollonios raconte les aventures mythiques des Argonautes. Cette tendance , à ce qu’il semble, a été reprise par Ovide, comme le démontre la description qu’il fait des taureaux dans les Métamorphoses
7. 104 et surtout dans la douzième lettre des Héroïdes
(v. 41-44). L’usage impropre que Jasonfait du casque et de la lance peut d’autre part trouver une justification dans le désir de l’auteur hellénistiqued’éviter une identification de rôle entre la figure de son personnage et celle d’un paysan.

Este livro reúne artigos voltados ao estudo de aspectos da literatura helenística e de sua influência na produção literária posterior, abrangendo variados assuntos, tais como épica, historiografia, mimo, teatro, biografia e filosofia. A publicação dessa coleção de textos desempenha um importante papel na divulgação da produção crítica oriunda da "Quarta Semana de Estudos sobre o Período Helenístico", organizada pelo grupo de pesquisa "Hellenistica" e ocorrida na Universidade de São Paulo entre os dias 17 e 18 de setembro de 2015, por meio de financiamento da Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) e do Departamento de Letras Clássicas e Vernáculas (DLCV - FFLCH - USP).

This book explores the representation of the gods in Greek hexameter poetry in its many forms, including epic, hymnic and didactic poetry, from the archaic period to late antiquity. Its twenty-five chapters, written by an international team of experts, trace a broad historical arc, reflecting developments in religious thought and practice, and ongoing philosophical and literary-critical engagement with the nature and representation of the divine and the relationship between humans and gods. They proceed from the poems ascribed to Hesiod and Homer and the so-called Cyclic epics, via the Hellenistic poets Apollonius, Callimachus, Aratus and Moschus, to the poets and poems of the third to sixth centuries CE, including Quintus of Smyrna, Triphiodorus, the Cynegetica, Nonnus, Eudocia, Colluthus, the Argonautica of Orpheus and the Sibylline Oracles. An epilogue explores the reception of the Greek "epic" gods by the Roman poets Virgil and Ovid, and by the English poets Tennyson, Walcott and Oswald.

The royal Piso family of Rome performed "miracles" by creating them in the form of literary works. This paper explains not only what they did, but how and why they did it and more. There are many items in ancient texts that have baffled scholars for a long time; this sheds light upon a few of those. Please share this information. TY

Is Medea a monstrous entity? And if she is, to what extent?
In attempting to answer these questions, this paper will focus on the representative strategies adopted by Euripides’ Medea, Hesiod’s Theogony and Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica. These authors never use the explicitly marked vocabulary of monstrosity in the characterization of the heroine; however, the paper will show how a veiled ‘teratological’ connotation of Medea is always latent in their texts.

The abandonment of Heracles at the end of Book 1 in Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica marks a turning point for Jason and the rest of the Argonauts. The aid of their mightiest hero, upon whose strength they had relied, is lost to them and they must find a means of accomplishing their nearly impossible mission without him. Allusions to Heracles occur throughout Book 2, in all nine units of action, drawing the reader’s attention to Argonauts’ efforts to carry on in the face of their loss. These allusions can be grouped into four categories: explicit mention, verbal echo, extrapolative allusion, and geographic reference. The poet’s deliberate deployment of these allusions highlights the extent to which Heracles’ strength-based approach to problem solving still influences the Argonauts’ actions in Book 2. This approach contrasts with the role played by divine agents, which increases markedly in the poem’s second half, beginning with Book 3.

La più importante testimonianza poetica (integra) anteriore alle Argonautiche e contenente una porzione di testo dedicato all'antichissimo 2 mito degli Argonauti sufficientemente estesa per poter essere messa a confronto con l'opera di Apollonio Rodio è 1 Il lavoro è diviso in due parti: nella prima parte vengono affrontate alcune questioni di poetica pindarica/alessandrina mettendo in luce quei tratti che accomunano e distinguono in maniera significativa le due opere. Nella seconda parte, invece, viene seguita la narrazione del mito argonautico in Pindaro e nei passi paralleli di Apollonio. Tutte le traduzioni della Pitica IV sono di Gentili (per il riferimento cfr. nota 4), mentre quelle di Apollonio Rodio sono di Borgogno (cfr. Apollonio Rodio, Le Argonautiche, a cura di A. Borgogno, Milano 2003¹). Il testo critico che ho seguito per Apollonio è quello stabilito da Fränkel (Apollonii Rhodii Argonautica recognovit brevique adnotatione critica instruxit H. Fränkel, Oxonii 1961), mentre per Pindaro quello di Snell e Maehler (Pindari carmina cum fragmentis, 2 voll., Leipzig 1975-1980). 2 All'interno del panorama dei miti e delle leggende del popolo greco la saga degli Argonauti doveva essere piuttosto conosciuta, se Omero nell'Odissea (XII, 69-70), in riferimento alla nave Argo e all'attraversamento delle Simplegadi, usa l'espressione πασιµέλουσα ("famosa" o "che sta a cuore a tutti"). Altri riferimenti a questa saga (forse una proiezione mitica delle prime imprese coloniali greche sul mar Nero) sono presenti nella Teogonia di Esiodo (vv. 993-1002), mentre, fra i lirici, Mimnermo parlò della conquista del vello, Ibico poneva Medea nei Campi Elisi insieme allo sposo Achille, Simonide in un Inno a Poseidone perduto menzionava il vello d'oro, mentre il poeta Eumelo di Corinto nei suoi perduti Corinthiaca e gli anonimi Naupactica, di cui possediamo solo pochi frammenti, parlavano dell'impresa degli Argonauti (non sappiamo però né quanto estesamente né in che misura questi testi abbiano influito su Apollonio). Sul tema del mito degli Argonauti prima di Apollonio Rodio cfr. G. Boselli, Il mito degli Argonauti nella poesia greca prima d'Apollonio

This article discusses the relationship between Apollonius Rhodius and pseudo-Hesiod. It argues that the ecphrasis on Jason’s cloak (Arg. 1.721-67) alludes extensively to the Shield of Heracles and to other Hesiodic poetry. Although some of the parallels in question have been noted before, many have been underplayed or overlooked. Apollonius’ references to ‘Hesiod’ should direct the audience’s reading of the Argonautica: the echoes of the Shield of Heracles focus attention on Heracles, who functions as a foil to Jason throughout the Argonautica, and invite comparison and contrast between the two heroes. The recognition of these allusions also has implications for certain problems in Hellenistic poetry.

Mnemosyne 2015/16.

The episode of Cyzicus in book 1 of Apollonius’ Argonautica, which has long been considered a useless narrative connection, is on the contrary a fundamental point in the definition of Jason and the other Argonauts as characters and of their role in the poem. This definition is brought about by a direct contrast between Herakles’ deed against the Gegeneis and Jason’s hamartia during the battle against the Doliones. This paper tries to identify the terms of this literary process, and supplies a brief analysis of both apollonius’ mythological sources and of the use he made of them for his poetical purpose.

This PhD thesis contains an investigation into the nature of five ancient Greek ekphraseis: 1. the shield of Achilles in the Iliad (18.478-608); 2. the shield of Heracles in the pseudo-Hesiodic Scutum (139-320); 3. the goatherd’s cup in Theocritus’ first Idyll (27-60); 4. Jason’s cloak in Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica (1.721-68); and 5. Europa’s basket in Moschus’ Europa (37-62). The main aim of this thesis is to investigate to what degree these ekphraseis can be regarded as descriptive, and to what degree as narrative. For definitions of narration and description, this thesis draws on modern narratological and discourse linguistic theory. By close analysis of the ekphraseis, it is shown that they contain both descriptive and narrative elements.

The Homeric episode where Helenos listens to the dialogue between Apollo and Athena, metamorphosed into vultures sitting on an oak tree (Il. VII 17-60), could be a model for the garrula cornix digression in Callimachusí Hecale (frr. 70-74 H.). A comparison with Ap. Rh. III 927-939 and Nonn. D. III 97-122 follows, both of which develop the speaking crow motif in the epos.

In this paper, I study Moero of Byzantium as an important predecessor of later Hellenistic poets. I explore Moero’s engagement with scholarly debate, analyse her detailed generic play, and close by considering her possible direct influence on the work of Callimachus and his peers. Moero appears to have foreshadowed key features of Callimachus’ poetics, not only in her approach to myth and genre, but also in her aesthetics and self-styling. Her poetry was learned, allusive and generically experimental; it revelled in scholarly debate, untraditional myths and aetiological narratives; and it may even have foreshadowed the Aetia prologue with a scene of youthful divine inspiration.

This article deals with Angelo Poliziano’s studies on the so-called scholia vetera to Apollonius of Rhodes. Poliziano read the scholia in the Laur. Plut. 32, 9, and copied some of them in Par. Gr. 3029, ff. 224r-239v. The author examines the presence of the scholia in Poliziano’s poems and commentaries and in the Miscellanea. Then, he focuses on the Par. gr. 3069; this analysis is especially devoted to the relationship between the scholia Poliziano transcribed in this manuscript, the marginal notes, and his other works, such as the translation of Plutarch’s Amatoriae narrationes, the commentary to Vergil’s Georgics and Misc. I 2. The author suggests that, while writing Misc. I 2, Poliziano also consulted the manuscript Laur. Plut. 55, 21, containing Xenophon’s Anabasis. This essay also contains the edition of Poliziano’s translation of the Vitae of Apollonius of Rhodes.

The phaselus in Catull. 4 is not a real boat, but a boxwood model ship, offered as ex-voto to the Dioscuri. Catullus plays with his readers a typical Ergänzungsspiel, revealing the nature of the phaselus just in the central lines of his poem (ll. 10-15), and making clear only in the final section (ll. 25-27) that the poem belongs to the anathematic sub-genre. The narrating voice of the phaselus (ll. 2, 15 ait, l. 6 negat) and the one of the real boat overlap through the poem: that is a typical feature in the Hellenistic votive epigrams, esp. in Callimachus. The paper focuses on the different voices and identities in the Hellenistic anathematic epigram: Posidipp. 75 Austin-Bastianini, Callim. epigr. xiv, xvi, xxii, xxiv-xxviii G.-P., and other epigrams are analysed. The Argonautic account in Callimachus’ Aetia (7c-21d Pf./Harder = 9,19-23 Massimilla) is also taken into consideration. In the final pages, Latin imitations and allusions to Catull. 4 are looked into: [Verg.] Catal. 10; Hor. Carm. 1,14; Prop. 3,21,17-20; Ov. Trist. 1,10; Mart. 7,19.

On that underlying unease and discomfort that most of us feel, if we are honest, when we read Apollonius' 'Argonautica'. Analysis of an important episode in Apollonius Rhodius' 'Argonautica' (The Lemnian Women) as a diagnostic example with important implications for the larger question: 'How are we to read Apollonius?' The significance of the mythological themes represented on the cloak worn by Jason as he goes to meet Hypsipyle in the episode of the Lemnian Women in Apollonius Rhodius 'Argonautica' 1.609-909, and the implications for the moral quality and behavior of Apollonius' Jason as a character. (Ariadne, Abesent Fathers, Hypsipyle as Nausicaa, the relation of the description of Jason's cloak to the Catalogue of Women in 'Odyssey' 11.225-330.) On Apollonius as a genuine and independent post-Homeric writer.

"Hellenistic oratory remains an elusive subject as not one Greek speech has survived from the end of the fourth century BC until the beginning of the first century AD. This collection of fourteen interdisciplinary essays offers a wide-ranging study of the different ways in which Hellenistic oratory can be approached.

Written by a team of leading scholars in the field, it examines the different kinds of evidence which shed light on the dynamic character of oratory during the Hellenistic period. All essays stress the pervasive influence of Hellenistic oratory and survey its different manifestations in diverse literary genres and socio-political contexts, especially the dialogue between the Greek oratorical tradition and the developing oratorical practices at Rome.

The volume opens with a detailed introduction, which sets the study of Hellenistic oratory within the context of current trends in Hellenistic history and rhetoric, and closes with an afterword which underlines the vibrancy and sophistication of oratory during this period. It will appeal to all students and scholars of Hellenistic history, society, and the history of rhetoric."

"Abstract: Of all the lost Foundation Poems attributed to Apollonius Rhodius, active at the court of Ptolemy II, the Ktisis of Alexandria must have been the most important for his contemporaries, and surely is the most intriguing for modern scholars of the Hellenistic world. Unfortunately, only a brief mention of this epyllion survives, in a scholion to Nicander’s Theriaka, relating to the birth of poisonous snakes from the severed head of Medusa, carried by Perseus over Libya. Deadly and benign serpents belong to a multi-cultural symbolic imagery intertwined with the Greek, Macedonian, Egyptian and Jewish origins of the city. This paper explores the possible connections of the only episode preserved from Apollonius’ Ktisis with the most ancient known traditions on the foundation of Alexandria —possibly even created at the time of Alexander or of the first Lagid dynasts, Ptolemy I and II."

Part I of this study argued that Aratus’s decision to base his LEPTĒ acrostic, which occurs during a discussion of moonlight (Phaen. 783-87), on Homer’s LEUKĒ acrostic (Il. 24.1-5) was motivated by the connection in Homer between the adjective λευκός and various types of light from the sky, including the light of dawn, which appears shortly after the acrostic (Il. 24.12), and the light of the moon (Il. 23.455). In Part II, I argue that a study of the reception of Aratus’s acrostic in Greek and Latin poetry reveals that many ancient poets solved the “riddle” of how Aratus’s acrostic relates to Homer’s.

It is my PhD thesis, you can also find it online just writing 'Elisa Bugin DSpace': the download is free.

My thesis aims to demonstrate how cognitive science, and, particularly, in this case, the study of working memory (WM), can draw a sharp distinction between orality and writing. Applying to Greek epic poetry what cognitive science teaches about WM, I will demonstrate that the Iliad and the Odyssey had an oral genesis and, for a long time, a completely oral transmission. I will argue that by the same token it is possible to confirm that other epic poems, such as the Argonautica and the Posthomerica had a written genesis and transmission.
  Applying cognitive science to these various epic texts and studying mental processes that distinguish orality from writing, I will show that signs of cognitive processes concerning orality are still evident in Homer whereas signs of cognitive processes concerning writing are visible in Apollonius of Rhodes and Quintus of Smyrna.

Quali e quanti sono gli autori greci e latini più importanti per Pasolini? In che modo questi ha scelto di prestare loro penna, cinepresa e corpo? E perché nell'opera multiforme e multimediale di un poeta «più moderno di ogni moderno» e tanto anticonformista da autodefinirsi «corsaro» ha avuto posto notevole una tradizione tendenzialmente conservativa, gerarchica ed elitaria quale è la tradizione classica? Il libro tenta di rispondere per la prima volta a queste domande, prendendo in considerazione la vita e l'intero corpus "greco-latino" di Pasolini, dalle opere più precoci realizzate tra Bologna e Casarsa fino a Petrolio/Vas.