Voyage of Argo (Penguin Classics)

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Summary: We are like birds trapped in the wide net of Destiny
Review: Apollonius of Rhodes' story of Jason's quest of the Golden Fleece is certainly one of the highlights of ancient literature. It can be ranked on the same level as Homer's works.
It is also in some aspects a modern work. Some scenes are worth a Hieronymus Bosch or 20th century surrealism: 'She had been terrified by a nightmare in which she saw all the rooms and walls of her house streaming with blood, and fire devouring all the magic drugs ... A number of creatures whose ill-assorted limbs declared them to be neither man nor beast had gathered round her like a great flock of sheep following their shepherd from the fold.' (p. 165)
Psychoanalysis is not far away when an oracle hints that a ship is a mother's womb: 'Argo carried us in her womb; we have often heard her groaning in her pain.' (p. 184)

On the other hand, the gods are still allmighty and condition all important events. But like in Homer's works, the divine interventions are nothing more than today's psychological explanations of normal human behaviour. The physical feats, inspired, provoked or influenced by the gods, can only be human.
The highlight of the story is the love between Jason and Medea, who is clearly presented here as a witch. But Apollonius calls love poetically but realistically 'Unconscionable Love, bane and tormentor of mankind, parent of strife, fountain of tears, source of a thousand ills'. (p. 159)
This book has also a historical cosmological importance: 'He sang of that past age when earth and sky and sea were knit together in a single mould' (p. 49); in other words, a foreshadowing of priest Lemaitre's original single atom.
One also feels distinctly that this work is an abridged version of a former written epic. The end is far too abrupt and doesn't even relate the homecoming of Argo's crew.

This edition contains a good, but too long, introduction by the translator and an excellent glossary. It would have gained in quality if it had contained a map with Jason's most probable voyage.
A must, not only for fans of classical literature.

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Summary: Ian Myles Slater on Jason the Almost-Hero
Review: Homer mentioned the voyage of the Argo as a well-known story, and bits and pieces appear in surviving Greek lyrics and dramas of the Classical period. His later life with Medea is a well-known subject of tragedy. Our oldest comprehensive account of the journey, however, comes from Hellenistic times, in a work by Apollonius, at one time associated with the Library of Alexandria, commonly known as "of Rhodes" from his favorable reception by the islanders.

The Jason of this version is a good deal less than an Homeric hero, overshadowed both by his companions (and who would not seem inadequate beside Hercules?) and by the goddesses who intervene on his behalf. He is not unattractive -- indeed, some may find him more appealing than the all-competent heroes of other epics. Still, one can see him being both callous enough and stupid enough to dump the witch-princess of Colchis for a better marriage.

This prose translation, first published in 1959 and reissued with some revisions and new apparatus in 1971, was the first new English version since 1912 (the Loeb Classical Library bilingual edition), and remained the only popular version for several decades. It has since been joined by others, in verse as well as prose. They represent more recent scholarship in both the Greek text and critical views of the poet and the epic. Two of them, at least, are considerably more ambitious as works of art. Can the good old Penguin Classics standby still compete?

For those looking for high poetry, or for elaborate notes or critical positions, probably not. But, despite the comments of at least one competitor, Rieu's treatment is not without its merits. Although Rieu's English is now a little antiquated, it remains readable. His English version is helped as well as hindered by a tendency to reduce the relatively ornate style of a learned Alexandrian poet to something more approachable to an intelligent school-boy. It is still a good place to begin, and for those who are simply curious about Jason's adventures, it may be the best place.

Of course, I tend to favor a book that enchanted me when I read it in 1968.

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Summary: A Sea of Troubles....
Review: The Voyage of Argo is the second E.V. Rieu translation from epic poem to prose work of Ancient Greek literature that I have indulged in. The story laid out here is the quest for and return from obtaining the Golden Fleece by Jason and the 'Argonauts' as his traveling companions come to be known.

Each of the four 'books' of this crafting of Apollonius's tale relates the various trials, dangers, deceptions, victories, and defeats of the crew of the Argo.

Book one, 'Preparation and Departure' was, for me, the hardest to digest. The first several pages, following a lengthy introduction, read merely like a passenger manifest. Many are named, some easily recognizable from other tales of Ancient Greece. The crew sails off on their quest, led by Jason, son of Aeson, with Heracles (Hercules) as part of their company. By the end of book one, the disappearence of one of the crew, Hylas, sends Heracles off on a quest of his own, to find Hylas' abductors and punish them.

Book two, 'Onward to Colchis', finds the crew of the Argo in battle with the Bebryces, drawing the attention of Athene, who allows the ship to pass safely through the treacherous Clashing Rocks, and the loss of other crew members along the way. Jason and company find their way to Colchis and land there, with the divine influence of the Gods.

Book three, 'Jason and Medea', centers on the famed love story of the two title characters. Medea, struck by an arrow from Eros, falls in love with Jason, and becomes his greatest ally, as she is the daughter of King Aeetes, the man who knows the location of the Golden Fleece Jason and his crew seek. Aeetes, finding the company of the Argo to be brash and treacherous, proposes a test of their fortitude, and should they survive the flaming bulls and sharp toothed serpent, and obtain the fleece, they will have proven themselves worthy. Medea, desperate to help her beloved, contrives a plot of her own to aid Jason, and win his heart.

Book four, 'Homeward Bound' tells of the dangers Jason and crew once again face on the open seas as they journey home. Medea in tow, Jason must choose between his love for her and the lives of his crew as Aeetes sets out to destroy them and bring Medea back home to him.

A thrilling tale of bravery and cunning, The Voyage of Argo ranks with the Odyssey in terms of excitement and content. While reading this, and the notes that accompany the text naming this surviving version of the tale as a possibly 'revised second edition' of the actual story, I am left to wonder if perhaps the 'divine influence' of Athene and Here (Hera), and even Zeus himself, are not offered as simple explanation for events that seemed miraculous to the author. The story flows along easily and while it does not suffer from the 'interference' of the Gods, it is not exactly amplified by it either.

Whatever the case, The Voyage of Argo is a thrilling read. It is easy to see why it has spawned many fictional accounts, as it is an adventure tale ripe for the picking, and needs very little 'inventiveness' to augment it to a full-fledged fictional thriller.