Argonautica
Also known as: The Argonautica, Argonautica of Apollonius, Argonautika
A Hellenistic epic in four books narrating Jason’s voyage on the Argo to seize the Golden Fleece from Colchis. Drawing on older Argonaut traditions, it foregrounds Medea’s love and agency, divine machinations, and learned geography as the crew navigate monsters, rival kings, and perilous seas before returning to Greece.
Description
Apollonius’ Argonautica retells the Argonaut saga with Hellenistic precision and psychological focus. Jason gathers a pan-Hellenic crew at Iolcus and sails to Colchis under Hera and Athena’s shifting patronage. Encounters with Lemnian women, King Cyzicus, Amycus the boxer, and the blind seer Phineus punctuate the voyage, culminating in the passage through the Symplegades. In Colchis, Aphrodite and Eros ignite Medea’s love for Jason; with her magic, he yokes fire-breathing bulls, sows dragon’s teeth, and takes the fleece guarded by a serpent. The flight home brings pursuit and the killing of Apsyrtus, ritual purification by Circe, a legally fraught asylum and marriage among the Phaeacians, the Sirens, and the bronze giant Talos on Crete, before the Argo returns to Pagasae. The poem blends learned mythography, catalogues, and ethnographic detail with an intimate portrait of desire, counsel, and cunning.
Historiography
Surviving as a continuous four-book epic with extensive ancient scholia, the Argonautica reflects Alexandrian poetics—concise scale, erudition, and intertext with Homer. Papyri attest to early circulation; medieval manuscripts transmit the main text and scholia. Ancient critics debated Apollonius’ relationship with Callimachus; later epicists (notably Valerius Flaccus) adapted the narrative. The poem became a key source for Medea’s early characterization in Latin and later European literature.
Date Notes
Composed in Hellenistic Alexandria, often dated c. 270–245 BCE.
Archetypes
Major Characters
- Jason
- Medea
- Heracles
- Castor
- Polydeuces
- Orpheus
- Aeetes
- Hypsipyle
- Athena
Myths
- Mustering of the Argonauts
- Voyage to Colchis
- Medea’s Enchanted Aid
- Seizure of the Golden Fleece
- Flight from Colchis and Pursuit
- Trials on the Return Journey
Facts
- Written in dactylic hexameter and divided into four books.
- Earliest surviving full epic narrative of the Argonaut saga.
- Centers Medea’s psychology and agency alongside Jason’s leadership.
- Features a formal catalogue of Argonauts in Book 1.
- Heracles exits the voyage after Hylas is lost among the nymphs.
- Polydeuces defeats the Bebrycian king Amycus in a boxing match.
- Eros’ arrow catalyzes Medea’s love for Jason at Aphrodite’s urging.
- The Argo passes the Symplegades with Athena’s aid and a guiding dove.
- Circe ritually purifies Jason and Medea after Apsyrtus’ death.
- Concludes with the Argo’s homecoming rather than Pelias’ downfall.