Advice and Distance in the Argonautica

Morgan Grey (University of Missouri, Columbia)

Feeney, Lefkowitz, and Hunter all address the issue of the gods within the Argonautica. Lefkowitz calls them “remote” (186:  2003), and both Hunter and Feeney discuss the obscurity and inscrutability of, for instance, Zeus' role and  motivation (79-80: 1993; 58-69:1991).  Certainly these critics have identified a major problem, but how to deal with it?  One way, the way I have done it, is to examine the lesser divinities as advisors to the Argonauts, and stress the distance between the humans advised and the advising divinities. 

The Argonauts receive guidance at major crossroads on their voyage, which comes from both mortal and immortal sources.  The heroes conduct an exchange with their human advisors that they do not always conduct with their immortal ones.  While Hera, Apollo, Zeus and Athena give indirect or distant aid, lesser deities such as Glaucus, Triton, the Hesperides, and the Herossae directly assist the Argonauts.  By keeping the Olympians at a distance, and by having the motivations of the lesser gods unclear, Apollonius is emphasizing their power over humans and the existence of a hierarchy within the poem.

 Throughout the poem, Apollonius reminds the reader that many of the Argonauts will not survive the quest.  He does this so that the reader remembers that these heroes are mortal, and subject to the gods.  The Argonauts are dependent upon advisors whom they meet at moments in the plot when a crucial decision must be made.  The majority of these advisors are immortal, and so have knowledge superior to that of the mortal Argonauts.  The heroes certainly gain from this knowledge, since it allows them to continue on their journey, but the motivations of these gods are not always clear.  In some instances they are motivated by pity for the Argonauts (the Herossae, 4.1308; the Hesperides, 4. 1422), but in others the deities are motivated by a request (Thetis, 4.834-841) or by a sacrifice (Triton, 4.1550-54).  Another element linking the deities, marking them as divine and delineating them from the mortals, are their sudden arrivals and disappearances (cf. Glaucus, 1.1310ff.).  All of these can be contrasted with Phineus and Medea as advisors in the poem.  Phineus and Medea are “supra-mortal” in their knowledge, but are limited in what they can reveal (especially Phineus, cf. 2.244ff.).  In addition, Phineus and Medea negotiate an exchange for their assistance, unlike the divinities. 

Hera gives the most guidance to the Argonauts of any god, but does so only through intermediaries.  She is mentioned frequently by Apollonius as having plans for Medea, and certainly uses her as a means for achieving her end (Lefkowitz, 178).  Hera is the highest deity in the hierarchy established by the poem, influencing not only humans (Arete), but also lesser gods (Thetis).

Apollonius uses advisors in his poem not just as a narrative device to move the epic forward, but also to establish a hierarchy of power based on knowledge which differs greatly from the one created by Homer.

Bibliography

Feeney, D.C.  The Gods in Epic. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1991.

Hunter, Richard.  The Argonautica of Apollonius:  literary studies.  Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993.

Lefkowitz, Mary.  Greek Gods, Human Lives: What We Can Learn from Myths.  Yale University Press, New Haven, 2003.