Results by title

This volume presents a companion text to ancient Greek poet Apollonius of Rhodes, author of the epic poem Argonautica, which stands on a level of importance with other major ancient epics like the Aeneid or the Odyssey. Ruth Scodel and her contributors examine Apollonius’ work from three points of view—his literary influences and impact on contemporary writers, the actual work of Apollonius, and his later reception in Latin. This companion volume seeks to help readers with varied reasons to be interested in Apollonius—whether they are interested in Latin poets whom he influenced, or in patronage, or narrative method.

A Companion to Apollonius of Rhodes aims to help contemporary readers appreciate what is most characteristic of Apollonius’ epic—its fascination with ritual and myth, gods who act without the direction of Zeus, frequent distanced narration, the portrayal of characters in situations where there are no good choices. It includes thorough analyses of the poem’s relationship to contemporary art with illustrations and treats familiar topics, such as Jason’s leadership, with nuance. Contributors include Benjamin Acosta-Hughes, Annemarie Ambühl, Anja Bettenworth, Keyne Cheshire, Christopher Chinn, James Clauss, Adele Teresa Cozzoli, Kristopher Fletcher, Alexander Hollmann, Regina Höschele, Niklas Holzberg, Alison Keith, Adolf Köhnken†, Anatole Mori, William H. Race, Norman Sandridge, Selina Stewart, Stefanie Stürner, and Graham Zanker.

By the time the Roman poet Valerius Flaccus wrote in the first century CE, the tale of Jason and his famous ship the Argo had been retold so often it was a byword for poetic banality. Why, then, did Valerius construct his epic Argonautica? In this innovative analysis, Jessica Blum-Sorensen argues that it was precisely the myth’s overplayed nature that appealed to Valerius, operating in and responding to a period of social and political upheaval. Seeking to comment obliquely on Roman reliance on mythic exempla to guide action and expected outcomes, there was no better vessel for his social and political message than the familiar Argo. 
 
Focusing especially on Hercules, Blum-Sorensen explores how Valerius’ characters—and, by extension, their Roman audience—misinterpret exemplars of past achievement, or apply them to sad effect in changed circumstances. By reading such models as normative guides to epic triumph, Valerius’ Argonauts find themselves enacting tragic outcomes: effectively, the characters impose their nostalgic longing for epic triumph on the events before them, even as Valerius and his audience anticipate the tragedy awaiting his heroes. Valerius thus questions Rome’s reliance on the past as a guide to the present, allowing for doubt about the empire’s success under the new Flavian regime. It is the literary tradition’s exchange between triumphant epic and tragedy that makes the Argo’s voyage a perfect vehicle for Valerius’ exploration: the tensions between genres both raise and prohibit resolution of anxieties about how the new age—mythological or real—will turn out.