Apollonius of Rhodes and the Universe of the Argonautica

Abstract

The Argonauts’ saga belongs to an ancient repertory of mythical narratives set in the Eastern Mediterranean basin, about heroic journeys to a hostile unknown world in search of an invaluable object with unimaginable power. To obtain it, the hero and his journey companions must be brave enough to overcome several obstacles, which include human ensnarement, a wild indomitable nature and monstrous entities, almost personified entities. The narrative thus evolves around a kind of initiation journey that only exceptional men can successfully undertake. This type of narrative would come to inspire the western concept of journey, by land or sea, in quest of other objects with all sorts of powers. Apollonius would become the inspirational model for Roman poets such as Valerius Flaccus, Virgil and Ovid. We will briefly explore the contents of the Argonautica as the result of a new world vision of the Hellenized world that sprung in Alexandria under the inspiration of the Library.