Apollonius Rhodius 9042909277, 9789042909274

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HELLENISTICA GRONINGANA 4

HELLENISTICA GRONINGANA

APOLLONIUSRHODIUS

PROCEEDINGS OF THE GRONINGEN WORKSHOPS ON HELLENISTIC POETRY

Editors

Edited by M.A. Harder R.F. Regtuit G.C. Wakker

M.A. HARDER R.F. REGTUIT G.C.

WAKKER

PEETERS LEUVEN - PARIS - STERLING, VIRGINIA

2000

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Apollonius Rbodius / edited by M.A. Harder, R.F. Regtuit, G.C. Wakker. __(Hellenistica Gronmgana; v. 4) . , Pa:~r~:f the Groningen Workshop on Hellenistic Poetry 4: Apollomus Rhodius, Groningen, 2-4 Sept. 1998. . Includesbibliographicalreferencesand mdexe~. . . ISBN 9042909277 (alk. paper) 1 Apollonius Rbodius--Congresses. 2. Apollonms, Rhodms .... . . --C~n resses. 3. Epic poetry, Greek--Hlstory and cnt1c1sm-ACrgonau1:1ca 4 A/gonauts (Greek mythology) in !iterature--Congresses. ongresses. • C 6 Medea (Greek 5 Jason (Greek mythology) in literature-- ongresses. . . R F · . . C I Harder Annette. II. Regtmt, • · mythology) m hWterakkture--Go~gr;.:;se~ro~ingen Workshops on Hellenistic (Remco F.) Ill. a er, · · · . Poetry (4th: 1998: Groningen, Netherlands) V. Senes. PA3872.Z4 A66 2000 883'.0l--dc21

00-049126

© 2000 - Peeters - Bondgenotenlaan 153 - B-3000 Leuven - Belgium

h. b k may be reproduced stored in a All rights reserved. No pa~t o,J t. is oo orms or by any mea~s, electronic, retrieval septem, or tr~nsmitted,d~n any ~the,wise without the prior written mechanical, photocopying, recor m~, or , ' permission of the holder of the copyright.

ISBN 90-429-0927-7 D. 2000/0602/132

PREFACE

In 1992 the Department of Classics in the University of Groningen initiated a series of 'Workshops on Hellenistic Poetry', to be held every two years. The format of these workshops is that the papers offered by speakers are circulated to the participants in the work-shop well in advance of the actual meeting, so that during the workshop there is ample opportunity for detailed and informed discussion. Some workshops have been devoted to individual authors, other to wider aspects of Hellenistic poetry, such as the implications of developments in modern literary criticism for research on genre or narrative technique. They are informed by a keen awareness of the contribution that linguistic studies can make to the interpretation of texts, and of the importance of relating the social and cultural background of Hellenistic poetry to literary questions of form and content. The workshops are also designed to enable and encourage younger scholars and research students to present their research. The proceedings of the workshops are published in the series Hellenistica Groningana. The first such workshop, on Callimachus, was held in 1992; the second, on Theocritus, in 1994; the third, on genre in Hellenistic poetry, in 1996, and the fourth, on Apollonius Rhodius in 1998. The workshops are now recognized as a valuable meeting-place for scholars working on the Hellenistic period, and a forum where information is exchanged, interpretations are tested, and ideas evolve. The high attendance at the Apollonius-workshop in 1998 clearly reflected the current surge of interest in Apollonius. The papers were selected to represent a broad spectrum of the main areas of interest in recent research on Apollonius, although of course the programme of a two days' workshop could not cover the whole field. Some papers concentrate on interpretations of specific passages: Karsten Thiel offers a detailed analysis of the scene at the end of the second book of the Argonautica where the Argonauts, just before they reach Colchis, catch sight of the eagle which feeds on Prometheus. Nita Krevans reminds us that Apollonius wrote other works as well as the Argonautica, and seeks to define the nature of his ktisis-poems by a thorough examination of the surviving fragments. Linguistic aspects of Apollonius' poetry are discussed by Jordi Redondo: his paper offers a survey of how a variety of influences shaped Apollonius' distinctive language; not only Homer, but tragedy, lyric poetry and koine Greek were important ingredients. Alex

VI

PREFACE

Sens examines Apollonius' use of the particle f\w1, and shows how in many cases it is used by Apollonius to assure his readers of the credibility of the narrator's story. Apollonius' narrative technique and structural aspects of the Argonautica are discussed in several papers, all with different approaches. Adolf Kiihnken concentrates on the character of Jason, and the light which Apo!lonius' proems and his description of Jason's aristeia shed on this much-disputed question. Mirjam Plantinga surveys and analyses the supplication scenes in the Argonautica. David Wray discusses the poem in terms of Brooks' theory of 'narrative desire' as a force which moves the reader and the narrative on until, at the end of the work, there is no more narrative. The impact of cultural and ideological issues of the Hellenistic period on the Argonautica is the theme of three papers. In James Clauss' interpretation, the poem presents the Argo's voyage as marking the transition from a primitive and violent world to one which is more civilized, but also less moral. Dee Clayman attributes the 'nihilistic' atttitude of the Argonauts to the influence of Pyrrhonian Scepticism, and thus proposes a solution for one of the much-debated problems of the Argonautica. Susan Stephens reads the poem against the background of Ptolemaic Alexandria and the need to legitimize Greek rule in Egypt. Another group of papers deals with Apollonius' position within the literary tradition. David Sansone shows how he was indebted not only to his epic and lyric predecessors, but also to tragedy: he sees Euripides' lphigeneia in Tauris as especially significant. Damien Nelis studies aspects of the reception of Apollonius in Latin literature, and suggests that the time is ripe for a full-scale treatment of this topic. Ewen Bowie learnedly surveys the reception of Apollonius in imperial Greek literature. Most of the work of making the manuscript camera-ready has again been done by Remco Regtuit, and both Gerry Wakker and I are deeply greatful for the way he has always, without complaint, undertaken this laborious task. Fred Williams kindly corrected the English of this preface and Mirjam Rutgers cheerfully and efficiently helped us with the index. Annette HARDER

Groningen, February 2000

CONTENTS

. THERECEPTION OFAPOLLONIUS INIMPERIAL GREEK LITERATURE E.L. BOWIE. , 1-10

. COSMOS WITHOUT IMPERIUM: THEARGONAUTIC JOURNEY THROUGH TIME James J. CLAUSS. THESCEPTICISM OFAPOLLONIUS, ARGONA UTICA Dee L. CLAYMAN. . . . . . .

11-32

33-53

DERSTATUS JASONS: BESONDERKEITEN DERDARSTELLUNGSTECH RHODIOS NIKIN DENARGONAUT/KA DESAPOLLONIOS Adolf K6HNKEN. 55-68 ON THEMARGINS OFEPIC:THEFOUNDATION-POEMS OFAPOLLONIUS N. KREVANS 69-84

_ APOLLONIUS RHOD!USAND THE TRADITIONS OF LATINEPIC POETRY D.P. NELIS. ARGONAUT/CA THE_ SUPPLICATION MOTIFINAPOLLONIUS RHODIUS' Mrriam PLANTINGA.

85-103

105-128

NON-EPIC FEATURES INTHELANGUAGE OFAPOLLONIUS RHODIUS J. REDONDO 129-154 lPHIGENEIA IN COLCHIS David SANSONE. THEPARTICLE HTOIIN APOLLONIAN NARRATIVE Alexander SENS . . . . . . . . . WRITING EPICFORTHEPTOLEMAIC COURT S.A. STEPHENS . . . . . . . .

155-172

173-193

195-215

CONTENTS

vm

VOM0AYMAZUMTPAYMA:DERADLERUNDPROMETI-!EUS

217-237

THE RECEPTION OF APOLLONIUS IN IMPERIAL GREEK LITERATURE

Karsten THIEL. APOLLONIUS' MASTERPLOT: NARRATIVE STRATEGY IN ARGONAUT/CA

1

David WRAY INDEXES l. Index of Passages discussed 2. Index of Greek words . 3. Index of Names and Subjects •

E.L. BOWIE

239-265

267-269 269-270 270-271

1. Sophistic prose

When around A.D.140 the Stoic Apollonius of Chalcedon 1 was setting off for Rome to take up the position of philosophy tutor to the future emperor Marcus, escorted by a swarm of pupils, Demonax, the witty scourge of ostentation, allegedly quipped: 'Here comes Apollonius and his Argonauts' 2 • Given our other evidence of Apollonius of Chalcedon's reputation for acquiring money, the joke seems to be comparing his trip to Rome to Jason's mission to Colchis to get the golden fleece. This anecdote told by Lucian suggests that for Demonax and his audience Apollonius' poem was both well-known and the obvious literary source for knowledge of the Argonautic legend. One or two other allusions support that impression. In On dancing, a work of A.D. 163 or 164, Lucian lists pantomime themes drawn from Thessaly: 'Pelias, Jason, Alcestis, the expedition of fifty young men, the Argo, its talking keel (cf. A.R. 4.580-91), what happened in Lemnos, Aietes, Medea's dream (cf. A.R. 3.616-82), the dismemberment of Apsyrtus and what happened in the journey along the coast. ' 3 Apollonius is presumably the source for these episodes, and Lucian again alludes to the miracle of the Argo's talking keel in The dream or cock'. It also seems likely that there is an allnsion to the Argonauts carrying the Argo across the desert in the episode in True histories where the narrator and his fellow sailors, faced with an impenetrable forest towering out of the 1. Cf. SHA Pius 10.4, and for o!her testimony PIR2 A 929. Cf. Champlin (1980: 42-

3).

2. Ilpocrtp;un:cn, S