Misplaced Pages

#541458

132-607: The legend tells that two brothers were banished from Imbros , Turkey and lived in the Imbros village, Crete. The Imbros Gorge mule trail was the only connection between Chania and Hora Sfakion, before the road was built. Remains of this trail can be still seen. The gorge witnessed an evacuation of several thousands of British soldiers during World War II before heading to Egypt . Hiking: 35°14′48″N 24°10′5″E  /  35.24667°N 24.16806°E  / 35.24667; 24.16806 This Crete location article

264-502: A Lemnian , he considers Imbros also as his homeland. Prior to the Fall of Constantinople , several larger islands south of Imbros were under Genoese rule, part of the territory historically held in the eastern Mediterranean by the independent Maritime Republic of Genoa (1005–1797, thus predating the East–West schism of 1054) a political development emanating from the former territory of

396-659: A Greek village and talking the language of Demosthenes to the inhabitants (who are really quite clever at taking my meaning)." Between November 1912 and September 1923, Imbros, together with Tenedos , were under the administration of the Greek navy. Both islands were overwhelmingly ethnically Greek, and in the case of Imbros the population was entirely Greek. Negotiations to end the Balkan war started in December 1912 in London and

528-519: A chronicler of Mehmet II , organised and facilitated the peaceful surrender of the island to the Ottomans. In return for taxes and loyalty, the island was given a degree of relative autonomy, with administration under a local person. In 1479, the island came under definitive Ottoman rule. The Ottomans, through issuing kanunname and installing local Muslim rulers, attempted to integrate the entirely Orthodox Greek population. Feryal Tansuğ judges that it

660-613: A cluster of aitia, including the origins of the island Thera, the naming of Anaphe, and the water-carrying festival on Aegina, that are reminiscent of Aitia I and Iamb. 8. This final cluster of aitia can seem like an arbitrary addition to the narrative, as if Apollonius prolonged the story just to add mere curiosities, but they may have been included as a final "programmatic statement" of support for Callimachean Aitia-style aesthetics, expressing Apollonius's debt to Callimachus as mentor: The poem's anti-heroic qualities are generally regarded as further evidence of its 'Callimacheanism'. Jason

792-440: A drink then, cheered on by his comrades, returns to the scene of action, where an army of men is springing from the broken soil, ready to attack him. These he routs single-handedly, relying on a trick taught him by Medea (he throws a rock among the soldiers, causing them to fight and kill each other). Dumbfounded, Aeëtes returns to the palace, all the while wondering how best to cheat Jason of his promised reward. The poet calls upon

924-442: A drug that will help Jason in his trial of strength. Arrangements for a secret meeting are made. The tryst is outside a temple of Hecate , where Medea is the priestess. At first they are as speechless as lofty pines rooted together on a mountainside, until the force of love comes like a sudden gust of wind. He reminds her that he is utterly at her mercy and he promises to make her famous throughout Greece if she assists him. She draws

1056-575: A frightful witch engaged in evil in Book 4. Interpretations of Jason's character however differ from one critic to another. According to a less hostile view, he resembles the ordinary man and his brand of heroism is relevant to the real world, whereas Heracles stands for a primitive and anachronistic kind of heroism, which is why he is abandoned early in the story. On the other hand, epic poets are not supposed to arbitrate moral values, Jason and Heracles each have good and bad qualities and we shouldn't overplay

1188-402: A hostile reception even led to Apollonius's exile to Rhodes . The literary fashion was for small, meticulous poems, featuring displays of erudition and paradoxography (the account of marvels and oddities), as represented by the work of Callimachus . In adapting the epic genre to this audience, Apollonius went a long way towards inventing the romance novel , including narrative techniques like

1320-482: A large share of the Greek diaspora, about half of whom came via the Greek colony of Cyrene. The Ptolemaic setting makes sense of many of the poet's enigmatic choices. Thus for example the final cluster of aitia is not an arbitrary addition but neatly associates the story's end with the beginning of Greek settlement in Egypt. The island of Thera was the mother city of Cyrene and symbolized Greek settlement of Libya. Aegina

1452-493: A liveliness, an orderliness and a degree of banality that evoke domesticity in Alexandrian high society. Much of the poem's irony and charm in fact lies in the conflation of these different worlds. Characters have symbolic roles to fulfill. Though Heracles is abandoned at the end of Book 1, he continues to haunt the narrative as a background figure, glimpsed in the distance and reported as an active presence, thus symbolizing

SECTION 10

#1732771752542

1584-526: A magnificent funeral reconcile the two sides. Meanwhile, the Argonauts are kept there by adverse winds. Finally the seer Mopsus learns from omens that they are meant to establish a cult of the mother of the gods ( Rhea / Cybele ). The cult is soon established, the weather changes for the better and the Argonauts set off again. Their next landfall is in Mysia , where Heracles's handsome young companion Hylas

1716-517: A mythic past." Any apparent weaknesses in characterization can also be explained in the Ptolemaic setting – the story isn't really about Jason or about any of the Argonauts, as individuals, but about their historic role in establishing a Greek destiny in Libya. Argonautica' s original audience of ethnic Greeks would have glimpsed their own migrant history in the motley Greek crew of

1848-679: A naval action (see Battle of Imbros (1918) ) took place in the Aegean near the island when an Ottoman squadron engaged a flotilla of the British Royal Navy. Patrick Shaw-Stewart wrote his famous poem "Achilles in the Trench", one of the best-known war poems of the First World War, while he was on Imbros. He seemed to enjoy speaking ancient Greek to the inhabitants of Imbros. In one of his letters he wrote: "here I am, living in

1980-543: A notable feature of his work too. More particularly, there are some pointed allusions to his work. For example, one line (1.1309) is a verbatim quotation of Callimachus ( Aitia I fr. 12.6 Pf): "And thus were those things to be accomplished in the course of time". The epiphany of Apollo in book 2, over the island of Thynia, is followed by an account of the god's deeds and worship (2.686–719) that recalls an account in Callimachus's Hymn to Apollo (97–104), and book 4 ends in

2112-568: A set of adventures, with surprising discoveries waiting around every headland. Thus Longinus contrasted the Odyssey unfavourably with the Iliad : in the former, he thought the mythical element predominates over the action, whereas he thought the Iliad gains dramatic tension through the development of a single, great contest. Voyage narratives don't fit in well with Aristotelian notions of dramatic unity, or, as one modern scholar recently put it: "It

2244-428: A song about the cosmos and how the gods and all things were created. At dawn, Tiphys , the ship's helmsman, rouses the crew. The ship itself calls to them, since its keel includes a magical beam of Dodonian oak. The shore cables are loosed. Jason sheds a tear as they pull away from his home, Iolcus. The oars churn up the sea, wielded by heroic hands in time to Orpheus's stirring music. Soon the eastern coast of Thessaly

2376-508: A soothing speech and Aeëtes responds with a mock compromise – he can have what he came for if he first ploughs the Plain of Ares with fire-breathing oxen , next sows four acres with dragon's teeth and finally cuts down the crop of armed men before they can cut him down. It's a task that Aeëtes, son of the Sun ( Helios ), has often performed. Jason accepts the challenge reluctantly. He sets off for

2508-477: A trap with promises of rewards. Jason murders him and the body is dismembered to avoid retribution from the Erinyes . The leaderless Colchians are easily outwitted and, rather than return home empty-handed to a wrathful Aeëtes, they disperse and settle around the nearby coast. Indignant at the brutal murder, Zeus condemns the Argonauts to wander homeless for a longer term. A gale blows them back north and they enter

2640-620: A visit by three nymphs, the guardians of Libya, with mysterious instructions about how to survive. Peleus interprets the instructions on his behalf: they must carry the Argo across the desert. Twelve days later, their ship on their shoulders, they arrive at Lake Triton and the garden of the Hesperides . They receive some astonishing news from the Hesperides: Heracles raided the garden just the day before. He has already vanished into

2772-408: A woman's help to be unheroic. The day of trial arrives and so do the people of Colchis, gathering on the hillsides as spectators. Aeëtes rides about in his chariot, glorying in his own magnificence. The Argo comes upstream and moors by the river's edge. Jason steps forward. Secretly fortified by Medea's spells, he manhandles the monstrous oxen and sows the deadly field with teeth. He pauses briefly for

SECTION 20

#1732771752542

2904-429: A young virgin and finally she surrenders to sobs of dismay. Her sister comes in response to the noise. Medea tells her that she is worried about her nephews, since they are doomed if the stranger fails. Chalciope then asks her to help Jason and Medea gladly agrees. Alone in her room again, she continues to be torn between hope and fear. She contemplates suicide, opens her chest of drugs looking for poison but instead selects

3036-402: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Imbros Imbros ( Greek : Ίμβρος , romanized :  Ímvros ; Turkish : İmroz ; Ottoman Turkish : ايمروز ), officially Gökçeada ( lit.   ' Heavenly Island ' ) since 29 July 1970, is the largest island of Turkey, located in Çanakkale Province . It is located in the north-northeastern Aegean Sea , at

3168-476: Is a major threat to the island. On the days of 20–21 August 1859, Imbros experienced some pre-earthquake tremors. The most catastrophic earthquake hit the island at 04:00 on the morning of the August 21, followed by a series of aftershocks—which were recorded to have had lasted until at least January 1860—the most severe of which were recorded at 16:15, 16:25, and 16:35 of the same day. The damage from these tremors

3300-409: Is abducted by a water nymph while filling an urn at her spring. Heracles and his comrade Polyphemus are still searching for him when the rest of the Argonauts set sail again. When at last the absences are noticed, Telamon accuses Jason of leaving Heracles behind on purpose. Just then the sea divinity Glaucus emerges from the depths, assuring them that the loss of their three crewmen is the work of

3432-454: Is destined to become the island of Thera, from which Libya would later be settled by Greek colonists. Triton carries off a tripod, as an offering of thanks. The story ends with a visit to the island of Anaphe , where the Argonauts institute rites in honour of Apollo, and Aegina (not far from Jason's home), where they establish a festival competition, fetching water and racing one another with full amphorae on their shoulders. The Argonautica

3564-574: Is difficult to determine the degree to which the islanders recognised Ottoman rule. After the island became Ottoman soil in 1455 it was administered by Ottomans and Venetians at various times. During this period, and particularly during the reign of Kanuni Sultan Süleyman (1520–1566), the island became a foundation within the Ottoman Empire. Relations between the Ottomans and Venetians occasionally led to hostilities – for example, in June 1717 during

3696-406: Is expected to occur along this fault line in the near future. Minor noticeable earthquakes are common. The island has a Mediterranean climate with warm and dry summers, and wet and cool winters. Although summer is the driest season, some rainfall does occur in summer. Snow and ground frost are not uncommon in winter. Most of the settlements on Imbros were given Turkish names in 1926. Gökçeada

3828-414: Is left behind. The first major port they reach is Lemnos , where the women, led by their Queen Hypsipyle , have recently murdered all their menfolk, including husbands, sons, brothers and fathers. The all-female parliament decides that the heroes should be encouraged to stay. Jason, as leader, is summoned and he goes to town wrapped in a magnificent cloak made for him by Athena. Hypsipyle falls in love on

3960-746: Is mainly of volcanic origin and the highest mountain of the island İlyas Dağ, is an extinct cone-shaped stratovolcano . Imbros is situated directly south of the North Anatolian Fault , lying within the Anatolian Plate very close to the boundary between the Aegean Sea and Eurasian Plates. This fault zone, which runs from northeastern Anatolia to the northern Aegean Sea, has been responsible for several deadly earthquakes, including in Istanbul, Izmit and Imbros among others, and

4092-600: Is modelled on Homer's poetry to a considerable extent. There are of course similarities in plots. The return journey in Book 4, for example, has many parallels in the Odyssey ;– Scylla, Charybdis, the Sirens and Circe are hazards that Odysseus also negotiates. The Argonautica is notable too for the high number of verses and phrases imitating Homer, and for the way it reproduces linguistic peculiarities of old epic, in syntax, metre, vocabulary and grammar. Apollonius in fact

Imbros Gorge - Misplaced Pages Continue

4224-499: Is not like a traditional epic hero, and the contrast between him and Heracles can be interpreted as a distinction between Homeric and Callimachean poetics. In summary, recent scholarship leads to the conclusion that Argonautica was a successful and fundamental renewal of the Homeric epic, expressed in terms of Callimachean aesthetics: the label Callimachean epic is not misplaced. Jason's character traits are more characteristic of

4356-423: Is one of the eight " cittaslows " of Turkey and is the second in being accepted as one, after Seferihisar . Argonautica The Argonautica ( Greek : Ἀργοναυτικά , romanized :  Argonautika ) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only entirely surviving Hellenistic epic (though Callimachus' Aetia is substantially extant through fragments),

4488-533: Is precisely this inherent inconsequentiality, the episodic partition imposed by the very nature of travel, which can be seen at the heart of the Western tradition of romance , as opposed to the harsh teleologies of epic ." Argonautica however goes beyond Homer's Odyssey in its fragmentation of the action. Apollonius seems to have rejected the Aristotelian concept of unity, since numerous aitia interrupt

4620-795: Is the most Homeric of all the poets whose work has come down to us from the Hellenistic age, when Homeric scholarship flourished and almost all poets responded to Homer's influence, including Callimachus. Homeric echoes in Argonautica are quite deliberate and are not slavish imitation. When Jason first meets Hypsipyle in Book 1, he wears a cloak made for him by Athena, embroidered with various scenes alluding to tragic women that Homer's Odysseus met in Hades ( Odyssey 11.225–380). This Homeric echo has ominous connotations, prefiguring Jason's betrayal of Hypsipyle and Medea. Apollonius often implies that he

4752-491: Is updating and therefore improving on Homer. Symbolically this is represented by the abandonment of Heracles and the fixing of the Clashing Rocks ;–it is as if Jason and his crew are leaving behind the heroic world of traditional myth. Argonautica includes numerous aitia or mythological accounts of the origins of things (see Argonautica#Itinerary below) and these ensure that the narrative points forward to

4884-519: The Argonautica tells the myth of the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts to retrieve the Golden Fleece from remote Colchis . Their heroic adventures and Jason's relationship with the dangerous Colchian princess/sorceress Medea were already well known to Hellenistic audiences, which enabled Apollonius to go beyond a simple narrative, giving it a scholarly emphasis suitable to the times. It

5016-474: The Clashing Rocks ). Jason is mentioned several times in the Iliad (vii. 467, &c., xxi. 40, xxiii. 743, &c.), but not as the leader of the Argonauts. Hesiod (Theog. 992, &c.) relates the story of Jason saying that he fetched Medeia at the command of his uncle Pelias , and that she bore him a son, Medeius , who was educated by Cheiron . The first trace of the common tradition that Jason

5148-588: The First Balkan War , the Greek Navy invaded the island. The island had an absolute Greek majority population of 8,506 people then. After the signing of the Treaty of Athens in 1913, all of the Aegean islands except Bozcaada and Gökçeada were ceded to Greece. In 1915, Imbros played an important role as a staging post for the allied Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, prior to and during the invasion of

5280-655: The Greek War of Independence (1821-1832) . "Although Greek bandits attacked [...] and landed in Imvros and Lemnos in order to take sustenance support, the islanders did not help them so that Ottoman troops drove back the rebellions." Only in 1864 with the promulgation of the new Vilâyet Law was the administrative status of the island in regard to the central government defined. Two administrative districts were formed—the Kazâ/Jurisdiction of İmroz and Bozcaada of

5412-506: The Turkish-Venetian War (1714-1718) , a tough but ultimately fairly indecisive naval battle between a Venetian fleet, under Lodovico Flangini , and an Ottoman fleet, was fought near Imbros in the Aegean Sea . Nevertheless, the island's residents continued to live in relative peace and prosperity until the 20th century. The population lived modest lives in subsistence economies and were not involved in upheavals, for instance,

Imbros Gorge - Misplaced Pages Continue

5544-482: The harpies . Jason and the Argonauts are destined to rescue him from the harpies and thus he welcomes them as his deliverers. Zetes and Calais , sons of the north wind, duly chase the pests away, and the blind old man gratefully reveals the safest route to Colchis and how best to sail past the Clashing Rocks . Passing through the Clashing Rocks (thanks to the advice of Phineus, the pilot skills of Tiphys, and

5676-475: The "interior monologue", whereby the author identifies with a character's thoughts and feelings. The re-evaluation of his work in recent times has led to a mass of innovative studies, often jostling each other for attention, so that Argonautica has become a daunting adventure for many modern scholars too: Scholars that row against this current feel as if they are sailing through the Clashing Rocks; they have barely struggled halfway through one wave and there rolls

5808-569: The 1964 Law on Land Expropriation (No 6830) the farm property of the Greeks on the island was taken away from their owners. In 1965, the first mosque was built in the island. It was named Fatih Camii (Conqueror's Mosque) and was built on an expropriated Greek Orthodox communal property at the capital of the island. Additional population settlements from Anatolia occurred in 1973, 1984 and 2000. The state provided special credit opportunities and agricultural aid in kind to those who would decide to settle in

5940-516: The Aegean during his 1403-1406 Embassy to Samarkand, noted the island as being under the rule of the Byzantines. Shortly following the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Byzantine forces in Imbros left the island, and the population became Ottoman subjects. The island was not conquered by force, but rather through istimalet policy. Michael Critoboulos , a leading Imvrian, and subsequently

6072-496: The Amazons. One is Sthenelus , whose ghost beckons to them from his tomb by the sea, and the others are three men stranded at Sinope . The Argonauts pour libations to the ghost of Sthenelus and the three survivors gain places aboard the Argo. They arrive next at the river Thermodon , where the Amazons have their harbour, and they leave the next day before the women can assemble for battle. The Amazon influence however reaches even to

6204-600: The Argo's passage south. The Argonauts safely pass the Sirens , whose song though not more melodious than Orpheus's music causes Butes to fall overboard; they get past the Wandering Rocks , from which Argo is saved by the Nereids , like girls on the beach passing a ball to and fro. Thus the Argonauts arrive at Drepane ( Corfu ) off the western coast of Greece. It is here they encounter the other Colchian fleet. Alcinous ,

6336-534: The Argo, and similarly Hellenized Egyptians would have glimpsed themselves in the Colchian diaspora depicted in Book 4. According to Herodotus, Colchis was colonized by Egyptians (see details in Itinerary ). In that case, the Colchian fleets that settle in and around Greece may be thought to prefigure the Greek colonization of Egypt. Apollonius conflates Greek and Egyptian mythology. Islands symbolized creation in

6468-478: The Argo, exulting in its sheen like a young girl who has caught moonbeams in the folds of her gown. The fugitive Argo is pursued by two Colchian fleets, ships numerous as flocking birds. One of the fleets sails into the Propontis through the now-motionless Clashing Rocks. The second is led by Medea's half-brother, Apsyrtus, and it takes the same route as the Argo, up the river Ister ( Danube ). A distant branch of

6600-494: The Argonaut myth, as addressed by recent scholarship. There is some dispute about the date when the poem was originally published. It could have been during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (283–246 BCE), or a generation later. According to the astronomical analysis of the poem by Jackie Murray , the poem commemorates the year 238 BCE, implying that it was published at the time of Ptolemy III Euergetes (246–221 BCE) as

6732-510: The Argonauts ( Herodotus 4.179). Both these accounts found their way into Argonautica . Paradoxically, this highly episodic poem, fragmented in time and with events unfolding in a changing landscape, can yet be thought to have more unity than any other epic. Its unity comes from its location within the milieu of Ptolemaic Alexandria. Occupying the eastern corner of Libya, Alexandria was founded only about sixty years before Apollonius wrote his epic and it comprised, in addition to native Egyptians,

SECTION 50

#1732771752542

6864-467: The Argonauts receive a friendly welcome from Cyzicus , the newly wed king of the Doliones who is, like Jason, in his adolescence. The 6-armed giants hurl rocks at the argonauts but Heracles destroys them all. However, the Argonauts and Doliones end up fighting each other in the dark, mistaking one another for enemies. Cyzicus is killed by Jason. His widow Cleite hangs herself in despair. Shared grief and

6996-505: The Argonauts see the eagle of Zeus flying to and from the Caucasus mountains, where it feeds on the liver of Prometheus . It glides through the air as large as another ship, disturbing the Argo's sails as it passes overhead. (There could be a discrepancy in timing between myths. Heracles joined the Argonauts after completing some of his labors, but the eagle was killed and Prometheus was freed by Heracles during his fourth labor.) Soon after,

7128-600: The Cyprus crisis. In 1991, Turkish authorities ended the military "forbidden zone" status on the island. In 1992, Panimbrian Committee mentioned, that members of the Greek community are "considered by the authorities to be second class citizens" and that the local Greeks are afraid to express their feelings, to protest against certain actions of the authorities or the Turkish settlers, or even to allow anybody to make use of their names when they give some information referring to

7260-493: The Gallipoli peninsula. A field hospital, airfield and administrative and stores buildings were constructed on the island. In particular, many ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) soldiers were based at Imbros during the Gallipoli campaign, and the island was used as an air and naval base by ANZAC, British, and French forces against Turkey. The headquarters of General Ian Hamilton were on Imbros. On 20 January 1918,

7392-722: The Greeks against the Ottomans in order to force negotiations in Athens in November 1913. Eventually, Greece and the United Kingdom pressured the Germans to support an agreement where the Ottomans would retain Tenedos, Kastelorizo and Imbros and the Greeks would control the other Aegean islands. The Greeks accepted the plan while the Ottoman Empire rejected the ceding of the other Aegean islands. This agreement would not hold, but

7524-455: The Greeks, and excluded them from the population exchange that took place between Greece and Turkey, due to their presence there as a majority. Article 14 of the treaty provided specific guarantees safeguarding the rights of minorities in both the nations. However shortly after the legislation of "Civil Law" on 26 June 1927 (Mahalli Idareler Kanunu), the rights accorded to the Greek population of Imbros and Tenedos were revoked, in violation of

7656-545: The Iliad on other occasions as well. Imbros is mentioned in the Homeric Hymn which was dedicated to Apollo . Apollonius of Rhodes also mentions Imbros in the first book of his work Argonautica . The original inhabitants of Imbros were Pelasgians, worshipped Cabeiri , and Hermes as a god of reproduction in ithyphallic form, whence his Carian epithet, 'Ιμβραμος, has been supposed to be derived. For ancient Greeks,

7788-476: The Lausanne Treaty. The island was demoted from an administrative district to a sub-district with the result that the island was to be stripped of its local tribunals. Moreover, the members of the local council were obliged to have adequate knowledge of the Turkish language, which meant that the vast majority of the islanders were excluded. Furthermore, according to this law, the Turkish government retained

7920-473: The Libyan nymphs, thus leading to the Argo being carried across the desert. By this means the audience is encouraged to interpret the poet's own complex meanings – 'heroes' like Peleus are people just like us and their powers of insight are ours too. Some of the episodic quality of Argonautica can be put down to its genre, as a voyage narrative. Homer's Odyssey also features some disunity, as

8052-557: The Mariandynians and an enemy to the now defunct king of the Bebrycians. He receives them very hospitably. Their departure is delayed when the prophet Idmon is killed by a wild boar and Tiphys dies of illness. Two tombs are built (some more lasting memorials of their voyage) and the Argonauts set off again. Their next two landfalls bring them into contact with some old comrades of Heracles, left behind after his campaign against

SECTION 60

#1732771752542

8184-477: The Muse to describe Medea's state of mind: is it shame, alarm or love that leads her to flee Colchis? Her treason is already known to her father and self-poisoning seems like an option again. She decides instead to flee Colchis with her nephews, the sons of Phrixus, camped with the Argonauts by the river. Doors open for her by magic as she hurries barefoot though the palace, and the moon laughs at her outdoors, recalling

8316-699: The Sanjak/District of Lemnos, a subdivision of the larger province of Eyalet/Administrative Division of the Islands of the Aegean Sea. Prominent Ottoman politician, Ismail Qemal Bej Vlora , who spent about a year during the mid-1870s superintending the workings of a lignite mine upon the island, remarked that: "The sole authority in the place was the müdür (a sort of mayor appointed by the Government [whose attributions included tax collection, executing

8448-675: The Western Roman Empire, by city-states such as Venice , Pisa and Amalfi . At the beginning of the 13th century, when the Fourth Crusade and its aftermath temporarily disrupted Venice's relations with the Byzantine Empire, Genoa expanded its influence north of Imbros, into the Black Sea and Crimea. Ruy González de Clavijo , ambassador to Henry III of Castile to the court of Timur , travelled through

8580-517: The aid of Athena ), they enter the Black Sea and arrive at a deserted island, Thynias, where they observe Apollo flying overhead on his way north to visit the Hyperboreans . The island shakes with his passing. There they build an altar and a shrine (lasting memorials of their voyage). Next stop is an outlet of the river Acheron , one of the entries to Hades , where they meet Lycus , king of

8712-620: The contribution of Imbrians in support of Athens during various military actions. He also recounts the escape of an Athenian squadron to Imbros. During the Social War (357–355 BC) the Chians , Rhodians and Byzantians attacked Imbros and Lemnos , which were allies of Athens. In the late second century A.D., the island may have become independent under Septimius Severus . Strabo mentions that Cabeiri are most honored in Imbros and Lemnos. Stephanus of Byzantium mentions that Imbros

8844-432: The court sentences, and at times mediation of disputes and pacification of the locals]), who was a charming Albanian, and more like the father of this island family than a representative of government. There were four or five gendarmes recruited from among the Greeks of the country, who did not even know where their arms were, so little did they ever find need of using them —and it is doubtful if they would have known how to if

8976-425: The crew to haul the ship down to the water. The Argo is then moored for the night so that they can enjoy a farewell feast. Two bulls are sacrificed to Apollo, wine flows and conversation becomes animated. Jason however becomes withdrawn and glum. One of the heroes, Idas , accuses him of cowardice; the prophet Idmon in turn accuses Idas of drunken vainglory. A fight almost breaks out but Orpheus soothes everyone with

9108-492: The deserted Island of Ares, where they have built a temple to the god of war. When the Argonauts arrive, it is only defended by birds. They fight off the birds and then chance upon four survivors of a shipwreck. These are the four sons of the exiled Greek hero, Phrixus , and they are also grandsons of Aeëtes , king of Colchis. Jason welcomes them as god-sent allies in his quest for the Golden Fleece. Approaching Colchis,

9240-446: The differences between them. Jason is a democratic-minded hero with a weakness for women, or he is just the chance result of the poet's literary experiments. His lack of heroic stature seems quite appropriate to the melancholy world Apollonius depicts. In this world, people are alienated from each other and from their environment, as symbolized by the Libyan desert, where the Argonauts scatter so as to die privately: "effort no longer has

9372-409: The distance and so they must depart without him yet again. Meanwhile, they lose another two comrades, Mopsus and Canthus, one dying from snake bite, the other from a wound inflicted by a local shepherd belonging to the ancestral family of the native Garamantes and Nasamones. Shortly afterwards, Triton reveals a route from the lake to the open sea and entrusts Euphemus with a magical clod of earth that

9504-413: The drug out from between her breasts and hands it to him. If he ever forgets her kindness, she warns him, she will fly to Greece on the wind and there rebuke him to his face. He urges her to forget the wind and sail back with him instead, as his future wife. She doesn't commit herself to anything and returns home as if in a dream. He returns to the crew, welcomed by all but Idas, who considers his reliance on

9636-500: The earthquakes continued until the 23rd of the month, but none of the residents were killed." Schmidt writes that he derives his information about the earthquake mainly from a letter he received in January 1860, after the mediation of Professor Μητσόπουλου , from the deacon Βαρνάβα Κουτλουμουσιανό —an eyewitness to the earthquake. In this letter, it is mentioned that: "It seems that there were no human losses, but in all areas of

9768-458: The elimination of Greek education and the enforcement of economic, psychological pressure and violence. Under these conditions the Turkish government approved the appropriation of the 90% of the cultivated areas of the island and the settlement of additional 6,000 ethnic Turks from mainland Turkey. The Turkish Government, also, closed the Greek schools on the island and classified it as "supervised zone", which meant that expatriates could not visit

9900-457: The entrance of Saros Bay , and has the westernmost point of Turkey ( Cape İncirburnu ). Imbros has an area of 286.8 km (110.7 sq mi), and has some wooded areas. As of 2023, the island-district of Gökçeada has a population of 10,721. The main industries of Imbros are fishing and tourism. By the end of the 20th century, the island was predominantly inhabited by settlers from the Turkish mainland that mostly arrived after 1960, with

10032-490: The fields, without daring to approach the ruins, to get their furniture. Crying and mourning were heard everywhere. The first earthquake knocked down tiles and all the chimneys of the houses. After that the inhabitants left their homes. During the second earthquake, all the houses suffered cracks. The third earthquake caused the collapse of all houses, windmills, watermills, bakeries, and cafes, while churches were severely damaged, but did not collapse. The number of houses that fell

10164-696: The fight begins. Amycus is a man-mountain but the young Argonaut is skilled with his fists and eventually lands a lethal blow. The Bebrycians rush on the victor, weapons drawn, but they are intercepted and chased off by his rampant crewmates. Some sheep are herded on board and the Argo leaves the following day. Their next stop is on the opposite coast, near the home of Phineus , once a king of the Thynians . He too doesn't ask who these travellers are. He already knows. His powers of prophecy are so great that Zeus has punished him for giving away divine secrets, afflicting him with extreme old age, blindness and daily visits from

10296-489: The first fleet and settle nearby rather than return home. The Argonauts can't return home either: another gale drives them off course, this time south towards the Syrtes , an interminable sandbank off Libya. Here they can see no means of escape and they resign themselves to an inglorious end, parting from each other to die in private, while Medea and her maids lament their fate in a forlorn group. Jason's isolation soon ends with

10428-427: The four castaways) and Aeëtes, the king. Meanwhile, Eros invisibly joins the throng, squats at Jason's feet and fires off the fateful arrow, departing then with a laugh. Medea's heart floods with the sweet pain of love. Aeëtes however is filled with rage when his grandsons ask him to hand the Golden Fleece to Jason for return to Iolcus. He accuses them of conspiring with foreigners to steal away his kingdom. Jason delivers

10560-482: The genre of realism than epic , in that he was, in the words of J. F. Carspecken: chosen leader because his superior declines the honour, subordinate to his comrades, except once, in every trial of strength, skill or courage, a great warrior only with the help of magical charms, jealous of honour but incapable of asserting it, passive in the face of crisis, timid and confused before trouble, tearful at insult, easily despondent, gracefully treacherous in his dealings with

10692-444: The gift of a fabulous ball, composed of gold and intricately fashioned so as to leave a trail like a falling star when thrown at the sky. Jason advises his comrades that they should try persuasion before attempting to take the Golden Fleece by force and then he leads Phrixus' sons home to the palace of Aeëtes. Their unexpected arrival is greeted by Medea with a cry that brings everyone running, including her sister Chalciope (mother of

10824-480: The gods. He vanishes back into the water and they continue the voyage without their three comrades. The Argonauts reach a gulf in the Propontis, home to the Bebrycians , whose king Amycus demands a boxing match with the champion of these "sea-wanderers" ( Ancient Greek : ἁλίπλαγκτοι ). He does this with all travellers and he doesn't even ask who they are. Angered by such disrespect, Polydeukes volunteers and

10956-467: The governments of İsmet İnönü . The Greek Imbriot diaspora is thought to number around 15,000 globally and in Turkey, and has a strong special Imbrian identity. The 2010s saw a tentative revitalisation of the island's remaining Greek community. According to Greek mythology , the palace of Thetis , mother of Achilles , king of Phthia , was situated between Imbros and Samothrace . The stables of

11088-452: The help of Aphrodite . Athena likes the plan but, being a virgin conscious of appearances, asks Hera to do all the talking. They find the goddess of love indolently combing her hair in her apartment. She has been bickering with her young son Eros and doubts if the unruly child will fire any arrows at Medea just to please her. Hera, an experienced mother, advises her to avoid quarrels with the boy and Aphrodite subsequently buys his support with

11220-579: The heroes enter the Phasis , the main river of Colchis, and furtively anchor in a backwater. The third book begins by invoking Erato , the Muse of love poetry. The Argo is still hidden in a Colchis backwater when the goddesses Hera and Athena retire to a private room on Olympus to consider in secret how best to help Jason. Hera thinks the daughter of the Colchian king might prove useful if she could be made to fall in love with him. She then suggests enlisting

11352-530: The indigenous Greek population having declined to about 300 persons by the start of the 21st century. Historically, the island was primarily inhabited by ethnic Greeks since the Iron Age until approximately the 1960s, when many were forced to emigrate to Greece as well as to Western Europe , the United States and Australia , due to a campaign of discrimination and ethnic cleansing sponsored by

11484-427: The island and their homes without special admission. Greeks on the island were also targeted by the construction of an open prison on the island that included inmates convicted of rape and murder, who were then allowed to roam freely on the island and harass locals. Some are said to have committed the same crimes before the prison was closed down in 1992. Farming land was expropriated for the prison. Furthermore, with

11616-526: The island the destruction was great, as many houses and churches were destroyed. Some springs have disappeared, while others have appeared in areas that were previously dry. There were also cracks in the ground, from which mud with a strong sulphur odour came. The earthquake preceded a violent thunder from the north-east." On 24 May 2014, Imbros was shaken by a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 M W . 30 people were injured and numerous old houses were damaged, some of them irreparably. A major earthquake

11748-569: The island was captured by the Persian general Otanes . But later, Miltiades conquered the island from Persia after the battle of Salamis ; the colony was established about 450 BC, during the first Athenian empire, and was retained by Athens (with brief exceptions) for the next six centuries. Thucydides , in his History of the Peloponnesian War describes the colonization of Imbros, and at several places in his narrative mentions

11880-548: The island, whereas the number of Turks increased to 8,344. However, international pressure resulted in Turkey's authorities relaxing some of the previously imposed restrictions in the 2000s, which, combined with efforts of the Imvrian expatriate communities and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew , a native of Imbros, allowed the opening of Greek educational establishments on the island as well as

12012-402: The island. New settlements were created and existing settlements were renamed with Turkish names. The island itself was officially renamed to Gökçeada in 1970. On the other hand, the indigenous Greek population being deprived of its means of production and facing hostile behaviour from the government and the newly arrived settlers, left its native land. The peak of this exodus was in 1974 during

12144-709: The islands of Lemnos and Imbros were sacred to Hephaestus , god of metallurgy , and on ancient coins of Imbros an ithyphallic Hephaestus appears. In classical antiquity, Imbros, like Lemnos, was an Athenian cleruchy , a colony whose settlers retained Athenian citizenship; although since the Imbrians appear on the Athenian tribute lists, there may have been a division with the native population. The original inhabitants of Imbros were Pelasgians , as mentioned by Herodotus in The Histories . In 511 or 512 BC

12276-575: The issue of the Aegean islands was one persistent problem. The issue divided the great powers with Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy supporting the Ottoman position for return of all the Aegean islands and Britain and France supporting the Greek position for Greek control of all the Aegean islands. With Italy controlling key islands in the region, major power negotiations deadlocked in London and later in Bucharest. Romania threatened military action with

12408-462: The love-sick Medea... This hostile view can be extended to the whole crew: the Bebrycian episode, where Polydeuces beats the native king to death, and where the Argonauts turn piratical, may be understood as the start of their moral decline, which intensifies and culminates in the murder of Medea's brother. Medea too may forfeit our sympathy, appearing to change from a likeable heroine in Book 3 to

12540-399: The majority of ancient sources claim. Apollonius's Argonautica was based on multiple ancient sources, including Homer and Pindar . The story of the expedition seems to have been known to the author of the Odyssey (xii. 69, &c.), who states, that the ship Argo was the only one that ever passed between the whirling rocks ( petrai planktai Πλαγκταὶ; Planctae , after the encounter with

12672-456: The many times that she was captured and brought to earth by Medea's cruel love spells (a reference to the moon's passion for Endymion ). Arriving at the camp, Medea warns the others about her father's treachery and offers to help steal the Golden Fleece from its guardian serpent. Jason solemnly pledges to marry her, she puts the snake to sleep with a spell and then the hero takes the Fleece back to

12804-595: The more serious relationship between the hero and heroine. The entire crew of the Argo acquires comic significance whenever fantastic or 'fairy-tale' elements are incorporated into the epic plot, such as the encounters with the Clashing Rocks, The Wandering Rocks, the Argo's voyage overland etc. They appear comic precisely because these fairy-tale elements are in contrast to the Argonauts' unheroic stature, as people like you and me . The gods in particular are characterized by Alexandrian realism. Homer's gods also are more like people than divinities but Apollonius provides them with

12936-418: The next one tossing them backwards twice as far as they had progressed ... Even if the attempt to pass through the clashing mountain of books succeeds, there is no hope of a pause and scholars find themselves in the grip of a debilitating Ancient Greek : ἀμηχανία [helplessness]. Since scholarship is a key feature of this unique story, here is a preview of some of the main issues in the poet's treatment of

13068-400: The occasion had arisen...We passed whole weeks without communication with the outside world. No telegrams came, nor couriers, nor newspapers, nor anything else to disturb our hermit's life amid this beautiful scenery and among a population that is perhaps the quietest and simplest in the world. There are no pleasures there except the songs of young Greeks and the country dances." In 1912 during

13200-566: The only one to survive. Apollonius is too much of an individual for us to deduce from his work the nature of the other epics. It is known that Callimachus was an influential critic of contemporary epics but that need not have included Argonautica, which seems to have been responsive to his views. Thus even though modelled on the Homeric epic, it is much shorter, with four books totaling fewer than 6,000 lines (Homer's Iliad for example runs to more than 15,000). Apollonius may have been influenced here by Callimachus ' advocacy of brevity. Possibly he

13332-513: The outbreak of World War I and the Turkish War of Independence put the issue to the side. During World War I Gallipoli Campaign , the British used the island as a supply base and built a 600-metre-long airstrip for military operations. In 1920, the Treaty of Sèvres with the defeated Ottoman Empire granted the island to Greece. The Ottoman government, which signed but did not ratify

13464-404: The power to transform, and weakness is as influential as strength." For many readers, the strangely unheroic quality of the poem is only redeemed by the romance between Jason and Medea in Book 3, and even the history of scholarship on Apollonius has had its focus there. Sensitive descriptions of heterosexual love first emerge in Western literature during the Hellenistic period and Argonautica

13596-523: The queen that, if she bears him a son, she should send him to his parents when he reaches maturity. He is the first back on board when the Argo sets sail again. Traveling through the Hellespont , they reach an island/peninsula that is home to savage Earth-born men ( Γηγενέες ) with six arms each. Their neighbours are the Doliones, a civilized people descended from Poseidon . The savages are hostile but

13728-710: The return of some Greeks who had left their native Imbros. In 2022, there were three Greek schools operating on the island, the Greek population of Imbros being over 400 people, whereas the number of Turks has increased to over 10,000. In November 2019, a team of archaeologists led by Burçin Erdogan unearthed an approximately 8,000-year-old T-shaped obelisk in the Uğurlu-Zeytinlik mound. The monument made of two parts connected by seven-meter long walls reminds standing stones in Göbekli Tepe archeological site. Imbros

13860-498: The right to dissolve this council and in certain circumstances, to introduce police force and other officials consisting of non-islanders. This law also violated the educational rights of the local community and imposed an educational system similar to that followed by ordinary Turkish schools. Massive scale persecution against the local Greek element started in 1961, as part of the Eritme Programmi operation that aimed at

13992-518: The river eventually leads the Argonauts into the Sea of Cronus (Adriatic), where Apsyrtus finally corners them on the Brygean Islands. Peace talks result in a deal – Jason can keep the fleece, since he won it after all, but Medea's fate must be decided by a mediator chosen from the neighbouring kings. Fearing the worst, Medea comes up with an alternative plan. She lures Apsyrtus into

14124-499: The river Eridanus ( Po ), whose different branches eventually bring them into The Sardinian Sea (Gulf of Lyons), on the western side of Ausonia (Italy). Here the enchantress Circe absolves the lovers of blood-guilt. Meanwhile, Hera has a friendly chat with the sea nymph Thetis . The goddess advises the nymph that her infant son Achilles is destined to marry Medea in the Elysian fields and then she sends her on an errand to secure

14256-401: The role is performed by the doomed seers Mopsus and Idmon, and especially the singer Orpheus. Whereas the companions of Homer's Odysseus pass the Sirens in safety by stuffing their ears with wax, the Argonauts are saved from the Sirens by the music that Orpheus plays to drown them out. Two types of song are represented here, one from the Homeric world, voiced through the Sirens, and the other from

14388-525: The ship to inform his crew and Medea's thoughts flutter at his departing heels ( νόος ... ἑρπύζων πεπότητο μετ' ἴχνια ), torn between love and anguish. That night, in a dream, she envisions herself performing Jason's task for him. She wakes fearing the wrath of Aeëtes and the danger to her reputation if she helps Jason without good cause. The safety of her sister's four sons depends on his success. She wonders if Chalciope can be enticed into asking her to help Jason for their sake. Even this seems too bold for

14520-450: The spot and he settles into the palace. His crew is taken home by the other women – all but Heracles and some comrades, who prefer to stay with the ship. Thus the voyage is postponed day after day. Finally Heracles assembles all the Argonauts for a strong talk. He tells them that they are not behaving like heroes and the Golden Fleece won't bring itself back to Greece. Thus chastised, they immediately prepare to leave. Jason tells

14652-421: The story with 'flashbacks' to myths predating the Argonaut story, and with 'fast-forwards' to customs in the poet's own time. The narrator's choice of material is thus of immediate interest to the reader, since it interrupts the action, unlike the traditional method of Homer, where the poet keeps a low profile. One of Homer's virtues as a narrator, from Aristotle's point of view, was in letting characters do much of

14784-452: The talking. The dominant presence in Argonautica is the poet himself – 71% of the verses are spoken by him, rather than by his characters, whereas only 55% of the Iliad and 33% of the Odyssey are in Homer's own voice. Some of the episodic quality comes also from the poet's literary eclecticism. For instance, the role of the Argo in the Greek settlement of northern Africa

14916-406: The technical aspect of her magical powers, such as her mastery of drugs, a touch of realism that may seem to downplay her role as a sorceress. Unconvincing characterization may also be explained as a comic effect. Heracles can be seen as something of a buffoon. His homosexual or pederastic relationship with Hylas is covered only obliquely and even then in a humorous way, as if to set the stage for

15048-655: The treaty, was overthrown by the new Turkish nationalist Government of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk , based in Ankara. After the Greco-Turkish War ended in Greek defeat in Anatolia, and the fall of Lloyd George and his Middle Eastern policies, the western powers agreed to the Treaty of Lausanne with the new Turkish Republic, in 1923. This treaty made the island part of Turkey; but it guaranteed a special autonomous administrative status for Imbros and Tenedos to accommodate

15180-449: The venture. The locals marvel at such a gathering – young Jason has been given an impossible mission yet this band of heroes just might help him pull it off. His mother fears the worst. He bids her to stay strong and calm. Jason urges the heroes to elect a leader for the voyage. They all nominate Heracles . Heracles however insists on Jason as leader and the others submit to this choice. Rejoicing in his election, Jason orders

15312-520: The violation of their rights, fearing the consequences which they will have to face from the Turkish authorities. In the same year Human Rights Watch report concluded that the Turkish government has denied the rights of the Greek community on Imbros and Tenedos in violation of the Lausanne Treaty and international human rights laws and agreements. By 2000, only 400 Greeks remained, while the Turks were around 8,000. As of 2015 , only 318 Greeks remained on

15444-457: The virtuous king of Drepane, offers to mediate between the two sides, later confiding in his virtuous wife, Arete, that he means to surrender Medea to the Colchians, unless she happens to be married. The queen reveals this to the lovers and they are duly married in a sacred cave on the island, where the bridal bed is draped with the Golden Fleece. Disappointed, the Colchians follow the example of

15576-410: The way traditional epic offers the poem a literary background. As one scholar recently observed: "This is just the way in which old epic with its generic conventions and its ideology is present in the Argonautica : dimly visible... but still present." Characters also function as the poet's alter ego. Homer in the Odyssey also uses the device, through the singers Demodocus and Phemius. In Argonautica ,

15708-630: The winged horses of Poseidon were said to lie between Imbros and Tenedos . Homer wrote in the Iliad : In the depths of the sea on the cliff Between Tenedos and craggy Imbros There is a cave, wide gaping Poseidon who made the earth tremble, stopped the horses there. Eëtion, a lord of or ruler over the island of Imbros, is also mentioned in the Iliad . He buys Priam 's captured son Lycaon and restores him to his father. Homer also writes that Hera and Hypnos leave Lemnos and Imbros making their way to Mount Ida . Homer mentions Imbros in

15840-470: The work of a man with only one sandal. Jason has recently emerged as the man in question, having lost a sandal while crossing a swollen stream. Consequently, Pelias has entrusted him with a suicidal mission to Colchis to bring back the Golden Fleece . A ship, the Argo , has already been constructed by Argus , a shipwright working under Athena 's instructions. Meanwhile, a band of heroes has arrived to help in

15972-454: The world of Ptolemaic Alexandria, through the identification Orpheus=Apollonius. The contest symbolizes the updating of epic. Apollonius takes the symbolic role of characters further than Homer. The seers Idmon and Mopsus, able to interpret signs, might also be understood to represent the ideal audience, able to interpret symbols. Other characters however can also fulfill this role, such as Peleus, who successfully interprets Jason's encounter with

16104-406: The world of the third century audience rather than back to Homer. Cultured Alexandrians considered themselves heirs of a long literary tradition and this is evoked when Apollonius crowds his poem with as much research material as he could borrow from mythical, historiographical and ethnographic sources. Argonautica was just one of many narrative epics written in the Hellenistic period – and

16236-508: Was 1400. In various areas, cracks were observed in the ground, from which salt water gushed out, with fine sand. Massive rocks fell from the mountains. The villages of Αγίου Θεοδώρου suffered minor damage. Besides, in Samothrace, these earthquakes were also felt, but no damage was recorded. The same in Τένεδος. In Λήμνος on the contrary, some damage was caused, but it is not known how much. In Λήμνος, however, new sources appeared. In Ίμβρος ,

16368-431: Was a common topic of Greek literature. Pindar , a poetic model for Apollonius and Callimachus, composed three odes for the ruling elite of Cyrene, including Pythian 4 , where he mentions the clod of earth that Euphemus received from Triton and which became the island Thera, the mother city of Cyrene. The historian Herodotus mentioned the tripod that Triton received, a pledge of Libya 's future colonization by descendants of

16500-406: Was innovative in making it an epic topic. Medea is generally agreed to be the most interesting and lifelike character in the poem yet even she may be considered unconvincing in some respects. Her role as a romantic heroine seems at odds with her role as a sorceress. These contradictory roles were embedded in the traditional accounts that Apollonius inherited. On the other hand, Apollonius emphasizes

16632-601: Was once home to the Argonauts Peleus and Telamon, exiled thence for murdering their brother, thus symbolizing the Greek diaspora. The island of Anaphe is where the Aitia of Callimachus begins with a tale of the Argonauts, and his final aition is in Alexandria, so that Argonautica' s progression from Iolcus to Anaphe becomes part of a cycle: "Taken together these two poems de facto complete the prophecy that begins in

16764-410: Was quite significant, as is evident in the descriptions provided from the newspaper, Αμάλθεια ( Amalthea ), and Schmidt . The publication, Αμάλθεια stated that: "All the houses in the villages of Παναγία , Γλυκύ , Αγρίδια and Σχοινούδι of Ίμβρος collapsed or suffered cracks from the main earthquake and the three strong aftershocks that followed. The inhabitants remained on the streets and in

16896-465: Was responding too to Aristotle 's demand for "poems on a smaller scale than the old epics, and answering in length to the group of tragedies presented at a single sitting", since theatre audiences at the Dionysia typically sat through four plays per day and Argonautica' s four books are about the same total length. The influence of Callimachus is seen in the widespread use of aitia since these were

17028-666: Was sacred to Cabeiri and Hermes . Imbrian Mysteries were one of the secret religious rites of ancient Greece (similar to the Eleusinian Mysteries ). Unfortunately, very little is known about the Imbrian Mysteries. It is said that Philonomus had sent to Amyclae in Laconia colonists from Imbros and Lemnos. Philostratus in his " Letter 70 " to the Imbrian Cleophon, states that being

17160-524: Was sent to fetch the golden fleece from Aea , the city of Aeëtes , in the eastern boundaries of the earth, occurs in Mimnermus (Strabo, Geography, 1.2.40), a contemporary of Solon ; but the most ancient detailed account of the expedition of the Argonauts which is extant, is that of Pindar ( Pythian Odes iv.) The poem begins with an invocation to Apollo and briefly recounts his prophetic warning to Pelias , king of Iolcus , that his downfall will be

17292-424: Was the age of the great Library of Alexandria , and his epic incorporates his research in geography, ethnography, comparative religion, and Homeric literature. However, his main contribution to the epic tradition lies in his development of the love between hero and heroine – he seems to have been the first narrative poet to study "the pathology of love". His Argonautica had a profound impact on Latin poetry: it

17424-492: Was translated by Varro Atacinus and imitated by Valerius Flaccus , it influenced Catullus and Ovid , and it provided Virgil with a model for his Roman epic, the Aeneid . The Argonautica was an adventure for the poet, one of the major scholars of the Alexandrian period – it was a bold experiment in re-writing Homeric epic in a way that would meet the demanding tastes of his contemporaries. According to some accounts,

#541458