The Best of the Argonauts "d0e1926"

Structure

There remains another feature of the Proemium that I believe is also programmatic: the structure itself.^[25] In lines 1–4, as briefly outlined above, Apollonius begins with an invocation to Apollo and identifies the subject of his poem, the Argonautic expedition. These lines correspond with lines 18–22, where the poet turns to the Catalogue as the starting point for the narrative and ends with an invocation to the Muses. In the central section of the Proemium, lines 5–17, the poet presents in an extremely abbreviated form the Vorgeschichte of the expedition.^[26] Even this section possesses a unifying structure of its own. Lines 5–7 contain Apollo's prophecy to Pelias that he would die at the hands of the man who wore only one shoe; the next seven lines, 8–14, present the appearance of Jason at Pelias's sacrifice offered to Poseidon and all the gods, except Hera, and Pelias's recognition of the fated man; and lines 15–17 conclude with Pelias's plot to get rid of Jason. The Proemium, then, has the shape outlined on the following page.

We have seen that the hymnic opening, the use of the recusatio motif, and the academic role assigned to the Muses all have programmatic implications; they lead us to expect other resemblances in the Argonautica to the poetry of Callimachus or of Aratus, thereby advertising, in part, the nature of the narrative the reader is to expect. I find the structure of the Proemium to be

[24] Pace Fraser (supra n. 9) 632–33 et passim , who insists that although Callimachus and Apollonius share an interest in etiology and employ the same linguistic practice, that typical of Alexandrian writers of the period, temperamentally and stylistically they "face in contrary directions" (633). In my opinion, Fraser (cf. 749–54) trusts too much in the ancient biographical tradition.

[25] Cf. Hurst's discussion of this feature of the Proemium (39–44).

[26] Fränkel ad 1.1–233 provides the most thorough analysis of what Apollonius includes and leaves out in the terse prehistory of the expedition; cf. also Händel 9–14.

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THE PROEMIUM , 1–22
A. Address to Apollo and Choice of the Subject		(1–4)
B. The Prehistory of the Expedition		(5–17)
	a. Pelias's Oracle	(5–7)
	b. Appearance of Jason	(8–14)
	a. Pelias's Plot	(15–17)
A. Qualification of the Subject and Address to the Muses		(18–22)

no less programmatic in this sense: it furnishes an "example," to use Hurst's term,^[27] of the organizational principle that Apollonius will follow for the rest of the poem. The basic building block that can be observed from the analysis of the Proemium and that Apollonius will use in different configurations throughout the poem is ring composition. As I mentioned above in the Introduction, the employment of this structural device will vary from the simple ring (A–B–A ), to the ring within the ring, as here in the Proemium (A–B [a–b-a ]–A ), and to other more complicated variations that suit the content and special focus of an episode or part of an episode. The ring provides a useful way for the poet to organize a vast amount of legendary, mythological, historical, and geographical information and at the same time to call attention to important points that might get lost in what is an extremely involved and learned narrative. In the body of the poem, as in the Proemium, Apollonius consistently gives central position to prominent images, to sudden divine or quasi-divine appearances, and very often to significant allusions that guide and inform our understanding of the section at hand.

By omitting in his introduction much of the prehistory, which—in line with archaic practices—unfolds in the course of the poem,^[28] and by articulating his Proemium in the ring format, Apollonius focuses on the ætion of the Argonautic expedition (Apollo's prophecy to Pelias and its fulfillment) and, in particular, on the

[27] Hurst 43.

[28] This is well established by Händel 11–12.

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ominous appearance of Jason

, which lies in the center of this central section. The picture given to us by Apollonius, so different from the heroic account of the same scene in Pindar's Pythian 4 (70–171), while revealing little about the personality of Jason, nonetheless suggests something about this central figure.^[29] Jason will lead the expedition not because of any discernible qualities or ambition on his part, but because he happened to have crossed the Anaurus when he did, thereby losing a sandal. As we learn later on, even Hera's affection for him arises not out of respect for his heroic virtues, but because he was a courteous fellow who once helped an old lady cross a river (Argo. 3.61–73). In fact, this rather unspectacular "man of the people" (

, 7)^[30] will successfully complete his

(15) not through traditional heroic virtues but by being at the right place and knowing and influencing the right people at the right time, especially women. Vian suggests that

recalls

at Pindar P. 4.78^[31] With Pindar's ode in mind, one might well believe that Apollonius was trying to improve on Pindar's version of the oracle by making it more specific. Yet the distinctively unheroic outlook and behavior of the epic's protagonist that the reader will encounter in the course of the poem contrast with Pindar's noble hero. Jason gives no indication of being anything other than a rather ordinary young man^[32] who has been thrust into his position by his ingratiating manner and by the accidental loss of his shoe. In short, nothing in the picture of Jason, which the structure of the Proemium sets in relief, leads one to believe that Jason will prove to be a dynamic hero of the Homeric type.

[30] So Vian 50 n. 2, pace A. Platt, "Apollonius III," Journal of Philology 35 (1919) 72.

[31] Vian ibid.

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The Argonautic program, though subtle, is clear. The reader is led to expect an untraditional epic whose esthetics are Callimachean and whose narrative will be organized in such a way that the most important images and allusions are structurally highlighted. Moreover, in establishing the narrative technique he will use, Apollonius has also given us a suggestive glimpse of the poem's central character, and what we observe might equally be considered programmatic. The "hero" of the epic who undertakes the seemingly impossible

, much as he does in the Proemium, throughout the rest of the poem does not act or create possibilities for action on his own; rather he shows up at the right place and meets the right people at the right time. Thus, Apollonius invites the reader to infer from both the style and content of his Proemium that his epic will not be yet another Homericizing

in many thousands of lines featuring the typical archaic hero.

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