Allusion
Even without the aid of the numerous studies available on Apollonian imitation, a reader familiar with the Iliad and Odyssey who comes to the Argonautica for the first time would immediately observe that the Alexandrian poet borrows heavily from the Homeric poems.[9] In composing his epic, Apollonius has successfully
[8] Hunter (2) 436–37, and T. M. Klein, "Apollonius' Jason: Hero and Scoundrel," QUCC , n.s., 13 (1983) 115–23, both provide useful summaries of scholarly opinion on the character of Jason.
[9] As Händel 7 succinctly states, "Vor allem und immer wieder ist da die Bedingung Homer." Campbell's monograph Echoes and Imitations of Early Epic in Apollonius Rhodius , cited in Abbreviations and References, vividly underscores Apollonius's debt to Homer; for a more discursive treatment, cf. J. F. Carspecken, "Apollonius Rhodius and the Homeric Epic," YCIS 13 (1952) 33–143.
created what Emile Cahen has styled the "presque homérique."[10] The poet not only employs Homer's vocabulary and syntax, either with slight variation (imitatio cum variatione ) or in inverted form (oppositio in imitando ),[11] he also reproduces variæ lectiones ,[12]hapax and dis legomena in the Iliad and Odyssey[13] and semantic unica in the Homerica ,[14] imitates Homeric ambiguities,[15] and extends the number of Homeric defective verbs.[16] Apollonius even appears to enter into debates with other scholars on issues of usage or interpretation of Homeric vocabulary by featuring a word in a context that requires his particular solution to the philological controversy.[17] In short, it is readily apparent that Apollonius had it in mind to produce a lexical analogue to the Homeric poems.[18]
[10] E. Cahen, Callimaque et son poétique (Paris 1929) 519–25; cf. M. G. Ciani, "Poesia come enigma (Considerazioni sulla poesia di Apollonio Rodio)," Scritti in onore di C. Diano (Bologna 1975) 77–111; and M. Fantuzzi, "Omero 'autore' di Apollonio Rodio: Le formule introduttive al discorso diretto," MD 13 (1986) 67–82. As M. W. Haslam, "Apollonius Rhodius and the Papyri," ICS 3 (1978) 54–61, has shown, this feature of the narrative is so conspicuous that it has even made the text of the Argonautica susceptible to corruption (e.g., when a scribe inadvertently recalls and copies a Homeric expression that Apollonius was adapting).
[11] See, for example, G. Giangrande, "'Arte Allusiva' and Alexandrian Epic Poetry," CQ 17 (1967), and "Aspects of Apollonius Rhodius' Language," Papers of the Liverpool Latin Seminar 1976 , ed. F. Cairns (Liverpool 1977), 271–91, and E. Livrea, "L'épos philologique: Apollonius de Rhodes et quelques homérismes méconnus," AC 49 (1980) 146–60.
[12] G. Giangrande, "The Utilization of Homeric Variants by Apollonius Rhodius: A Methodological Canon of Research," QUCC 15 (1973) 73–81; cf. Giangrande 8–9.
[14] See, for example, A. Ardizzoni, "'Trappole'e infortuni apolloniani," GIF 30 (1978) 275–87.
[15] See Caggia (supra n. 13) and "Un caso di bivalenza semantica in Apollonio Rodio," GIF 26 (1974) 33–40; cf. G. Giangrande, "Polisemia del linguaggio nella poesia alessandrina," QUCC 24 (1977) 97–106.
[16] See G. Giangrande, "A Passage in Apollonius," CQ 21 (1971) 146–48; cf. P. M. Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria (Oxford 1972) 1.633–34.
[17] As shown, for instance, by R. Merkel, Apollonii Argonautica (Leipzig 1854) lxxi–xcviii; cf. M. Campbell, "Three Notes on Alexandrine Poetry," Hermes 102 (1974) 42–46; and E. Livrea, "Una 'tecnica allusiva' apolloniana alla luce dell'esegesi omerica alessandrina," SIFC 44 (1972) 231–43.
[18] R. F. Thomas, "Vergil's Georgics and the Art of Reference," HSCPh 90 (1986) 171–98, provides a very useful discussion on the various typesof allusion; what he and J. Farrell, Vergil's Georgics and the Traditions of Ancient Epic (Oxford 1991), say about the Georgics applies to the Argonautica as well.
It is not reasonable to assume, however, that the successful creation of a convincing "presque homérique" as a kind of poetic instantiation of his philological research was Apollonius's main goal. As it stands, the manifestly Homeric texture of the narrative naturally brings with it a whole array of generic expectations: the invocation of the Muse, the catalogue, the duel, and the heroic choice, to mention but a few. These and other canonical or celebrated features of the Homeric poems, when they occur in transmogrified form in the Argonautica , invite comparison with their archaic models. As I shall argue, Apollonius turns his audience to specific Homeric texts in order to set up a contrast between the traditional action and outlook of the ancient heroes and those of his own. The Argonautic narrative is thus not a glossographical landscape whose primary function is to provide a mythic backdrop for a scholar's academic wars, although these are waged, but rather an evocative setting for the achievement of a truly heroic feat by a less than heroic figure who turns out to be a kind of Alexandrian Yankee in King Pelias's court. In what follows, I shall study the parallels and contrasts between the Hellenistic actors and their literary stage by focusing on the particular words, phrases, or lines whose wider settings entail situations that are similar to, identical to, or exactly the opposite of the new Argonautic context. For often when we see the heroes and heroines of the Argonautica in contexts reflecting specific Homeric incidents, the stark difference between the two worlds becomes all the more marked. Herein lies the special power and attraction of the allusive technique.
I shall call special attention to the more complex instances of allusion where Apollonius "contaminates"—to use the term suggested by Terence (cf. An. 16) and adopted by many modern scholars[19] —several passages that one might describe as non ita
[19] See, for example, I. M. Le M. Du Quesnay, "From Polyphemus to Corydon" [p. 212, n. 86], and F. Cairns, "Self-imitation within a Generic Framework: Ovid, Amores 2.9 and 3.11 and the renuntiatio amoris " [p. 121], both in Creative Imitation and Latin Literature , ed. D. West and T. Woodman (London 1979). Although contaminare in context is a negative term and refers tothe process of "spoiling plays for other dramatists . . . [by] unfairly reducing the store of Greek plays available for adoption" (thus S. Goldberg, Understanding Terence [Princeton 1986] 95), it is a convenient term for describing the practice of conflating several models into a new and original piece. Goldberg's analysis of the effects of contaminatio in the Adelphoe and Eunuchus (ibid. 97–122) shows how effective such a conflation of models was in the Terentian plays.
dissimili argumento (ibid. 11). The episode in which Apollonius describes Jason leaving home offers a good example of such contaminatio (examined at length in Chapter 3). The poet casts the response to Jason's departure in such a way that he recalls various passsages in the Iliad where Homeric characters were responding to the death (actual and threatened) of Hector; in particular, Jason's mother, Alcimede, calls Andromache to mind. Moreover, when portraying Alcimede's desperate reaction to her son's imminent departure from home, Apollonius compares her to a young girl "falling upon and embracing" (
Apollonius by no means restricts his glance to the Homeric poems. The influence of practically all areas of previous and contemporary literature and scholarship can be observed, although understandably to a lesser degree than that of Homer. Of particular note are Pindar's fourth Pythian , Attic tragedy, and the poetry of Callimachus, especially the Ætia and Hecale .[20] The traditional heroic Jason to be found in Pindar's account of the Argonautic expedition told in the fourth Pythian stands in sharp contrast with Apollonius's Jason. In the opening of the poem, Apollonius appears to call this contrast to the reader's attention (Chapter 1).
[20] With regard to the influence of the Hecale on the Argonautica , one should now consult A. S. Hollis, Callimachus: Hecale (Oxford 1990) 27, 388.
In the case of tragedy,[21] in addition to introducing tragic vocabulary into his epic,[22] Apollonius imported the tragic debate and monologue, especially in Book 3. Foremost among the Athenian plays that inform our reading of the Argonautica is Euripides' Medea . R. L. Hunter well summarizes the importance of this play in the reading of the Alexandrian epic:[23]
A[pollonius] assumes in his readers an intimate knowledge of this famous play, and its action hangs over Arg. even when it is not specifically recalled. More significant than the actual foreshadowing of Jason's abandonment of Medea through the figure of Ariadne and of Medea's infanticide is the constant interplay between the arguments and gestures of the two texts; A[pollonius] models his Jason and his Medea with an eye to their "subsequent" history in Euripides' tragedy. The two texts become mutually explicative; Arg. shows us how the origins of the tragedy lay far back, and the tragedy lends deep resonance and "tragic" irony to the events of the epic.
The "'subsequent' history in Euripides' tragedy" will surface in Jason's departure from home (Chapter 3), the sailing of the Argo from Pagasae (Chapter 5), and Jason's encounter with Hypsipyle on Lemnos (Chapter 6).[24] There are a number of verbal points of contact between the Argonautica and the surviving poems and fragments of Callimachus. Two passages in Book 1 of the Argonautica that seem to reflect Callimachean models will
[21] Cf. F. Stössl, Apollonios Rhodios: Interpretationen zur Erzählungskunst und Quellenverwertung (Bern 1941), who treats at length Apollonius's debt to Athenian drama—with a heavy hand, in my opinion.
[22] Cf., for instance, A. Ardizzoni, "Note apolloniane," Maia 20 (1968) 14, and M. Fantuzzi, "Varianti d'autore nelle Argonautiche d'Apollonio Rodio," A&A 29 (1983) 146–61.
[23] Hunter 18–19; cf. also Hunter's paper "Medea's Flight: The Fourth Book of the Argonautica," CQ 37 (1987) 129–39; and most recently A. R. Dyck, "On the Way from Colchis to Corinth: Medea in Book 4 of the 'Argonautica,'" Hermes 117 (1989) 455–70, and V. Knight, "Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.167–70 and Euripides' Medea," CQ 41 (1991) 248–50.
[24] Surprisingly, I have not found correspondences, verbal or contextual, between the Argonautica and fragments of fifth-century tragedies dealing with the Argonautic myth (e.g., Euripides' Hypsipyle ) particularly helpful in interpreting the Hellenistic epic or Jason's heroic status therein. I suspect that if more were available, this situation would change considerably. For a list of Athenian plays that deal with the Argonautic cycle, see Vian xxxvi–vii.
receive special attention: Jason's prayer to Apollo on the beach at Pagasae (Chapter 4) and the celebration of Rhea's mysteries on Mount Dindymon (Chapter 7). Finally, it would appear that the Lyde of Antimachus had considerable influence on Apollonius,[25] but because the fragmentary remains of the poem are so few we shall never know how the recollection of this elegiac narrative might have affected the interpretation of the Alexandrian epic.
The Argonautica is a poem rich in allusions to so many different writers composing different works in a variety of genres, including even so unexpected a writer as Herodotus (Chapter 5), that it would be impossible to take every reference into account in the present discussion.[26] Rather, as I mentioned above, I shall concentrate on those imitations that I believe invite the reader to recall the wider context of the word, phrase, line, or lines that the poet has worked into the fabric of his narrative. This allusive technique presupposes an audience that possesses, and actively engages in their reading of the poem, a comprehensive knowledge of past and contemporary literature in order to see the important suggestions being made between the lines. By relying as heavily as he does on the subtext to fill in the interstices of the narrative proper, Apollonius shares the burden of composition with the reader. Approaching the Argonautica without a considerable literary background, a reader would surely find Apollonius's poem a rather dull adventure story embedded in an antiquarian's travelogue, relieved only by a few interesting moments in Book 3 when Medea falls in love; the doctus lector , on the other hand, encounters not another mediocre epic about another hero on yet another legendary quest but a sophisticated poem whose double-tiered narrative informs and suggests, and whose meaning can be grasped only by a creative reading that sees both levels of the text.
[25] See Wyss xlviii ff.; for examples of Antimachus's influence on Book 1, see, for example, lines 243 (» fr. 72 Wyss), 1008 (» fr. 71 Wyss), 1115–16 (» fr. 53 Wyss), 1235 (» fr. 44 Wyss).
[26] Campbell has done a remarkable job of collecting many of these in his useful index, and the different commentators (Mooney, Ardizzoni, Fränkel, Vian) have recorded other archaic, classical, and Hellenistic reminiscences that have been observed to date.