B—
Jason's Optimistic Speech (295–305)
Given that Æson's and Alcimede's reactions to their son's departure recall the lamentation, respectively, of Priam and Andromache for the dead Hector, it should come as no surprise that Jason's response to his mother is a composite of themes and phrases that likewise come from Homeric passages concerning events surrounding the death of this Trojan hero. In his speech, Jason tells Alcimede that excessive lamentation only adds to the present evils that the gods have sent; that she should not worry because he has received sufficient divine and human help to fulfill his mission successfully; and finally that she should go back to her room and not bring bad luck upon the expedition through her pessimistic feelings. His speech runs as follows:
[19]
Do not for my sake, mother, fill your mind with aching grief
to such extent, since you will not free yourself from suffering
with tears; rather you would only add pain on top of pain.
The gods deal out invisible sorrows to mankind.
Have the courage to endure your portion of these, even though
you grieve in your heart. And find strength in Athena's promise of
aid;
in the divine oracles, since Phoebus[*] has revealed propitious
signs; and finally in the assistance of the heroes.
Now for your part remain here at home among the servants
free from care , 
Our kinsmen and servants will accompany you to your quarters.
When Priam came to the tent of Achilles to ransom the body of Hector, the hero tried to console him, as Jason does here, by pointing out that excessive grief would prove useless and that the gods were ultimately responsible for the misfortunes that all must suffer (Il. 24.518–56). Of particular interest are the following two excerpts from this speech:[20]
Endure and do not tear away at your heart with excessive
lamentation;
for you will not achieve any good by grieving for your son,
nor will you bring him back, but suffer some other evil first.
For thus have the gods spun the thread of life for pitiable mortals—
to live a life of grief—while they themselves enjoy a carefree
existence.
The sentiment is the same in both speeches: excessive grief does not relieve the evils that the gods send. Although the wording of the Argonautic text does not entail a close imitation of particular words or phrases of the Iliadic, the scholiast nonetheless provides a good indication that Apollonius's audience could have observed the poet's references to this speech. In his comments on lines 296b and 297a, he pointed to Il. 24.524 and 551, respectively; the ancient scholar clearly saw that Jason's speech paralleled that of Achilles. Moreover, a point made in the same Iliadic speech to which Apollonius did not allude specifically is germane to the present Argonautic context. In his attempt to assuage Priam's grief, Achilles offered his own father, Peleus, as an example of one who received a mixed lot from the gods. Though Peleus was once fortunate, he now suffered because of the absence of his only child:
And so even to Peleus the gods gave wondrous gifts
from birth, for he surpassed all men
in wealth and riches, and ruled the Myrmidons;
and the gods made a goddess his wife, although he was mortal.
A god, however, inflicted an evil upon him: he did not have
in his home a progeny of sons whose lot it was to rule;
rather he begat one ill-fated son. As it is, I shall not
care for him as he grows old, since very far from my fatherland
I remain in Troy, an anxiety to you and your children.
Like Peleus, Alcimede, though formerly prosperous, now experiences grief over the departure of her only son on a foreign adventure; moreover, she too believes that she can no longer expect either 
or burial from Jason, a fate comparable to that of Peleus. It is noteworthy that the gender reversal between text
and subtext in this instance parallels that between Astyanax and the little girl of the simile.
After trying to encourage his mother by referring to his advice from Athena, as well as to the propitious oracle of Apollo and the assistance of the Argonauts (300–302), Jason dismisses Alcimede rather abruptly, telling her to stay at home with her servants and not to be a bird of ill omen (303–5). Regarding the first point, Hector dismissed Andromache in their last meeting in a similar fashion, the phrasing of which Apollonius has in mind here:[21]
My poor distraught wife, do not allow grief for me to tear at your
heart.
No one will send me to Hades before my time.
I tell you this: no one has escaped his fate ,
neither coward nor hero, once he was born.
But go home and tend to your tasks —
your loom and spindle—and order your servants
to get to work. War will be the concern of all
men born in Ilion, especially me.
As to the second point, Jason's request that his mother not jeopardize his mission by voicing such dire and inauspicious fears prompts the audience to recall what Priam said to Hecuba when
[22]she tried to prevent her husband from going on his journey to the Greek camp to fetch Hector's body:[23]
Do not try to stop me from going, which is what I want to do;
. You shall not persuade
me.
In short, Jason's speech recalls expressions of consolation or impatience uttered by Achilles, Hector, and Priam in response to Hector's death both before and after the fact.