Jason’s Odyssey

Epic Hero?

• Achilles - military prowess

• Odysseus - ingenuity

• Jason… - sexual prowess? (repopulate Lemnos)

Misogyny in the Argonautica

• Women of Lemnos

• Harpies• Scylla• Medea?• Circe?

Women of Lemnos

• Hypsipyle• Thracian Women• Aphrodite’s Rage• Herakles (&

Atalanta) intervene• Fleece & Glory• Women & Obscurity• Odyssean parallel?

Harpies• Harpazo• The Snatchers• Winged Women

or Birds with Women’s Heads

• Phineus, son of Apollo

• Zeus’s anger• Zetes & Calais• Iris intervenes

Medea

• Daughter of Aeetes & Idyuia (or Hecate)

• Granddaughter of Helios• Niece of Circe• Priestess of Artemis/Hecate• Iconic Woman of Power

Folktale Enchantress

• Victim of Love Magic!

• Bulls• Dragon’s Teeth

Men• Dragon/Serpent

Foreign Family Values: Apsyrtus

• Apollonius: Medea betrays, Jason slays

Nip/Tuck with Medea

• Aeson• Pelias & Peliades• Exile from Iolchus

Divorce tears Families apart

• Corinth• Creon• Creusa or

Glauce• Medea’s

deadly bridal gifts

Who gets the Kids?

Escape from Corinth• Chariot of the Sun• Athens & Aegeus• Colchian Viagra

Tension in Athens

• Aethra & Aegeus or Poseidon

• Sandals & Sword of Theseus

• Beast-slayer• Poison but

Recognition• Exile from

Athens• Medus• W. Russell Flint

Return to Colchis

• Perses, brother Aeetes

• Has Medus kill Perses

• Isles of the Blest! With Achilles

Medea as Iconic Figure• Women with Power• Medea or Jason for 3

a.m. phone call?• Euripides, Ovid,

Seneca• Clytemnestra and

her man-scheming heart

• Sympathetic portrayal in Apollonius?

Folktale Elements in the Argonautica

• Son’s search for lost father?

• Hero’s adventures in quest?

• Hero’s Return in disguise to save beloved (from marriage)?

Folktale Women in the Argonautica

• Protectress– non-sexual

admiration for virtue, lineage, heroic deed

• Enchantress– “evil witch in

wood”– if outwitted, will

serve

• Object of Striving– reason for quest

Elect your Leader

• Odysseus• Achilles• Jason• Medea• Clytemnestra• Penelope