In Search of the Argonauts

"Few classical stories are as exciting as that of Jason and the Golden Fleece. The stirring tale of an adventurer who was also the son of a disenfranchised king and a daring sea-captain has resonated through the ages, rumbling and echoing like the clashing rocks which almost pulverised the Argo. The themes of the legend are perennial, and endlessly engaging. Even while it tells of a quest to the ends of the earth, of the villainous usurper King Pelias, of dragons' teeth, of the loss of Hylas (beloved of Hercules) ravished by nymphs, and of Jason's passionate liaison with the sorceress Medea, it speaks to us of more: of gender and sexuality; of heroism and lost integrity; of powerful gods and terrifying monsters; of identity and otherness; of exploration and exploitation. The Argonauts are emblems of collective heroism, yet also of the emptiness of glory. From Pindar to J. W. Waterhouse, Apollonius of Rhodes to Ray Harryhausen, and Robert Graves to Mary Zimmerman, the Argonaut myth has inspired later interpretations as rich and diverse as the ancient versions. Helen Lovatt here unravels the various strands of the tangled narrative and its numerous and fascinating afterlives in a book that will both inform and endlessly entertain all those who love classical literature and myth."--