Journal Phasis - Greek and Roman Studies

Tatišvili, Irene

English

Aietes – Son of Helios (For the Study of Hittite-Georgian Religious Parallels)

Gordeziani, Rismag

The Land of Aietes and the Argo in the Homeric Tradition

Gordeziani, Levan

Phasis 10 (I), 2007 
 
 
Levan Gordeziani (Tbilisi) 
THE ARGONAUTICA AND LINEAR B TEXTS 
It is commonly admitted that the Mycenaean texts are mostly economic 
reports and because of their specific character, do not include clear and direct 
information on the contacts between the Mycenaean world and the states of 
the East.  
The indirect information can conventionally be split into two groups:  
Lexical borrowings; 
Place names and ethnonyms.  
The second group can itself be divided into two sub-groups:  
The names reflecting the origin of an individual or a group of individuals,  
and the ones attested in proper names or adjectives. 
Along with the archeological finds, linguistic material is very important 
for the study of the Argonautica, which in fact refers to the Hellenic and 
Colchian or Aegean and Caucasian contacts. Since both sides are highlighted 
at the present conference, I will confine myself solely to the hypothetical 
mentioning of Colchis in the Linear B texts. 
Admittedly, Colchis is mentioned in Assyrian, Urartian and Greek written 
records. Moreover, apart from being an actual country, Colchis is a 
mythological setting in classical Greece. After the Linear B texts were read, it 
was suggested that Colchis was known to Greeks as early as the Mycenaean 
period. The assumption is based on the name ko-ki-da, ko-ki-de-jo found in 
three texts from the Knossus archive (ko-ki-da: KN Sd 4403, 4430, ko-ki-de-
jo: KN Fh 5465). Some scholars read the word as ,  . 
However, this is not the only possible version.1 In fact, peculiarities of 
                                                 
1  Diccionario Griego-Español. Anejo I. Diccionario micenico, I-II, Redactado por F. Aura Jorro, 
Bajo la dirección F. R. Adrados, Madrid 1985-1993 (DMic), I, 372sq. 
 Levan Gordeziani 
 
 
80
Mycenaean writing allow several ways of reading. Only open syllables were 
graphically represented (vowel, consonant + vowel, rarely – consonant + 
consonant + vowel). The final consonant of the closed syllable (a vowel + a 
consonant or a consonant + a vowel + a consonant) was not normally 
recorded. The lack of the final consonant ( ) rendered ambiguous the case 
form and gender of the word. Besides, the written language does not 
distinguish between  consonants, which very often make it rather 
difficult to identify a particular word. 
Let us consider the texts that include the word of our immediate interest:  
KN Sd 4403 : ] e-re-pa-te-jo , o-po-qo , ke-ra-ja-pi , o-pi-i-ja-pi 'ko-ki-da , 
o-pa' CUR 3// i-]qi-ja , / a-ja-me-na , e-re-pa-te , a-ra-ro-mo-te-me-na , a-ra-
ru-ja [  
"3 horse-chariots without wheels inlaid with ivory, fully assembled, 
equipped with bridles with cheek-straps decorated with ivory and horn, 
produced by ko-ki-da."2 
KN So 4430: ko-ki-da , o-pa ne-wa // e-ri-ka , / o-da-twe-ta , a-ro2-a 
ROTA ZE 22 MO ROTA 1  
"produced by ko-ki-da: new, toothed wheels of willow, of superior 
quality."3 
KN Fh 5465: ko-ki-de-jo qa[ 
Only one word is fully preserved in this fragment. 
It is absolutely clear that the word of our interest is used here in the 
genitive. In the first two texts, the word can be interpreted as either the 
nominative or the genitive case form. 
To understand the texts, it is essential to find out the meaning of the term 
o-pa. Part of scholars considers it to be a state, feudal duty, while others 
interpret it as an enterprise or a workshop.4 J. T. Killen, who as far as I 
know, is the author of the latest work on the term, agrees with M. Lejeune and 
J. L. Melena that the term corresponds to an ancient Greek word /hopā/ 
(nomen actionis derived from the same root as ); however he offers a 
different interpretation of the term and suggests that it used to denote the final 
stage of working a product.5 Therefore, I find it acceptable to translate the 
                                                 
2  Cf. M. Ventris, J. Chadwick, Documents in Mycenaean Greek, Cambridge 19732, 365ff. 
3  Cf. J. T. Hooker, Linear B. An Introduction, Bristol 19832, 164f. 
4  DMic II, 30sq. 
5  J. T. Killen, Mycenaean o-pa. Floreant Studia Mycenaea, Akten des X. internationalen 
mykenologischen Colloquiums in Salzburg vom 1.-5. Mai 1995, hrsg. v. S. Deger-Jalkotzy, St. 
Hiller, O. Panagl, Wien 1999, 325ff. 
The Argonautica and Linear B Texts 
 
81
term as ‘produced by ko-ki-da’ although, it should not be ruled out that in the 
given context the word could have been used in a specific technical sense.6 
We learn from the texts that ko-ki-da was somehow connected with the 
production of expensive articles – richly decorated war chariots for the court. 
The dating of the Knossos archive is disputable. Arthur Evans was the 
first to date the texts discovered on Crete back to the 1400 B.C. Following the 
1950s, linguistic parallels with other archives caused the popularity of another 
version (1200). Archeological or textological studies of the latest decade 
seem to testify again in favour of the outset of the 14th century.7 Is it possible 
that a man either coming from Colchis or called Colchian could have served 
for the royal palace on Crete in the 14th century B.C.? 
In my opinion, such a hypothesis should not be ruled out.  
The first argument to mention is the lexical parallels between pre-Greek 
and Kartvelian environments, which have been highlighted several times in 
special literature. One of those words to be necesserily mentioned at the 
conference on the Argonautica is the well-known ko-wo (κῶϜος, κῶας) 
‘skin, fleece’ found in one of the Mycenaean texts. 
Those linguistic parallels speak at least of the important contacts and 
migrations between the South Caucasus and the Aegean Sea region in the 
Bronze Age and offer grounds for the hypothesis on remote relatioship 
between the tribes inhabiting the regions.8 
Owing to their specific character, Mycenaean texts mention the 
geographical areas outside their kingdom on a very rare occasion. 
Archeological finds make it absolutely clear that the Mycenaean world 
enjoyed commercial contacts with Phoenicia and Cyprus. This is also atested 
by the texts where the following adjectives either specify a product or 
function as proper names of individuals: Phoenician, Phenicese _  : 
po-ni-ke-a (KN Ln 1568), po-ni-ke- (PY Ta 714, 722), po-ni-ki-ja/jo (KN);9 
Cyprian, Cypriot _  : ku-pi-ri-jo (KN Fh 347, 361, 371, 372, 5446, 
5447, Ga 517, 676, 677, Gg 995, K 773, X 468; PY Cn 131, 719, Jn 320, Un 
443).10 
Egypt, another important partner of the Aegean world, is represented 
through an adjective used as a proper name – Egyptian – a3-ku-pi-ti-jo (KN 
Db 1105) –  . Presumably, the second name used in the same sense 
                                                 
6  Cf. wozee – "work", which may designate a specific state obligation in the E-class texts. 
7  R. Plath, Linear B. Der Neue Pauly (DNP) 7, 1999, 245ff. 
8  In detail see: R. Gordeziani, Mediterranea-Kartvelica, I-III vol., Tbilisi 2007. 
9  DMic II, 138sqq. 
10  DMic I, 405. 
 Levan Gordeziani 
 
 
82
must have been derived from the Semitic name of Egypt _ mi-sa-ra-jo (KN 
F 841).11 Interestingly, ‘Egyptian’ is used only once (or twice) in the Cretan 
texts. Therefore, the single mentioning of ‘Colchis’ can not serve as a proof to 
assert that the Cretan Achaeans had no idea about Colchis.  
The Achaeans could have been aware of Colchis.  
In 1984, Tim Severin demonstrated that a Mycenaean ship could sail 
against the stream through the Dardanelles and Bosporos.12 Besides, the 
archeological excavations headed by Manfred Korfmann, started in 1988, 
points to quite intensive movements between the Mediterranean and the Black 
sea regions in the late Bronze Age.13 Apart from the Hittite Empire, which the 
Achaeans could reach by a shorter cut, in those times there was only one 
major political entity in the Black Sea region – Colchis. Its name was 
presumably mentioned for first time in the 12th century B.C. Assyrian texts;14 
however, archeological materials from western Georgia suggest that large 
political entity was formed as early as the 15th century.15 
Consequently, the Argonaut legend may reflect an actual expedition of the 
Mycenaean period. Moreover, it includes several indicators that facilitate its 
dating. 
The tradition assigns the Argonauts to the generation of the Trojan 
heroes’ fathers. There are several ways of dating the Trojan War, and the date 
ranges between 1334-1135. Out of the proposed versions the most popular 
one was the dating by Eratosthenes – 1184 B.C., which almost coincides with 
the date of the fall of Troy VIIa (VIi16 according to the latest classification) as 
suggested by archeologists. However, the war that could have inspired the 
Homeric epics should anyway be dated to the 13th century, when Mycenae 
was a powerful state.17  
Consequently, the Argonauts must have visited Colchis almost by the end 
the 14th century B.C. or the start of the 13th century. However, one generation 
of myths does not always span just 30-40 years. For example, the 400 
hundred year long histories of Crete and Mycenae correspond to only three 
generations of kings, while Tisamenus, the grandson of Agamemnon, fought 
                                                 
11  E. Cline, Contact and Trade or Colonization? Egypt and the Aegean in the 14
th
-13
th
 Centuries 
B.C. Minos 25-26, 1990-1991, 18; DMic I, 136, 454. 
12  T. Severin, The Jason’s Voyage, London 1985. 
13  M. Korfmann, Das homerische Troia war größer – Ergebnisse der Grabungen 1988-1995. 
Troia. Mythen und Archäologie. Hrsg. H.D. Galter. Graz, 1997, 83ff. 
14  Г. А. Меликишвили, Наири-Урарту, Тбилиси 1954, 22 и слл. 
15  Cf. О. Лордкипанидзе, Наследие древней Грузии, Тбилиси 1989, 204 и слл. 
16  M. Korfmann, Die Arbeiten in Troia/Wilusa 2003, Studia Troica 14, 2004, 5f. 
17  Different dating possibilities are discussed in: L. Gordesiani, Der Troianische Krieg in den 
Linear-B-Texten? Phasis, Greek and Roman Studies, 8, 2005, 52ff.  
The Argonautica and Linear B Texts 
 
83
against the Dorians in the tenth century B.C. I fully agree with the opinion of 
F. Schachermeyr, who states that the folk memory has preserved only the 
names of the distinguished kings and has adjusted them to particular 
periods.18 The king to rule pre-Greek Crete before the 15th century B.C. was 
Minos. Deucalion, mentioned among the Argonauts, reigned in the meantime 
between the first and the second invasions of the Achaeans (1450-1370 B.C.), 
while Idomeneus appears to be the ruler of completely Mycenaean Crete (for 
over a century’s period!). We have the same picture in the Mycenae: Pelops 
must have come to Mycenae from Asia Minor in a war chariot in the middle 
of the 16th century B.C.19 The reign of Atreus must cover the first half of the 
14th century;20 while the rule of Agamemnon should be anchored in the 13th 
century B.C. Owing to the literary treatment and systemic approach to the 
fragments of history, Minos became the father of Achaean Deucalion, Pelops 
– father of Atreus, and the latter – father of Agamemnon, etc. Literary 
systematization must have also resulted in the fact that out of the successful 
campaigns of the 15th-13th centuries B.C. Greeks recalled only the Trojan 
War, and out of the marine expeditions – the Voyage of the Argonauts. The 
‘catalogues of heroes’ are also connected with these or other famous plots. If 
a sizeable team of celebrated heroes of the Trojan War does not seem 
unusual, the participation of so many prominent individuals in the events of 
comparatively local significance may stir doubts. For example, the presence 
of many princes and nobles on board a single ship is really surprising, while 
Heracles looks so unnatural among the Argonauts that he was compelled to 
leave the ship half way down the voyage. The surviving Argonautica includes 
other chronological discrepancies as well; Being the native of Iolcus of the 
Late Bronze Age, Jason must have gone to extremes to marry the daughter of 
the Corinthian king of the Middle Bronze Age; neither could Medea have 
become acquainted with yet childless Egeus as the Cretan adventure of his 
son Theseus should be dated no later than to the early 14th century B.C. 
Undoubtedly, as time passed the story of the Argonauts was either 
enriched with certain details or abridged. The myth probably united the events 
related to several important expeditions, which is indicated by the homeward 
route of the Argonauts. It was interlinked with other real or invented stories. 
As a result, a whole cycle of myths was composed, where it is rather difficult 
to distinguish the historical core. Here I won’t even attempt to reconstruct the 
                                                 
18  F. Schachermeyr, Die griechische Rückerinnerung im Lichte neuer Forschungen, Wien 1983, 
36f. 
19  F. Schachermeyr, 106ff. 
20  Cf. F. Schachermeyr, Mykene und das Hethiterreich, Wien 1986, 161ff. 
 Levan Gordeziani 
 
 
84
initial shape of the myth, or to analyze its particular parts; I will dwell only on 
one aspect of the issue. 
Already ancient Greek authors found the deeds of the Argonauts heroic as 
they were the first Achaeans to penetrate the Black Sea.21 A titanic volcanic 
explosion occurred on the Island of Thera (Santorini) in 1500 B.C. The 
island was half drawn in the water. The eruption and the accompanying 
waves and ashes reached Crete as well; the famous Minoan fleet was 
destroyed, which enabled Mycenae to enter the sea. In the middle of the 15th 
century, Mycenaean products start to be spread on the territory under Minoan 
influence (Miletus in Asia Minor, Mellus, Rhodus, Cyprus), which could as 
well have been accompanied by the spread of the Mycenaean authority in a 
particular shape. The Mycenaean expansion in the Aegean region is obvious 
in the 14th century B.C. Mycenae ultimately dominates over Crete, and the 
Achaeans confront the Hittite Kingdom in Asia Minor and Cyprus. 
The earliest Mycenaean ceramic discovered in Troad belong to the same 
period. This may indicate the start of the Achaean influence over the Black 
Sea. A ship of the Bronze Age could have sailed against the stream through 
the Dardanelles and Bosporos only with the help of the tail-wind. The ships 
sailing from the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea would stop by the coast of Troy 
to wait for the tail-wind, which was quite profitable for Trojans. The removal 
of obstacles on the way to the Black Sea could indeed have become the 
motivation for assaulting Troy. 
Although the number of the ceramic ware discovered on the city site and 
the coast is not remarkable, and several fragments of the LH II period can be 
explained merely by the Achaean visit to Troy, the increasing number of 
Mycenaean products and the traces of the temporary camp of sailors clearly 
attest that the Black Sea route was not unknown to them. The discovery of 
Mycenaean ceramics dating back to the period from the second half of 15th 
century B.C. at the entrance to the Dardanelle suffices to date the first Greek 
expedition to the Black Sea to the turn of the 14th century B.C. The date 
coincides with the rule of Deucalion, who represented the first dynasty of the 
Achaeans on Crete, and the start of the reign of Atreus in Mycenae, which 
exactly fits the Argonautic campaign. 
Thus, in my opinion, this first penetration must have given rise to the 
myth about the Argonautic voyage.22  
An indirect prove to this assumption are the names found in the 
Mycenaean texts: Aiaia – a3-wa-ja: PY En 74/ Eo 160; Aiates – a3-wa-ta: KN 
Vc 7612; Athamas – a-ta-ma-ne-u: PY Cn 655; Kretheus – ke-re-te-u: PY Ea 
                                                 
21  О. Лордкипанидзе, 215. 
22  L. Gordesiani, Zur Datierung des Argonautenzuges, Gs. A. Urushadze, Tbilisi 1999, 22ff. 
The Argonautica and Linear B Texts 
 
85
59 etc.; Amythaon – a-mu-ta-wo: PY Nn 831, KN V 756, TH Ug 9; Iason – i-
wa-so: PY Cn 655; Mopsos – mo-qo-so: KN Dc 1381; Lynkeus – ru-ke-wo (-
wo-wi-ja): PY Nc 1053.  
Out of this list offered by St. Hiller,23 the first two names are especially 
interesting for the present research. A low-ranking priest (te-o-ja do-e-ra) 
Aeaea is presented as a tenant of a land parcel in private ownership. 
 PY En 74:  
.20 pi-ke-re-wo , ko-to-na , ki-ti-me-na , to-so-de , pe-mo GRA 2 T 6 
.21 o-da-a2 , o-na-te-re , e-ke-si , pi-ke-re-wo , ko-to-na 
.22 a3-wa-ja , te-o-jo , do-e-ra , o-na-to , e-ke , to-so-de , pe-mo GRA T 1 
"The private plot of Pirkeus, so much seed: 312 l. wheat. Now this is how 
the tenants hold plots belonging to Pikreus: Aiwaia, servant of the god, holds 
a lease, so much seed: 12 l. wheat."  
 PY Eo 160:  
.1 pi-ke-re-wo , ko-to-na , ki-ti-me-na to-so-de , pe-mo GRA 2 T 6  
.2 a3-wa-ja , te-o-jo , do-e-ra , e-ke-qe , o-na-to , pa-ro , pi-ke-re-we GRA         
T 1  
"The private plot of Pirkeus, so much seed: 312 l. wheat. Aiwaia, servant 
of the god, holds a lease from Pirkeus so much seed: 12 l. wheat".24 
As concerns Aietes, (a3-wa-ta), the name is without a context.  
We can add to the list of St. Hiller one anthroponym me-de-i-jo (KN B 
800 – ), a theonym i-pe-me-de-ja (PY Tn 316 – Ἰ ), and a 
Cretan place name ku-ta-to (Kuvtaiton, Kuvtaion together with its derivatives: 
ku-ta-i-jo, ku-ta-i-si-jo, ku-ta-si-jo, ku-ta-ti-jo –  ,  , 
 ).25 
Of course, neither Cretan and Mycenaean shepherds and landowners were 
among the Argonauts, nor was Cretan Kutaion the Royal city of Colchis 
Kutaia/Kutaisi. Anyway, such parallels may speak in favour of the earliest 
version of the myth. 
In view of the above-mentioned material, we may argue that the 
mentioning of Colchis in the linear B texts should by no means be ruled out, 
although it should not be regarded as ultimately attested. 
 
                                                 
23  St. Hiller, The Mycenaeans and the Black Sea. Thalassa. L'Egee prehistorique et la mer, Liège 
1991, 214. 
24  M. Ventris, J. Chadwick, Documents in Mycenaean Greek, 244, 248. 
25 DMic I, 412sq. 


The Argonautica and Linear B Texts

Barat, Claire

Sinope et les Argonautes: d\u27un mythe utile à une réalité religieuse

Darchia, Irine

Some Artistic Peculiarities of Bost’s "Medea"

Tarkhnishvili, Tamar

Phasis 10 (II), 2007 
 
 
 Tamar Tarkhnishvili (Tbilisi) 
THE ARGONAUTICA AND ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY 
IN MEDIEVAL GEORGIA 
The development of medieval Georgian Christian literature and translating 
activities, apart from their main purpose, contributed to general education of 
Georgian readers as well. Among various issues was also the information 
from Greek mythology. The format of a conference paper does not allow 
referring to the numerous sources of medieval Georgia that reflected the 
awareness of Georgian authors of Greek mythology and antiquity in general. I 
will dwell only on several facts. I have selected two significant sources for 
consideration: "Hellenic Tales" and George Hamartolus’ "Chronographer".  
"Hellenic Tales" represents comments on the works of Gregory of 
Nazianzus. Such explanation was necessary to comprehend the works as the 
medieval reader was not familiar with Greek mythology and these questions 
were also unknown to him. The Georgian version of Nonnos’ "Hellenic 
Tales" was made by Ephraem the Lesser. Nonnos provided comments for the 
fragments where Gregory of Nazianzus mentioned names from Greek 
mythology.  
Translation of Nonnos’ explanations represented one of the most 
important sources for becoming familiar with ancient mythology in Georgia 
of that period. Nonnos did not aim at spreading and promoting the names of 
pagan deities but intended to clarify the essence of the characters and items 
mentioned in the work of Gregory the Theologian. This work, written from 
the Christian perspective, to a certain extent threw light on pagan religion. 
Ephraem the Lesser had perfect knowledge of Greek mythology and 
philosophy, and required the same of clergy so that they could oppose anti-
orthodox opinion more effectively and knowingly. He applied this knowledge 
for the purpose of strengthening the Christian doctrine and church. As 
The Argonautica and Ancient Mythology in Medieval Georgia 
 
99 
concerns the full Georgian version of the "Hellenic Tales", it was published 
by Il. Abuladze.  
 "Hellenic Tales" includes the following fragment: "The eighteenth story 
is about ... the sown and sprouted heroes. In Beotia they say that either 
Cadmus or Jason or some other hero took the Dragon’s teeth and sowed them 
into the ground, from where sprouted armed people, visible above the ground 
up to their waists, who in such a posture fought each other as well as others."
1
 
"Hellenic Tales" offers the traditional version of the story of mythological 
characters – Jason and Cadmus (Book III). According to Apollonius Rhodius 
(Book III), Aeetes sets a difficult task for Jason. In order to obtain the Golden 
Fleece, he must yoke two fire-breathing and brazen-footed bulls to a plough 
and at a short notice still the ground that requires four-day labor. Then he 
must sow dragon’s teeth in the ploughed soil and beat the armed heroes that 
will spring out.
2
  
As the significant episodes of the Argonauts’ adventures are connected 
with Georgia, and namely with Colchis, the legend, or at least this very 
episode, could have aroused particular public interest; however, no such 
tendency can be observed in Georgian literature. The Argonaut episodes and 
characters are mentioned along with other fragments of Greek mythology 
only with respect to the context that required clarification for readers. It is 
noteworthy that in this period of the Middle Ages (the 11
th
 century), the 
contents and ideology of literature were predetermined by the Christian 
religion and all remaining questions, including those related to paganism, 
served this purpose. Therefore, as it might have been expected, Ephraem the 
Lesser made no comments on this episode.  
Ephraem the Lesser’s translation of the "Hellenic Tales" could have been 
among important sources about the Greek mythology for literate Georgians of 
the medieval period. This is evidenced in the works of poets of this period.  
One fragment of Shavteli’s poem attests that the author was acquainted 
with the Georgian translation of the "Hellenic Tales". In particular, I mean the 
usage of Mount Etna as a literary image:  
"The abyss of wisdom, the language-rhetorician,
3
 
  You are similar to Mount Etna" (7-8). 
  In the "Hellenic Tales" we read:  
                                                 
1
  I. Abuladze, Hellenic Tales, The Bulletin of the History of Language and Material Culture, X, 
Tbilisi, 1941.  
2
  Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, Greek texts with a parallel Georgian version edited, intro-
duced, commented and supplemented with an index by A. Urushadze, Tbilisi, 1970, 197-98.  
3
  "Droeba" (a periodical), 13, Tiflis, 1873.  
Tamar Tarkhnishvili 
 
100 
 "The fire [of Etneos] is said to be emerging from the forge of Hephaestus 
on Mount Etna and then it submerges into the field streaming like water" 
[Fairy Tales, 3. 1].  
"... The emergence of the fire of Etneos", "in Sikila there is (a town) 
called Katana, and above it is a mountain called Etna, on which there is 
unceasing fire emerging on its own, which is called the Etna fire" (3. 46).  
The author of "The History and Laudation of Royalty" ("Istoriani and 
Azmani Sharavandedtani") had good knowledge of Greek-Roman mythology. 
Apparently, he referred to the "Hellenic Tales" as well as George Hamartolus 
"Chronograph" to portray Tamar and George III. He used the epithets and 
names which Nonnos had provided with appropriate notes and comments. 
When telling us the story of King Tamar, he mentions famous couples from 
various works: "Similar to Pelope fighting for Hippodamia, daughter of 
Oenomaus, Pluto fighting for Persephone, Ramin fighting for Vis."
4
 He 
compares George III as a hunter to Artemis (367). When talking about David 
Soslan he notes, "He, the keen shooter, threw a dagger at Mosimakhos."
5
 In 
K. Kekelidze’s opinion, the name of Mosimakhos must have been adopted in 
the chronicle from George Hamartolus’ "Chronograph".
6
 The author of "The 
History and Laudation of Royalty" thinks that David Soslan was an excellent 
archer, as if trained by Centaurus.
7
  
Describes King David Aghmashenebeli as a matchless archer, the 
historian of the king also notes that Achilles was trained in archery by 
Centaurus: "Who has seen anyone so victorious in hunting [as David] … 
Achilles of the Hellenes is said to have been trained by Centaurus in archery 
…, none of them were able to become his equal."
8
 It seems that the historian 
had a profound knowledge of the "Hellenic Tales" and was even guided by it.  
"When Achilles was born by Thetis, he was entrusted to Chiron. Chiron 
was half man and half horse. He took him and seated him on a horse back to 
front. And thus he tested him and trained him in archery, fed him on milk and 
bread" [Fairy Tale, 2.4].  
Similarly to the historian of David Aghmashenebeli, the author of "The 
History and Laudation of Royalty" is aware of the image and function of 
Centaurus in Greek mythology. However, none of them mentions Jason, who 
was also raised by Centaurus. It is hard to say whether they were not familiar 
                                                 
4
  Kartlis Tskovreba (Georgian Chronicle), the text is identified according to all relevant manu-
scripts by S. Kaukhchishvili, Tbilisi, 1959, 36. 
5
  Ibid., 6. 
6
  Ibid., 69. 
7
  K. Kekelidze, The History of Georgian Literature, vol. II, Tbilisi, 1958, 270. 
8
  Kartlis Tskhovreba (Georgian Chronicle), edited by Z. Chichinadze, 369. 
The Argonautica and Ancient Mythology in Medieval Georgia 
 
101 
with the Argonaut legend or gave preference to Achilles as they sought 
comparison for the image of the King.  
As observed by Pavle Ingorokva, the elements of the "Hellenic Tales" can 
be traced in the following popular episode of "The Knight in the Panther’s 
Skin":  
"Hearing the knight's singing, beats came to listen to him; the sweetness 
of his voice even prompted stones to come out of water."
9
 
An analogical phrase can be found in the "Hellenic Tales", which points 
to the musical gift of Orpheus:  
"Orpheus, who was skilled in the art of music, used to sing so sweetly that 
even the inanimate were attracted and followed him" (1.17). 
According to mythology, as certified by Apollonius Rhodius (and the 
"Orphic Argonautica"), Orpheus was among the Argonauts even though his 
connection with the Argonautica and Colchis is not mentioned either in the 
"Hellenic Tales" or in George Hamartolus’ "Chronograph". Only his divine 
voice and gifts are discussed.  
George Hamartolus mentions Thracian Orpheus in the "Chronograph". 
"Prometheus and Thracian Orpheus were the wisest among the Hellenes."
10
  
What accounts for George Hamartolus’ mentioning of the Greek pantheon 
is certainly not his liking for them. He needs to use mythological names in his 
work to show the readers how false and harmful idolatry is. He basically 
dwells on Zeus’ pederasty and perversity. Aphrodite is connected with 
adultery and Rhea with insatiability. "The Chronograph" includes traditional 
descriptions of other gods and goddesses; Poseidon is the patron of sailors, 
Asclepius – the god of healing, Apollo – of music, Athena – the goddess of 
wisdom and weaving, Artemis – of hunting, Demeter – the goddess of grain 
and fertility. Aphrodite is the goddess of love; Athena – of knowledge; 
Hephaestus is the founder of forging while Hermes is connected with theft. 
According to V. Asatiani, George Hamartolus mentions only theft with 
respect to Hermes and is reticent about the fact that he personified the 
omnipotent force of nature, was the god of cattle-breeding, taught people to 
light a fire on an altar, etc.
11
 This unambiguously points to the purpose of 
picturing Greek gods in George Hamartolus’ "Chronographer".  
The paper accentuates only several medieval sources attesting to the 
awareness of medieval Georgian scholars of Greek mythology and pantheon. 
As concerns the Argonaut story, and more precisely, the above-mentioned 
                                                 
9
  P. Ingorokva, The Literary Heritage of the Rustaveli Age, Tbilisi, 1928, 4, 51. 
10
  S. Kaukhchishvili, The Chronograph of Monk George, Tiflis, 1920, 68. 
11
  V. Asatiani, Ancient and Byzantine Traditions in Old Georgian Writing, Tbilisi, 1996, 199. 
Tamar Tarkhnishvili 
 
102 
episode, it is touched upon only in the "Hellenic Tales". So we cannot be 
certain that medieval Georgian readers were acquainted with this epic plot, or 
at least with the episode taking place in Colchis. The "Hellenic Tales" could 
have raised certain interest in pagan epics; however, if we bear in mind that 
these works were mainly read by the clergy and all questions were treated 
from the perspective of Christian ideology, this interest may not have been 
reflected in literary works.  
 


The Argonautica and Ancient Mythology in Medieval Georgia

Kobusch, Beate

Iason – Held oder Antiheld?

Kobakhidze, Ekaterine

Phasis 10 (I), 2007 
 
 
Ekaterine Kobakhidze (Tbilisi) 
MEDEA IN THE RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY 
OF ANCIENT ITALIC PEOPLES 
The popularity of Greek mythology spread to the Apennines in the 8th-7th 
centuries B.C. 
Scholars attribute this fact to the establishment of the first Greek colony 
by Euboeans on the opposite side of the island of Schia.1 The population of 
Pithecusa started intensive economic, trade and cultural relations with the 
peoples of Italy. 
Owing to these relations, Greek artifacts, lavishly decorated with 
mythological plots, very soon became the items for daily use among the 
population of the Apennines. 
At first, as numerously attested by studies2, having no idea about the 
contents of the Hellenic myths, the Italic peoples tried to simply copy in their 
workshops the plots depicted on the Greek artifacts. 
Later, when the plots started to be perceived with the help of oral 
traditions as well as written sources, the processes of adoption started – the 
characters of Greek plots were replaced with the heroes, cults and deities of 
local myths. 
At the following stage, the mythological characters, sometimes ‘interpre-
ted’ locally, transferred from art to religion and cult. 
As an example, we can refer to one particular character of Greek 
mythology, Heracles. He initially entered the Etruscan world through tra-
                                                 
1  A. G. Garbini, Lingua etrusca e aritmetica, La parola del Passato, CLXIV, 1975, 32. 
2  G. Camporeale, La Mitologia Figurata nella cultura Etrusca Arcaica, Secondo Conresso 
Internazionale Etrusco, 26. V-2. VI, 1985, ATTI, vol. I, 1989, 905-924; Cesare Letta, Contatti 
dei Marsi con la Campania greco – etrusca; miti grecizzanti in: I Marsi e il Fucino nell׳ 
Antichità; Milano, 1972, 52-59; L. B. Van der Meer, Interpretatio Etrusca, Greek Myths on 
Etruscan Mirrors, Amsterdam, 1995. 
Medea in the Religion and Mythology of Ancient Italic Peoples 
 
103
ditional plots.3 A vase painting presents the ‘Etruscanized’ Hercle fighting 
with the Nemean Hydra, the lion, pythons and Achelous. Later, Heracles is 
the character of myth unknown to the Greek tradition – Hercle abducts an 
unknown woman called Munthukh. In another case, Uni, the goddess of 
heaven, breastfeeds grow-up bearded Heracles. Finally, Etruscan Hercle 
moves to the sphere of cult service – his name is recorded in Segment #27 of 
the bronze model of the liver of Piacenza.4 Besides, there are a number of 
temples built in his honour on the territory of Italy. 
Like the Etruscans, the Hercules of the Latins too has certain peculiarities 
although the image is rooted in Greek mythology. Namely: 
Unlike Heracles, Hercules belongs to the sphere of cult rather than 
mythology; 
Roman celebrations in honour of Hercules are characterized by many 
vernacular elements. In particular, Hercules had special priests, Salii, 
similarly to Mars;5 
The cult service of Hercules was a mystery. For example, Cicero 
mentions certain Caecus in ‘Questions Debated at Tusculum’, a censor, who 
went blind because he gave away the secrets of the cult-service in honour of 
Hercules.6 
According to Porphyry, women were not admitted to the celebrations in 
honour of Hercules and they were strictly forbidden to mention Hercules’ 
name when making an oath.7 
Remarkably, in the mythology and religion of ancient Italy, such an 
honour was granted only to, so to say, distinguished characters. One of them 
was Medea from the Argonaut legend. 
It should be mentioned from the very start that unlike other cycles of 
Hellenic myths, this legend became popular in the Apennines in the pre-
Roman period. 
The Etruscans, the first among the Italic peoples to establish close 
contacts with Greek colonists, were already familiar with the Argonaut legend 
in the early archaic period. 
For example, the Villa Julia collection includes an Etruscan bucchero olpe 
(110976) dated back to the 3rd quarter of the 7th century B.C. Several 
mythological plots are depicted on the vessel. Interestingly, scholars argue 
that one of them represents a magic ritual of healing a youth performed by 
                                                 
3  About the issue see E. Kobakhidze, ‘Italian’ Heracles, Logos, The Annual Journal in Greek 
and Roman Studies, 2, Tbilisi, 2004, 174-181 (in Georgian). 
4  G. Colonna, A proposito degli dei del fegato di Piacenza, SE, 1993, 245. 
5  Serv., Verg., Aen., VII, 285; Ovid, Fasti, III, 12, 7. 
6  Cicero, V, 112. 
7  P. Porph., II, 6, 12. 
 Ekaterine Kobakhidze 
 
 
104 
Medea. The identity of the figure on the olpe with the daughter of Aeetes is 
attested by an Etruscan inscription – Metaia – it is a female figure with a long 
mantle and a scepter.8 
Although some scholars discern Medea’s image on the earlier Etruscan 
artifacts9, the assumption has even more opponents.10 Anyway, one thing is 
doubtless: before the period of the so-called literary treatment of Medea, the 
character functioned in the tradition as a woman skilled in magic and sorcery. 
Importantly, along with featuring Medea, the artifacts present as well 
particular cases of the local interpretation of the myth.  
For example, the following image is engraved on one Etruscan mirror 
from Chiusi: Certain Chaluchasu strangles Kasutru and Pulutuke (Castor and 
Pollux). On the left stands Athena, and on the right – Turan, holding a box in 
her right hand and trying to touch the left leg of Chaluchasu. 
Disputes over the plot depicted on the mirror, dated approximately to 330 
B.C., go on even at present. 
I find Van der Meer’s interpretation more convincing.11 
According to the scholar, the scene features one of the episodes from the 
Argonaut legend. In particular, it is commonly known that the Greek sailors 
encountered on Crete a bronze giant Talos, who guarded the island from 
undesirable guests. Unbeatable Talos had a weak point, like Achilles. Medea 
managed to drive the monster mad and ruin him by a spell. 
It is noteworthy that Medea is not depicted on the Etruscan mirror. She is 
replaced with Turan. Turan, the deity giving natural energy,12 who later 
assimilated with Aphrodite, is obviously performing a certain ritual. 
Van Der Meer provides the following explanation for this substitution. 
According to him, the local craftsman must have made a mistake – he 
misunderstood the scene depicted on one of the Attic vases, which must have 
featured Medea killing Talos, and Aphrodite and Eros watching the scene. 
This interpretation sounds erroneous due to the following facts: 
Aphrodite from the Attic vase is merely present at the scene; she does not 
perform the magic ritual; 
The Attic vessel does not feature Athena at all. 
                                                 
8  In this connection, see N. Lortkipanidze, The Reflection of the Argonaut Myth in Early Greek 
Culture, TSU, Tbilisi, 2004, 17ff. (in Georgian). 
9  E. Simon, Griechishe Sagen in der frühen etruskischen Kunst, 1964. 
10  G. Camporeale, 1989. 
11  L. B. Van Der Meer, Interpretatio Etrusca, Greek Myths on Etruscan Mirrors, Amsterdam, 
1995, 164. 
12  About the functions of Turan, see E. Kobakhidze, Turan the Etruscan God of Love? Mneme, 
Tbilisi, 2000, 127-133 (in Georgian). 
Medea in the Religion and Mythology of Ancient Italic Peoples 
 
105
Is it possible to draw etymological parallels between the names 
Chaluchasu and Talos?13 
In my opinion, the scene pictures an Etruscan mythological plot with 
Turan and a certain Chaluchasu.  
Evidently, a local craftsman somehow associated the well-known episode 
from the Argonaut legend with the local mythological plot and found it quite 
natural to include Turan in it. 
Etruscan culture lacks the third and the last stage – Medea’s transfer to the 
sphere of religion and cult. 
What accounts for this is the conservative character of Etruscan 
mythology. Although Etruscan beliefs abound of borrowings and innovations, 
they hardy penetrate the sphere of religion and cult. Besides, by the time 
when Greek mythology spread in Italy, Etruscan religion was already a fully 
developed system. 
In fact, the place of Medea as the expert of sorcery and magic must have 
been occupied by diverse types of Tyrsenian prophetic art, incorporating 
phyto and zoomagic.  
And finally, it must have been impossible to perceive Medea as the sun-
goddess because the cult of the sun and, what is more important, of the 
daughter of the sun, already existed in Etruscan religion. 
Recent archeological discoveries attest that the practice of worshipping 
the sun (Catha) and the daughter of the sun (Cavatha) was quite widespread in 
Etruria. 
It is noteworthy that, as believed nowadays, the Etruscans considered 
themselves the progeny of the sun. An inscription on a mirror from Orbetello 
mentions the sun as ‘the parent’: Cathe San. 
Some scholars even suggest that the inscription implies14 Pater indiges – 
genarchv". 
Apart from this, the image of the sun-god in the Pyrgi temple points to 
Padre indiges.15  
In Pyrgi existed the cult of the divine couple, Suri and Cavatha. Suri is 
identified with Italian Apollo of Mount Soracte, the god of the underground 
thermal waters, prophecy and healing.16 
                                                 
13  Some scholars associate Chaluchasu with Kalchant _ Van der Meer, op. cit., 169. 
14  G. Colonna, A proposito degli dei del Fegato di Piacenza, SE, LIX, 1993, 134; M. Pallottino, Il 
Culto degli antenati in Etruria, in: Saggi di antichita, 810-811. 
15  G. Colonna, Santuari d׳Etruria, Milano, 1985, 133. 
16  G. Colonna, Note preliminari sui culti del Santuario di Portonaccio a Veio, Scienze dell׳ 
Antichità, Storia, Archeologia, Antropologia, I, 1987, 433; A. Comella, Apollo Soranus, Il 
programma figurativo del tempio del scusato di Falerii, Ostraea, II, 2, 19-93; 301-316. 
 Ekaterine Kobakhidze 
 
 
106 
As concerns Catha or Cavatha, she is a celestial goddess, the daughter of 
the sun, as indicated by Martianus Capella.17 This opinion is completely 
shared in our contemporary studies.18 
However, it is also noteworthy that according to Dioscorides, Catha was 
the Etruscan name for one of the plants, which in Latin was called oculum 
solis or millefolium.19 Pliny wrote that the plant was later named achilea – the 
plant of Achilles.20 
In my opinion, it may not be accidental that after his death, Achilles 
married Medea (Lycophr., 174, 798). 
And the Scholia of Apollonius Rhodius attest that such links were known 
to Ibicus as well as to Simonides of Amorgos.21 
Apart from the Etruscans, the central character of the Argonaut legend 
figures in the cultures of other peoples of Italy as well. 
For example, according to Pliny, the Marsians, inhabiting the central part 
of Italy, regarded the son of Medea (or Circe), Marsias, as their ancestor22 and 
identified Medea with their central goddess Angitia.23 
The Marsians attributed their relationship with Medea in ancient period to 
the fact that they were known as the followers of magic and as snake tamers. 
In the opinion of the Marsians, the taming of snakes was especially 
typical of Medea as she easily defeated the dragon guarding the Golden 
Fleece with the help of sorcery. 
Regrettably, the surviving monuments of Marsian material culture do not 
include even a single image of Medea, which would make it possible to verify 
the information from ancient records. Anyway, it is doubtless that, unlike the 
Etruscans, the Marsians freely ‘allow’ Medea to penetrate religion and cult, 
presenting her one of the central characters of their genealogical myth. 
Medea, as the ‘expert’ of sorcery and magic transformations, figures in 
the mythological plots of other peoples of Italy, the Latins. 
Roman myths mention Medea as Bona Dea and associate her with the 
names of Picus and Faunus. 
This information is offered by numerous ancient sources. In particular, 
according to the Fasti of Ovid when Numa Pompilius decided to become 
initiated into the art of sooth-saying by lightning, he turned to Faunus and 
                                                 
17  Martianus Capella, De Nuptiis Merc. et. Phil, I, 50. 
18  G. Thulin, Die Götter des Martianus Capella und der Bronzeleber von Piacenza, Gieszen, 
1906, 50. 
19  V. Bertoldi, Nomina Tusca in Dioscorido, SE, X, 1936, 305-309 
20  Plin, N. H, XXV, 42. 
21  Appolod., Epit, V, 5; Apoll. Rh, IV, 814. 
22  Plinius, N. H. VII, 15; G. Letta, op. cit., 53-56. 
23  Servius, Aen, VII, 750; Ovid, Ars am., 101-102, Gellius, fr. 9P, Silius Italicus, VIII, 498. 
Medea in the Religion and Mythology of Ancient Italic Peoples 
 
107
Picus, famous for their knowledge of magic herbs, which they used to collect 
in the forest of Medea. The tinctures, which could transform a human being 
into a beast, were prepared according to Bona Dea’s (N. B. Bona Dea – 
Medea) recipes.24 
In the Metamorphosis, Ovid once again indicates that in her magic, Me-
dea used innards of wolf, which gave a human being an ability to transform. 
Pliny specifies that Bona Dea prepared tinctures from peonia and natrix 
for women, so that they could protect themselves from Faunus.25 
In the Bucolica, Virgil calls them the herbs of Pontus, and ascribes to 
them a miraculous power: 
Has herbas atque haec Ponto mihi lecta 
veneva ispe dedit Moeris, nascuntur plurima 
Ponto. His ego saepe lupum fieri et se condere 
silvis Moerim, saepe imis excire sepulcris ... vidi 
           (Bucolica, VIII, 95-100) 
The identification of Bona Dea with Medea in the perception of the Latins 
is also attested by the fact that, according to Macrobius, the temple of Bona 
Dea was closed for men, because Medea suffered from Jason: 
‘Quidam Medeam putant, quod in eadem eius omne genus herbarum sit, 
ex quibus antistites dant plerumque medicinas, et quod templum eius virum 
introire non liceat propter iniuriam quam ab ingrato viro Iasone perplessa 
erat’ (I, 12-26). 
So, we can say that Medea easily adapted to the mythology and religion 
of the Marsians and the Latins and became the analogy of Angitia and Bona 
Dea. 
Unlike them, the Etruscans did not allow this Hellenic mythological 
character to penetrate the deeper layers of their religious beliefs. 
In my opinion, this fact may have the following specific reasons: 
By the time when the Argonaut legend appeared on the Apennines, the 
mythology and religion of the Marsians and the Latins were being developed, 
and were, consequently, open to borrowings and innovations. 
Unlike the Marsians and the Latins, the Etruscan religion was a developed 
system by the 8th-7th centuries, and sooth-saying and magic was among its 
most conservative spheres.26 
                                                 
24  Ovid, Fasti, III, 291. Plut., Numa, 15. 
25  Plin, N.H. XXV, 29, XXVII, 107. 
26  This is testified by several ancient sources; see E. Kobakhidze, The Etruscans in Ancient 
Literature, Logos, 2007. 
 Ekaterine Kobakhidze 
 
 
108 
Besides, the place of Medea, as the daughter or the grand-daughter of the 
sun-god, was already ‘occupied’ in the Etruscan religion by Cavatha, who had 
strictly defined functions.  
Unlike the Marsians and the Latins, Medea was evidently never regarded 
as a shrine for cult service. The character, transformed into Angitia and Bona 
Dea, was perceived by the inhabitants of Italy as the patron of sorcery and 
magic. In my opinion, they must have been acquainted with her story though 
oral tradition.  
In Greece, the worshipping of the grand-daughter of Helios was prevented 
by the profound knowledge of other Hellenic myths (the appalling murders of 
Absyrtus, Pelias, Agave, and Creon) and the Euripides’ literary version, 
where the daughter of the Colchian king does not spare her own children.  


Medea in the Religion and Mythology of Ancient Italic Peoples

Riedel, Volker

Stephan Hermlins Nacherzählung der Argonautensage von 1974

Gochev, Nikolai

Phasis 10 (II), 2007 
 
 
Nikolai Gochev (Sofia) 
APOLLONIUS RHODIUS IN THE MODERN LITERATURE: 
THE INTERPRETATION OF ROBERT GRAVES 
1. The unsuccessful First Version 
In the postscript to his novel "The Golden Fleece" Graves tells us the 
following: 
"When he recited the poem or a part of it in the Muses` Hall, he was met 
with a storm of hissing, caterwauling and a storm of plates for writing. He 
went away relatively safe and sound, but was afraid of a public persecution, 
because his rival, the court poet Callimachus declared him a "abominable 
ibis"; and he decided to leave Alexandria for a time. After several years he 
returned and recited publicly the revised version which got ovations even 
from his former enemies; so that after the position of a curator of the Library 
was vacated, king Ptolemy naturally appointed him as the next curator.
1
  
The original version is not preserved, but its defect hardly was a lack of 
sonority and fascination. More probably, relying on the support of the 
Alexandrian women, Apollonius revealed in his epic too honestly the 
humiliations of Zeus by the Moon Goddess: what provoked the anger of their 
husbands."  
And a little after: 
"The mysteries that were added to the ordinary Greek rites from the 
classical epoch, were nothing other than revelation of ancient religious secrets 
to people, who weren’t expected to divulge them in order to cause a public 
                                                 
1
   Graves freely retells the two short Vitae Apollonii, published in the edition of the Scholia (C. 
Wendel, Berlin, 1935). There we find no mention about hissing, caterwauling or plate throwing, 
but the rest is exact – the anonymous authors indeed say, that the Apollonius work at first was 
met negatively, but the second version was applauded (Zlatnoto runo. Pohodat na argonavtite, 
504-505. See note 2). 
Apollonius Rhodius in the Modern Literature:... 
 
191 
scandal; and in these mysteries the object of worship was the Goddess 
Mother… I believe, that the chief error of Apollonius was that he recited in a 
public hall a version of the Golden Fleece’s tale, based upon ancient sources; 
and that this version sounded to the initiated as a desecration of their most 
deeply cherished religious beliefs."
2
 
2. The version of Graves 
The novel of Graves, although captivating and written with a good sense 
of humour, contains at some places his view on the "real history" of the Greek 
Gods, expressed in a simple, straightforward and rather too prosaic way. 
These passages do not look like parts of a book of fiction. In them he 
declares, that the old, non-Achaean (and moreover non-Indo-European) 
population of Thessaly, and even of all Greece, named "pelasgoi" worshiped 
one supreme female deity – the "Triple Goddess" (or the "White Goddess") – 
in different persons and named her with different names. The first (and the 
more peaceful) Greeks, coming from North – the Ionians and the Aeolians 
(called Minyans as well) – joined this matriarchal cult.  
But the Achaeans, who invaded the peninsula several centuries later, 
imposed by force the cult to the God-Father and Warrior. They reformed (in a 
council at Olympia, convoked especially for this purpose) the local religion, 
created the classic pantheon with six gods and six goddesses, proclaimed the 
Goddess sister and obedient wife of Zeus and began to pursue the people who 
persisted in their adherence to the old religion.
3
  
Otherwise the novel gives us a detailed account of the expedition, where 
virtually all sources for the Argonauts have been taken into consideration. 
Graves mentions them in the postscript. Except Apollonius, we have the 
versions of Pindar, Apollodorus, Diodorus of Sicily and Valerius Flaccus – all 
of whom, although in different style and length, present the full story. Some 
separate episodes are poetically adapted by Euripides in the famous tragedy; 
there are Theocritus and Ovid too; lastly, the scarce (but important, regarding 
its early age) information, given by Herodotus. Of course, there are a number 
of sources of minor importance.  
There is a passage in the postscript, concerning the temporal standpoint of 
the teller, on which I would like to draw your attention. On the p. 511 Graves 
says:  
"I render the story of Argonauts in the form of a historical tale; and every 
author of history must clearly express his point of view in the time. In this 
                                                 
2
  During the work on this paper I was using the Bulgarian translation of the "Fleece" – Robert 
Greivs, Zlatnoto runo. Pohodat na argonavtite, translation by I. Vaseva, Fakel, 1993. The re-
verse translation to English is mine, N.G.   
3
  Ch. III, "The Rise of the Olympians", Zlatnoto runo, 40-50.  
Nikolai Gochev 
 
192 
case it would be inappropriate to tell it in the style of the XIII cent. B.C. – this 
would mean to write using poetic pictograms. It would be equally inadequate 
to write it from a present day position, because then I would have been 
compelled to render the dialogues in an unsuitably contemporary style; 
besides, that would have hindered me to believe sincerely the story.  
The only plausible decision was to depict the events from the viewpoint of 
an epoch, when the faith in the legend was still alive, but preserving the 
necessary critical objectivity; and with a clear, but, on the same time, serious 
literary expression. This is the reason for using in some places phrases like 
"till the present day", and "today". The last page will suggest to the historians, 
that "today" means "no later than 146 B.C.", when Lucius Mummius sacks 
Corinthos. This is the year, when Argo, put in the temple of Poseidon, 
disappears for ever – maybe reduced to a heap of splinters by the drunken 
Roman soldiers." 
What the Graves’ reader could add, is that the story seems to be told by 
somebody, who knows who are the "real" ones among the Greek Gods, 
although prefers to represent priests, clairvoyants and believing-in-gods 
heroes rather than the gods themselves. And their "real" relations are the ones 
Graves sees as a historian of mythology, a poet and perhaps a psychologist. 
The main point is the superiority of the female Goddess, whose power over 
the mankind is usurped by her rebellious son; but usurped not without her 
condescending consent.  
3. "The White Goddess" as aesthetic and history-of-culture manifesto 
The information I got about Graves when working on this paper, made me 
suppose that the "The White Goddess" is his most popular non-poetic and 
non-fictional text.  
I’ll say several words about this book not only because the theory, 
presented in it, practically coincides with the views of the teller in the 
"Golden Fleece", but also because – as Graves himself tells us – the very idea 
of this long essay was born in the process of the work on the novel. This 
explains why the two books appear in a relatively short time: the first edition 
of the "Fleece" is in 1944, and this of the "Goddess" – in 1948.
4
 In a 
concluding note, written for the edition from 1960 he tells the following:  
"I am often asked how I took to write the "White Goddess". The history is 
as follows.  
In 1944 in a village in Devonshire, when I fled from the present day by 
working on a historical novel of the Argonauts, my work suddenly was 
interrupted. An obsessing idea forced me to get involved in the study of a 
                                                 
4
  See the biography of Graves by Dr. Ian Firla – http://www.robertgraves.org/bio.php 
Apollonius Rhodius in the Modern Literature:... 
 
193 
subject I still didn’t know and didn’t understand. I stopped to trace on the vast 
military map of the Black Sea (and with the help of mythographs) the course 
of the Argonauts ship, who sailed from the Bosporus to Baku and back. 
Instead, I was thinking about the mysterious Battle of the Trees, which 
occurred in ancient Britain, and all night I couldn’t find peace; and the next 
day too, so that my pen barely followed my thoughts. For three weeks I wrote 
a book in 70 thousand words... 
I’m not a mystic and I always avoided involvement in witchcraft, 
spiritualistic séances and yoga exercises; I never listened to predictions, 
didn’t believe in automatic writing and so on. I live a simple peasant kind of 
life in the circle of my family and of a large number of mentally healthy and 
intelligent friends. I do not belong to any religious cult or secret society or 
philosophical sect, and I also don’t trust my historic intuition, if it couldn’t be 
verified by the facts. 
But working on the book on the Argonauts, I discovered that the White 
Goddess of mount Pelion becomes more and more important for my 
narrative... I, who suddenly fell under the power of the European White 
Goddess, wrote about her totems in the context of the Argonauts’ story and 
plunged in the ancient secrets of her cult Wales, Ireland and all over the 
world.  
When, immediately after the war, I returned to Majorca, I started working 
again on the book which I already called "The White Goddess", and wrote in 
more details about the Holy King as a divine victim of the Moon Goddess, 
keeping in mind that every poet, who honours his Muse, should somehow die 
for his Goddess whom he worships – just like the King died..."
5
  
4. Graves and the new Western spirituality 
These facts I drew your attention on, give us reason to admit, that the 
story of the Golden Fleece whose largest version we owe to Apollonius, 
influenced the views of R. Graves as a poet and as a historian, and at the same 
time was artistically worked out by him on the ground of these same views. It 
seems, that the Graves’ "Fleece" is expected to be read as the "real story" of 
the Argonauts, told from the viewpoint of an enlightened but at the same time 
initiated Greek author from the last centuries B.C.  
Besides, "The Golden Fleece" is produced according to a conception for 
the ancient mythology and the western religion, which, as Graves suggests, is 
                                                 
5
  This text, together with the full Russian translation of the "White Goddess" is available at 
http://www.druids.celtica.ru/page.php?pagename=greivs. Russian translation by L. Volodar-
skaja. The reverse English translation is mine.  
Nikolai Gochev 
 
194 
founded largely on the mythological researches of J. G. Frazer.
6
 They both 
belong to a tradition in the European humanities, whose representatives do 
not regard themselves as Christians, reject the Eurocentrism and work for the 
cultural emancipation of the East and in general of the non-Western world 
from the European (or Euro-American) domination. Lastly, they are people 
who oppose the spirit of the classical European academism and try to 
reconsider the role of the university in the Western societies and its claim to 
dominate the education and even the spiritual life of the West.  
This tradition include and is supported by many influential non-academic 
intellectuals, among whom I would prefer to mention the English and 
American followers of Mme H. Blavatsky; a little earlier, Schopenhauer and 
Nietzsche in Germany; and from the XVIII century – Voltaire.  
The new that Graves is offering us, is that he writes a lot of poetry and 
thinks about himself mainly as a poet; that, secondly, in difference to 
Blavatsky, he doesn’t pretend for possessing any exceptional spiritual 
abilities; and thirdly, what seems to me very important, he lived two terrible 
wars. Maybe exactly this experience gave him strong reason to doubt the 
alleged superiority of Western civilization and the truth of its main religion. 
But nevertheless he expresses a kind of religious hope. At the end of his 
conclusion to the "White Goddess" from 1960 he writes:  
"The idea of a Creating Goddess was rejected by the Christian theologians 
almost two thousand years ago, and by the Jewish theologians even earlier. 
Most scientists, caring for their social comfort, worship God; but nevertheless 
I do not understand why a belief in the creation of the universe by a God-
Father seems to them more scientific than the belief in the creation of this 
artificial system by a Goddess-Mother...  
Since the source of creative power in poetry is not the scientific 
education, but the inspiration (no matter what the scientists would say), then 
why not name as its source the Lunar Muse, since in Europe this is the oldest 
and most common term defining the source of inspiration? According to the 
ancient tradition, the White Goddess appears through human beings – that 
could be a priestess, a prophetess, a queen mother. No poet, dedicated to the 
Muse, thinks about the Muse herself, but always thinks about the woman, in 
whom the Goddess at least partially is incarnated; just like an Apollonian poet 
                                                 
6
  "Sir James Frazer was able to keep his beautiful rooms at Trinity College, Cambridge, until his 
death by carefully and methodically sailing all around his dangerous subject, as if charting the 
coastline of a forbidden island without actually committing himself to a declaration that it 
existed. What he was saying-not-saying was that Christian legend, dogma and ritual are the 
refinement of a great body of primitive and even barbarous beliefs, and that almost the only 
original element in Christianity is the personality of Jesus." ("The Whites Goddess", ch. XIII, 
cited also in the article "The White Goddess" in the English Wikipedia).  
Apollonius Rhodius in the Modern Literature:... 
 
195 
is unable to perform properly his function, if he doesn’t live under the power 
of a monarchy or quasi-monarchy. But the poet, who really worships the 
Muse, is capable to distinguish between the Goddess as the supreme 
incarnation of power, glory, wisdom and female love from one hand, and the 
ordinary woman, whom the Goddess makes Her representative for a month, a 
year, seven years or perhaps more – from another hand. The Goddess is 
eternal, and perhaps he will know Her again through another woman.  
Prophets like Moses, John the Baptist or Mohammed, speaking in the 
name of the male deity, say: "So said God!" I am not a prophet of the White 
Goddess and I’ll never venture to utter: "So said Goddess!" But since poetry 
came to the world, the poets, who worship the Muse, usually speak with love: 
"In all the universe there is nobody above the Triple Goddess!"" 
5. A reader’s impression 
At a certain place
7
 Graves says, that a poet might be evaluated as such, 
taking into consideration the degree in which he is familiar with the Goddess 
and is able to depict "Her and Her island". And adds: "Shakespeare had 
known her and had been afraid of her."
8
 As a reader of Graves I would dare to 
share, that even before the acquaintance with this book, I already was 
convinced that he is obsessed by a painful fear of the presence of a kind of 
woman. She is a woman, longing for power, who establishes a relationship 
with an influential man, dominates him and weaves intrigues against 
everybody else, hoping to rule through him. She does not love him, but uses 
him and is always ready to sacrifice him and to look for another, who would 
fit for the same purpose. Livia in "I, Claudius" is like that, Theodora and 
Antonina in "Count Velisarius" are like that, Ino, in the very beginning of the 
"Fleece" is like that. They are images of a woman, who exerts over the man 
the power, given to her from the Goddess and thus revenges for the 
subjugation, imposed on her by force and counter-naturally in the epoch of 
the old Achaeans. She is not a personification of the Muse, but of Hecate. 
Graves was afraid of this woman.  
                                                 
7
  "The White Goddess", ch. I.  
8
  Ibidem, ch. XXIV.  


Apollonius Rhodius in the Modern Literature: The Interpretation of Robert Graves

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