In Greek mythology, the Argo ( ; ) was the ship of Jason and the Argonauts. The ship was built with divine aid and carried the Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece from Iolcos to Colchis. After the journey, the ship was retired and dedicated to Poseidon, the divine ruler of the seas.
The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sources beyond the original myth from books, films and more.
Name
Most accounts name the ship after her builder, Argus. The adjectival form
[e.g. Robert Cooper Seaton (1912), Rhodius Apollonius: The Argonautica, p. 339] is
Argoan ,
[Noah Webster (1832) A Dictionary of the English Language] from Greek
Ἀργῶος through Latin
Argōus.
Diodorus Siculus records that some thought the name was derived from an ancient Greek word for "swift" to indicate that the ship was designed to move quickly.
Construction
The
Argo was constructed by the
shipbuilding Argus, and its crew were specially protected by the goddess
Hera. The best source for the myth is the
Argonautica by Apollonius Rhodius. Argus was said to have planned or constructed the vessel with the help of
Athena. The ship was built for travel in the open sea and designed to move quickly with the assistance of a sail. Apollodorus stated the ship had fifty oars, all of which were manned by the Argonauts.
[Apollodorus (1921). The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer. London: Harvard University Press. pp. Chapter 9, Section 1.] His description of the boat would place it as a forerunner or early version of a boat type that became known as a
penteconter.
The boat was built with a variety of wood from around the region of Greece. In Medea, Euripides mentions the oars were made from pine trees around Pelion.[Euripides. Medea (Euripides with an English translation by David Kovacs). Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp. Lines 1-48.] Catullus later mentioned the boat was made out of fir-wood.[Catullus, Carmina Valerius (1894). Carmina (translated by Sir Richard Francis Burton. London. pp. Poem on Marriage of Peleus and Thetis.] The prow of the ship was also made with a special piece of oak from Dodona, an area sacred to Zeus. The oak was said to be able to speak with a human voice and could tell oracles.[Warner, Rex (1967). The Stories of the Greeks. USA: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, Inc. p. 57.]
Catullus wrote that the Argo was the first ship to travel on the sea.[ Catullus, Carmina Valerius (1894). Carmina (translated by Sir Richard Francis Burton. London. pp. Poem on Marriage of Peleus and Thetis.] Dionysius Scytobrachion called the Argo a well crafted vessel but did not consider her the first ship.
The Argo was built in ancient Thessaly around the area of Mount Pelion.[P. Ovidius Naso (1813). Commentary on the Heroides of Ovid. London. pp. Hypsipyle Jasoni lines 3–6.] The Roman poet Sextus Propertius, writing during the reign of Augustus, said it departed from the port of Pagasae.[Sextus Propertius (1995). Elegies (translated by Vincent Katz). Los Angeles: Sun and Moon Press. pp. Addressed to Gallus.]
Voyage
It was Athena who taught
Tiphys to attach the sails to the mast, since he was the steersman and would need to know the workings of the ship.
Other sources say he had previously been a sailor along with two other members, which is why he was chosen to steer the boat.
Lynceus was also said to have helped guide the ship because he had great sight during night and day.
The ship carried enough supplies, such as vases holding water, for the collective crew and lasted four days before having to refuel.
The Argo was said to be loved by the Nereids, who alongside Triton helped guide the ship at dangerous times in the Argonauts' journey.[Conington, John (1876). Commentary on Vergil's Aeneid, Volume 1. London: Whittaker and Co. pp. Lines 144.]
After the journey
After her successful journey,
Argo was consecrated to
Poseidon in the Isthmus of Corinth.
Because the ship was a sacred item, having been made with the help of the gods, she was made into a monument as well as being dedicated to the gods.
Years later, a beam fell from the top of the ship and killed
Jason while he was asleep on the ground.
He was then translated into the sky and turned into the
constellation Argo Navis.
In other sources
The Argo was a well recognized motif in ancient Greece and has been used in plays, movies, books, philosophical writings and more. Several authors of antiquity (Apollonius Rhodius, Pliny,
[ Hist. Nat. 1.c.56] Philostephanus) discussed the hypothetical shape of the ship. Generally she was imagined like a Greek warship, a
galley, and authors hypothesized that she was the first ship of this type that had gone out on a voyage on the high seas.
used the ship as an example to talk about
ostracism in Athens, specifically remarking that the ship left
Heracles behind because he was too heavy.
[Aristotle (1944). Politics (Aristotle in 23 Volumes translated by H. Rackham). London: Harvard University Press. pp. Book 3, Section 1284a.]
1963 film
The version of the
Argo that appears in the 1963 film
Jason and the Argonauts was modeled after a Greek warship, with shields lining the side of the boat. On either side of the boat are rowers, who are directed how to row through the drumbeat of a leader. A red sail with the head of the golden ram marks the goal of their journey. Besides its practical purposes, the ship is also decorated with ancient motifs, such as eyes on the front of the ship at the water level.
The sacred oak of the ship is here represented as the head of a woman with partial extending wings making up the stern of the ship. The painted head is modeled on the goddess Hera in the movie (played by
Honor Blackman) and has the ability to speak to Jason throughout the movie. Argus, the ship builder, said he was inspired to add that feature to the boat when creating it. Filmmakers gave this head the
practical effect of being able to open and close its eyes when speaking to Jason.
[Chaffey, Don, director. Jason and the Argonauts. Columbia Pictures, 1963.]
See also
External links
