Meta Description: Join Ad Navseam Ep. 228 as Dr. David Noe and Dr. Jeff Winkle explore Book 2 of Apollonius of Rhodes’ Argonautica, Hellenistic aetia, and the arrow-shooting birds of Ares!
Welcome, classical gourmands, to episode 228 of the Ad Navseam podcast! Prepare to get your fill with another delectable discussion of Greco-Roman civilization, stretching from the Minoans and Mycenaeans through the Renaissance and right down to the present.
Broadcasting directly from Parnassus Vomitorium Central—the bunker where it all goes down—Dr. Jeffrey T. Winkle welcomes his co-host, Dr. David C. Noe. Jeff is settling into the new fall semester at Grand Rapids Community College, teaching classical mythology and a brand-new course on horror cinema. Meanwhile, Dave is battling a late-summer cold picked up in Cincinnati traffic, no doubt, as students head back to school and congregate.
Local Will on Simple Syrup and the Problem of All-Purpose Flour
Before setting sail, the hosts confront a fresh corrigendum from their resident watchdog, “Local Will” Fitzgerald. Responding to Dave’s previous existential complaints about simple syrup, Will notes that if the hosts had taken his advice to subscribe to the Oxford English Dictionary, they would know the term dates back to 1526. Will points out that the word “syrup” derives from Arabic and was first recorded in English in 1398 in a strictly medicinal context by proto-pharmacologists. The 1773 recipe simply boils equal parts white sugar and water into a thick liquid, prompting Will to sign off with: “It’s pretty simple, really”.
While Dave appreciates the historical lesson, he quickly pivots to another culinary target: “all-purpose flour”. As Dave observes, the grandiosity of the claim is completely absurd. You can’t use flour to mow the lawn, change the oil in your sedan, or perform back surgery! He suggests manufacturers dial back the claim to “several-purposes flour” to keep things honest.
Hellenistic Aetia: The “Just-So” Stories of Antiquity
Turning to classical literature, the hosts continue their journey through Apollonius of Rhodes’ Argonautica (using the Stanley Lombardo and Cynthia Polsley translation from Hackett Publishing). Jeff introduces an article from Illinois Classical Studies (Spring 1988) by T.M. Paskowitz, entitled “Aetia in the Second Book of Apollonius’ Argonautica”.
Paskowitz argues that one of the most un-Homeric features of Apollonius’s epic is its proliferation of aetia—etiological origin stories explaining how local cults, landmarks, and customs came to be. While Homer focused on direct heroic action, Hellenistic poets like Callimachus and Apollonius were obsessed with ethnography, geography, and local foundation myths.
Throughout the voyage, the Argonauts repeatedly follow a ritualized pattern: they land, build an altar, offer sacrifices, and establish a permanent cult. While Jeff admits that pausing the narrative for local origin stories can drag down the pacing, Dave notes it served as essential “fan service” for educated Hellenistic readers who relished obscure antiquarian details.
King Lycus and the Shadow of Heracles
Dave reads from the Loeb edition of Argonautica Book 2 (lines 752ff.) in dactylic hexameter, introducing King Lycus and the Mariandyni. Having long suffered under the tyrannical reign of the Bebrycian boxing king Amycus, Lycus welcomes Polydeuces and the Argonauts with open arms and lavish xenia (guest-friendship).
However, even amid the rejoicing, Jason is overshadowed. Lycus learns that Heracles was left behind and laments the crew’s loss. The king reminisces about when Heracles visited the court years earlier to claim the girdle of Hippolyta, forcing Jason to sit through an entire banquet listening to the exploits of a far superior hero! To cement their alliance, Lycus provides supplies and sends his own son, Dascylus, to join the Argonauts as an honorary crewmate.
Mundane Deaths: The Boar and the Helpless Helmsman
The celebration ends abruptly with two rapid, un-Homeric deaths among the crew:
- The White-Tusked Boar: While walking along the muddy banks of a reedy river, the seer Idmon is ambushed by a monstrous wild boar cooling its huge belly in the marsh. The beast gashes Idmon’s thigh, severing muscle and bone, causing him to bleed to death from his femoral artery. Peleus and Idas kill the boar, but the seer dies in the arms of his weeping comrades.
- The Illness of Tiphys: Shortly after burying Idmon, the skilled helmsman Tiphys abruptly dies from a brief, idiopathic illness.
The sudden loss of their helmsman plunges the Argonauts into total despair. Rather than stepping up to rally his men, Jason descends into a self-pitying funk. He delivers a thoroughly pessimistic speech, complaining that they are all doomed to grow old and die in disgrace on foreign shores!
Fortunately, the goddess Hera intervenes by infusing extraordinary courage into Ancaeus, a son of Poseidon. Ancaeus ignores Jason’s moping, takes the steering oar, and gets the crew rowing once again.
The Isle of Ares and the Feathered Arrows
Resuming their journey, the Argo passes the mouth of the Callichoros River (where Bacchus once held unsmiling orgies in a cave) and skirts the shores of the warrior Amazons without lingering to fight.
At dusk, the crew approaches the Isle of Ares. Suddenly, a sacred bird darting through the air shakes its wings and drops a razor-sharp feather, striking the Argonaut Oileus directly in the shoulder! Eribotes extracts the feather and binds the wound, while Clytius shoots down a second bird with his curved bow.
The crew realizes these are the same deadly creatures Heracles drove from Lake Stymphalia. Knowing bows cannot clear the island, Amphidamas instructs the men to don their high-crested helmets and roof the ship with overlapping shields, creating a defensive formation similar to a Roman testudo. Clashing their bronze shields together, the Argonauts raise a deafening roar that terrifies the birds, driving them away toward the distant mountains.
Shipwrecked Kinsmen and the Arrival at Colchis
On the Isle of Ares, the Argonauts discover four naked, shipwrecked men. These survivors are the sons of Phrixus (the man who originally escaped Greece on the golden ram) and Chalciope (daughter of King Aeetes). Led by Argus, the brothers were sailing to Greece to claim their grandfather’s estate when a violent storm wrecked their vessel.
Using a bit of ancient “Dutch bingo,” Jason quickly traces their family lineage: Cretheus and Athamas were brothers, making Jason and the castaways cousins! Jason clothes the men, sacrifices sheep at the altar of Ares, and asks them to guide the Argo to the Golden Fleece.
Argus and his brothers react with horror. They warn Jason that their grandfather Aeetes is a ruthless tyrant who will never willingly surrender the fleece. Despite the grim warning, the Argonauts row forward into the river Phasis, dropping anchor in a shaded marsh as night falls over Colchis.
Book 2 comes to a close with the Argo positioned on the threshold of its destination, setting the stage for the arrival of the legendary Medea!
Sponsors and Support
Before escaping the vomitorium to avoid angry millers defending all-purpose flour, the hosts thank their sponsors:
- Ratio Coffee: Elevate your morning pour-over experience with the Ratio 4, Ratio 6, or flagship Ratio 8! Automated bloom cycles off-gas CO2 without scorch pads or plastic components. Visit ratiocoffee.com/adnavseam and enter code ANRATIO2026 for $20 off your machine.
- Hackett Publishing: Explore five decades of peerless classical translations, including the Lombardo and Polsley Argonautica! Visit hackettpublishing.com and use code AN2026 for 20% off your entire order.
To master the Latin language or learn ancient Greek, head to latinperdiem.com! Check out Dr. Noe’s MossMethod for Greek (taking learners from neophyte to erudite) and his Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata courses. Use coupon code 10PLUS for 10% off. You can also download the Calvin’s Latin Bible app for free or the $1.99 MossMethod for Greek Reader app on Android and iOS!
Credits & Gustatory Parting Shot
A special thanks goes out to audio engineer Mishka for her expert editing, and to guitarist Jeff Scheetz (jeffscheetz.com) for providing the rock-infused intro (Thrill Seeker) and bumper music (Rush Hour).
Write to the hosts at dave@adnavseam.com or jeff@adnavseam.com (remember the ‘V’ in Navseam!). Next week, the hosts take a brief pause from the Argonautica to return to H.I. Marrou’s history of Roman education!
We leave you today with our Gustatory Parting Shot from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, Chapter 9 (At the Sign of the Prancing Pony):
“Hot soup, cold meats, a blackberry tart, new loaves, slabs of butter, and half a ripe cheese: good plain food, as good as the Shire could show, and homelike enough to dispel the last of Sam’s misgivings; already much relieved by the excellence of the beer.”
Thanks for listening, and we will catch you next week for Episode 229!
