Meta Description: Join Ad Navseam Ep. 222 as Dr. David Noe and Dr. Jeff Winkle begin a new part series on Apollonius of Rhodes’ Argonautica, Jason, and the Golden Fleece!
Welcome back, classical gourmands, to episode 222 of the Ad Navseam podcast! Prepare to get your fill with another delectable discussion of Greco-Roman civilization, stretching from the ancient Minoans and Mycenaeans through the Renaissance and right down to the present.
Broadcasting directly from Parnassus Vomitorium Central, your devoted hosts return to the microphones. Dr. David C. Noe is back in the bunker after safe travels to Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, for ecclesiastical work with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. While at the assembly, Dave met a podcast fan from California who felt a slight disconnect between Dave’s “radio personality” and his real-life demeanor! As Dave notes, typecast celebrities like Henry Winkler (the Fonz) know the feeling. Meanwhile, Dr. Jeffrey T. Winkle is holding down the fort, enjoying the return to the recording space.
Swiss Lawn Games and a South Carolina Shout-Out
Before diving into the heavy lifting of the scriptores antiquiores, Dave opens with an intricate story regarding Swiss lawn games. He recounts the history of William Tell, the 14th-century Swiss archer forced by the tyrant Albrecht Gessler to shoot an apple off his son’s head. Dave reveals a “little-known fact” that Tell was deeply devoted to lawn bowling. When his son asked whose team Tell was playing on during a match against Gessler, Tell delivered the ultimate line: “Ask not for whom the Tell bowls, he bowls for thee!”
Following that punchline, the hosts share a listener shout-out from Elisha Fowler of Greenville, South Carolina. Elisha, a longtime listener preparing to attend Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, has been learning Latin using Hans Ørberg’s Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata. Elisha praised the podcast for inspiring his language journey and gave a special nod to Episode 59, “More Bods Than Gods”! In appreciation, the hosts automatically enter Elisha into the drawing for the Five Comedies of Plautus and Terence.
Introducing Apollonius of Rhodes and the Argonautica
The main course of today’s episode launches a brand-new series on Apollonius of Rhodes and his Hellenistic epic, the Argonautica. To set the stage, Jeff reads an opening quote from Tara Welch’s introduction in the Hackett translation (translated by Stanley Lombardo and Cynthia Polsley):
“There once was a priceless and numinous artifact, a shimmering golden fleece hanging in an oak tree in far-off Colchis and guarded by a dragon. The fleece was the hide of a magical flying ram, the glimmering offspring of Poseidon by the Thracian princess Theophanae.”
This flying ram was sent by the cloud-goddess Nephele to rescue her children, Phrixus and Helle, from their murderous stepmother Ino. While Helle fell into the sea—giving her name to the Hellespont—Phrixus safely reached Colchis on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. There, he sacrificed the magical ram to Zeus and hung its golden fleece in a sacred grove guarded by an unsleeping dragon.
Born in Alexandria around 250 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty, Apollonius served as the head of the world-famous Library of Alexandria. Ancient tradition claims he was a pupil of Callimachus, who famously championed short, highly polished poetry (“a big book is a big evil”).
When Apollonius wrote his first draft of the Argonautica—a four-book epic totaling 5,835 lines—it was allegedly such a catastrophic critical flop that he fled Alexandria in disgrace for the island of Rhodes! There, he revised the poem into the masterpiece we have today before returning triumphantly to Alexandria. (As Dave notes, “Rhodes” serves as the standard Roman benchmark for a medium-sized island in Latin grammar).
Jason: The Anti-Heroic HR Manager
What makes the Argonautica so unique compared to the Iliad or the Odyssey? Unlike Odysseus or Achilles, the central hero, Jason, is surprisingly pale, anxious, and lacking in traditional martial dominance. Jeff and Dave note that Jason behaves less like a fiery Homeric warrior and more like an “HR manager” who is constantly queasy about asserting his authority!
The backstory sets up Jason’s impossible quest. Jason’s evil uncle, Pelias, usurps the throne of Iolcus from Jason’s father, Aeson. Raised in the woods by the centaur Chiron (the ancient Greek “Yoda”), Jason returns as a young man to claim his birthright.
On his way to town, Jason carries an old woman across a raging river, losing one of his sandals in the mud. The old woman was actually the goddess Hera in disguise, who harbors a deep grudge against Pelias for neglecting her worship. When Jason walks into the palace wearing only one sandal, Pelias panics—recalling an oracle that warned a man with one shoe would cause his doom! To send Jason on a fatal “fool’s errand,” Pelias demands he retrieve the Golden Fleece from far-off Colchis.
Ancient Seafaring and Catalog Poetry
Jason enlists the help of the goddess Athena to build a 50-oared ship, the Argo. He then gathers a “Marvel team-up” of over 50 heroes—the Argonauts—including Orpheus, Heracles, Peleus (father of Achilles), and Telamon (father of Ajax).
The poem opens with a formal invocation not to a generic Muse, but specifically to Phoebus Apollo (Phoebe) in dactylic hexameter. Apollonius immediately launches into a traditional catalog of the Argonauts. Dave compares catalog poetry to thumbing through a collection of classic baseball cards or checking character stats in a Star Wars encyclopedia: it gives details that allow the reader’s imagination to fill in the narrative gaps!
Historically, the myth of the Argo reflects the early Archaic period of Greek colonization (metoikesis) and seafaring exploration across the Black Sea (Pontus). The story was already ancient and well-known in Homer’s day; Circe even mentions the Argo to Odysseus in Book 12 of the Odyssey. Apollonius took these ancient, disparate seafaring tales and refined them through a sophisticated Hellenistic lens.
Sponsors and Support
Before fleeing the vomitorium to escape a group of lawn-game enthusiasts swinging sharp “jarts,” the hosts thank their sponsors:
- Hackett Publishing: Explore their extensive catalog of classical translations, including the Lombardo and Polsley translation of Apollonius’s Argonautica used in today’s episode! Check out their new Hackett Signature Editions Collection at hackettpublishing.com and use code AN2026 for 20% off your entire order plus free shipping.
- Ratio Coffee: Upgrade your morning routine with a Ratio 4, Ratio 6, or Ratio 8 machine. The automated bloom phase off-gasses carbon dioxide to deliver a perfect pour-over. Use code ANRATIO2026 at ratiocoffee.com/adnavseam for $20 off.
- Plautus & Terence Giveaway: Last chance to enter the drawing for Five Comedies of Plautus and Terence! Email Dave at dave@adnavseam.com with the subject line braggart.
If you want to learn Latin or master ancient Greek, head to latinperdiem.com. Use code AESTAS15 for 15% off Unit 1 of the starter Latin course (Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata), or code 10PLUS for 10% off MossMethod for Greek. Keep an eye out for the upcoming $1.99 Moss Method for Greek Reader app!
Credits & Gustatory Parting Shot
A huge thank you to sound engineer Mishka for polishing the audio, and to Jeff Scheetz for his rock tracks Thrill Seeker and Rush Hour. Check out his guitar work at jeffscheetz.com!
Next week in episode 223, the hosts continue their journey through Book 1 and Book 2 of the Argonautica!
We leave you today with our Gustatory Parting Shot, pulled from the seminal hip-hop classic Rapper’s Delight by the Sugarhill Gang:
“Have you ever went over to a friend’s house to eat and the food just ain’t no good? The macaroni’s soggy, the peas are mushed, and the chicken tastes like wood.”
Thanks for listening, and we will catch you next week!
