Argo
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
"The Argo sped on in a fresh breeze, and soon they saw a beautiful island, green and flower-laden, the habitation of the beguiling sirens, who lure passers-by with their singing, but only to destroy them. Half bird and half maiden, they always lay in wait for new quarry, and no one who came near could escape them. Now they sang their sweetest airs to the Argonauts, who were just about to cast their rope ashore and make fast the ship, when Orpheus, the singer from Thrace, rose in his seat and began to strike such rich and ringing chords on the strings of his divine lyre that drowned out the voices decoying his friends to death."--Gods and Heroes: Myths and Epics of Ancient Greece (1838-40) by Gustav Schwab |
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
In Greek mythology, the Argo was a ship built with the help of the gods which Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sources beyond the original legend from books, movies, and more.
Name
Most accounts name the ship after her builder, Argus. Cicero suggested that it was named after the "Argives", a term commonly used by Homer for the Greek people of Argos. Diodorus Siculus reported that some thought the name was derived from an ancient Greek word for "swift", which could have indicated how the ship was built to move quickly.
The adjective, occasionally found, is Argoan Template:IPAc-en, from Greek Ἀργῶος through Latin Argōus.
Legend
Construction of the Argo
The Argo was constructed by the shipwright 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 constructed to move quickly with the assistance of a sail. Apollodorus stated the ship had fifty oars, all of which were manned by the Argonauts.
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 Mount Pelion. Catullus later mentioned the boat was made out of fir-wood. 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.
According to Apollodorus and Catullus, the Argo was the first ship to sail the seas and was favored by the gods. The god Dionysius did not call the Argo the first ship, but rather a well crafted vessel. Some sources state that since people had not seen a ship before they described the Argo as a monster.
The Argo was built in Thessaly around the area of Mount Pelion. Sextus Propertius claimed it departed from the port of Pagasa.
