ancient Greece

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Remembrance Day: Healing Wounds with Ancient Greek Tragedy

parchment helmet

Remembrance Day is here, in Britain, Canada, and other Commonwealth nations. This is the time of year when we pin poppies on our jackets and hats to show that we remember the sacrifices of the men and women who have served their countries in war.

This is a solemn time of year; many people have known folks who have served in one conflict or another. For myself, my grandfather served in WWI as a young man, my other grandfather in the merchant navy in WWII. I have friends and relatives who have served in the more recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Every year, I try to write a special post around Remembrance Day because I feel it is utterly important not to forget. I often write about war and warriors. It’s something that is always at the front of my mind. I haven’t served in the military myself, but I have the utmost respect for those that have and do.

This year is the 100th anniversary of World War I, the conflict that began the wearing of poppies. Hard to believe it‘s been that long since the Battle of Liège, or since the earth shook with shelling and gunfire at Verdun and the Somme.

The Tower of London Remembers poppies in commemoration of the centenary of WWI

The Tower of London Remembers poppies in commemoration of the centenary of WWI

We remember the dead, and the ultimate sacrifices they have made, we bow our heads to them as the guns salute on November 11th.

But what about the living?

Troops in Afghanistan

Troops in Afghanistan

In war, the casualties are monstrous, but there are those who do manage to come home. What about them?

Those are the troops I want us to think about today.

What prompted this was an article that a colleague of mine gave to me to read, an article that has indeed struck a chord.

This article by Wyatt Mason, in Harper’s magazine, is entitled You are not alone across time – Using Sophocles to treat PTSD.

The trauma of war

The trauma of war

PTSD stands for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, and it is, perhaps always has been, a bane on the lives of warriors for ages. It was not always acknowledged as many former troops were simply told to ‘suck-it-up’. But there is a higher level of awareness now, with a variety of treatments being sought by, or offered to, veterans.

In his article mentioned above, Wyatt Mason writes about a unique theatre group called Outside the Wire, and their program ‘Theatre of War’.

The man behind Theatre of War is Bryan Doerries. He has been studying and translating ancient Greek dramas for years.

What is Theatre of War? Using ancient Greek tragedies, particularly Ajax and Philoctetes by Sophocles, Doerries and a small group of rotating actors travel to military bases and hospitals around the world to perform readings of these plays.

There are no stages, props, or pageantry, just Doerries and about three actors sitting at a table. You might think this would be boring, and so might the troops who were ‘voluntold’ to go. But one cannot underestimate the language of Sophocles, the message, and the powerful delivery of the actors.

After attending these ‘performances’, veteran troops come forward to say that they completely relate to the pain of the warrior-characters in these plays, that they do not feel alone. These performances have been helping troops with PTSD with their healing.

Before we go further, here are a few statistics from the article to put things in perspective.

The number of U.S. soldiers who are committing suicide is at an unprecedented level with nearly one per day among those on active duty, and one per hour among veterans. The number is something like 8,000 a year at the moment.

The horrors of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

The horrors of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

When I read those numbers, my jaw dropped. It seems like there is no heroic return for many of our troops, no ticker-tape parade. It seems more likely that reintegration with civilian society may be more difficult and lonely than war itself.

In 2008, Doerries’ group received $3.7 million from the Pentagon to tour military installations around the world and they have staged more than 250 shows for 50,000 military personnel.

But what is it about Sophocles’ plays that modern troops relate to so much? What leaves these men and women in tears at the end of each performance?

Sophocles

Sophocles

One thing that the article highlighted for me, and of which I was not aware before, is that Sophocles himself was a warrior and commander, his father an Attic amour-maker. Sophocles had lived through the Greek victories over the Persians at Marathon and Salamis, and then served in the bloody years of the Peloponnesian War when the Greeks tore each other apart.

These were deeply traumatic times.

What hadn’t really clicked for me before reading this article was that with military service in Athens being compulsory among men, most of Sophocles’ audience would have been soldiers and veterans of bloody conflicts.

Sophocles spoke to his audience, he addressed the costs of war, the trauma of battle, the grief and rage that lingered long after the laurel wreaths had been handed-out, and the praise of one’s comrades had ceased.

The blood and chaos of warfare

The blood and chaos of warfare

Theatre of War mostly performs two plays for military audiences – Ajax and Philoctetes.

In Greek history/legend, Ajax was one of the greatest of the Greek warriors during the Trojan War. He was a good friend of Achilles, had won numerous battles for the Greeks, and survived one-on-one combat with the greatest of Troy’s heroes, Hector. Ajax inspired his brothers-in-arms.

But even the mighty fall, it seems. In Sophocles’ play, after nine years of fighting on foreign shores, Ajax, who carried Achilles’ body from the battlefield, has a disagreement with Odysseus about who should get Achilles’ god-made armour. Agamemnon and Menelaus decide to award the honour to Odysseus and this insult sends Ajax into a rage. He swears he will kill the sons of Atreus and Odysseus and any others who have insulted him.

Ajax carrying the body of Achilles from the battlefield

Ajax carrying the body of Achilles from the battlefield

However, the gods are not on Ajax’s side. Athena drives him mad and he ends up slaughtering a host of animals in his tent, thinking they are his perceived enemies. Tecmessa, Ajax’s slave woman and consort, relays what happened:

As captives bulls and herdsmen’s dogs and sheep,
Of which a part he strangled, others felled
And cleft in twain; others again he lashed,
Treating those beasts like human prisoners.
Then rushing out, he with some phantom talked,
Launching against the sons of Atreus now,
Now ‘gainst Ulysses, ravings void of sense,
Boasting how he had paid their insults home.
Then once more rushing back into the tent,
By slow degrees to his right mind he came.
But when he saw the tent with carnage heaped,
Crying aloud, he smote his head, and then
Flung himself down amid the gory wreck,
And with clenched fingers grasped and tore his hair.
So a long time he sat and spoke no word.
At last, with imprecations terrible
If I refused, he bade me tell him all,
What had befallen and how it came about.
And I, my friends, o’erwhelmed with terror, told
All that I knew of that which he had done.
Thereat he uttered piercing cries of grief,
Such as had never come from him before,
For in loud lamentations to indulge
He ever held a craven weakling’s part,
And, stifling outcries, moaned not loud but deep,
Like the deep roaring of a wounded bull.
But in this plight, prostrate and desperate,
Refusing food and drink, my hero lies
Amidst the mangled bodies, motionless.
That he is brooding on some fell design,
His wails and exclamations plainly show.
But, O kind friends, ’twas to this end I came,
Enter the tent and aid me if ye can;
The words of friends are desperate sorrow’s cure.

(Sophocles, Ajax)

When the clouds of madness are swept from Ajax’s eyes, he is shamed by what he has done and goes into deep depression. I’m guessing that it must be the same for modern troops who come home and are haunted by the things that they have experienced, seen and done.

Ajax in anguish

Ajax in anguish

We must remember that this is one of the greatest warriors in the army, second only to Achilles. He has Tecmessa, and he has a son, he has had honours heaped upon him, and yet he cannot deal with what he has done. The strain of 9 years of war have had their toll.

What now am I to do, since of the gods
I am abhorred, of the Hellenic host
Hated, to Troy and all this land a foe?
Shall I to their own quarrel leave the Kings,
Unmoor, and homeward cross the Aegean wave?
How can I face my father Telamon?
How can he bear to look upon the son
Who comes to him disgraced, without the prize,
When glory’s wreath has circled his own brow?

(Sophocles, Ajax)

Ajax decides he can no longer be among the living, such is his disgrace. He decides to leave his tent, despite Tecmessa’s protestations. Alone outside, on the earth surrounding Troy, he plants his sword in the ground, point upward, and kills himself…

O death, O death, come and thy office do;
Long, where I go, our fellowship will be.
O thou glad daylight, which I now behold,
O sun, that ridest in the firmament,
I greet you, and shall greet you never more.
O light, O sacred soil of my own land,
O my ancestral home, my Salamis,
Famed Athens and my old Athenian mates,
Rivers and springs and plains of Troy, farewell;
Farewell all things in which I lived my life;
‘Tis the last word of Ajax to you all,
When next I speak ’twill be to those below.

(Sophocles, Ajax)

Ajax's suicide

Ajax’s suicide

In the video trailer for Theatre of War, which I link to below, you will see various troops coming forward at the end of a performance to talk about their own demons, and how they very much identified with Ajax and the torment he was feeling.

The suicide statistics I mentioned earlier are telling and terrifying, and they align with these emotions which Sophocles expressed through the hero Ajax over 2000 years ago.

It is wondrous, the therapeutic role that culture and the arts have to play. Doerries and the Theatre of War seem to have tapped into this on a visceral level to engage an audience that has been neglected in decades past. According to the article, the purpose is to “reach communities where intense feelings have been suppressed, in hopes of bringing people closer to articulating their suffering.”

From the numbers of troops, from all ranks, who come forward after the performances, Doerries and the Theatre of War are helping.

One has to wonder what else Sophocles might have produced, and to what effect? Only seven of Sophocles’ plays have come down to us. It is reckoned that he actually produced over 100. There’s a thought! What other issues might he have tackled which involved the ancient warrior and those around him?

One of the other plays that has survived is Philoctetes.

Philoctetes, in history/legend was one of the greatest archers in the ancient world. He was also the inheritor of the bow of Herakles, which that tragic hero bequeathed to Philoctetes when he was the only one who would help Herakles to light his funeral pyre. Another great hero who committed suicide.

Philoctetes had joined the expedition to Troy, but when they first arrived on the other side of the Aegean he was bitten by a snake on his foot. The wound festered and stank and Philoctetes was always in unimaginable pain.

But his comrades did not help him. Instead, because he was so loud and disruptive to the sacrifices and morale, they abandoned him on a desolate island to be alone with his pain and torment.

Philoctetes abandoned

Philoctetes abandoned

Sophocles’ play is not about a soldier who is driven to suicide, but rather a soldier who is abandoned, whose friends are not there for him when he needs them most.

His former friends do return, however, after 10 years of war. But it is not for him that they return, but for the bow of Herakles, without which it is said the Greeks cannot win against the Trojans. Odysseus comes to Philoctetes with Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, to get the bow.

Naturally, Philoctetes is bitter and might have killed his comrades had not Neoptolemus stolen the bow at Odysseus’ insistence. Philoctetes is distraught at losing his one great possession, the thing which has kept him alive.

O pest, O bane, O of all villainy
Vile masterpiece, what hast thou done to me?
How am I duped? Wretch, hast thou no regard
For the unfortunate, the suppliant?
Thou tak’st my life when thou dost take my bow.
Give it me back, good youth, I do entreat.
O by thy gods, rob me not of my life.
Alas! he answers not, but as resolved
Upon denial, turns away his face.
O havens, headlands, lairs of mountain beasts,
That my companions here have been, O cliffs
Steep-faced, since other audience have I none,
In your familiar presence I complain
Of the wrong done me by Achilles’ son.
Home he did swear to take me, not to Troy.
Against his plighted faith the sacred bow
Of Heracles, the son of Zeus, he steals,
And means to show it to the Argive host.
He fancies that he over strength prevails,
Not seeing that I am a corpse, a shade,
A ghost. Were I myself, he had not gained
The day, nor would now save by treachery…

… I return
To thee disarmed, bereft of sustenance.
Deserted, I shall wither in that cell,
No longer slaying bird or sylvan beast
With yonder bow. Myself shall with my flesh
Now feed the creatures upon which I fed,
And be by my own quarry hunted down.
Thus shall I sadly render blood for blood,
And all through one that seemed to know no wrong.
Curse thee I will not till all hope is fled
Of thy repentance; then accursed die.

(Sophocles, Philoctetes)

Philoctetes has experienced not only pain and torment, but extreme isolation for an extended period of time. If he had been able, he likely would have taken out his anger and rage on his former comrades who had come to get him, those who had abandoned him, mainly Odysseus.

Neoptolemus and Odysseus take the bow of Herakles from Philoctetes

Neoptolemus and Odysseus take the bow of Herakles from Philoctetes

But the Gods decide to favour Philoctetes, and in the legend Herakles himself appears and urges his old friend to return to the war with his bow. This Philoctetes does, and he is one of the men who hides in the Trojan Horse. Sophocles’ play does not go into this, but focusses more on the pain of abandonment and isolation.

How many modern troops, or troops through the ages for that matter, would also have experienced such deep pain in isolation, real and figurative?

How many troops come home to family and friends who, despite the very best of intentions, just don’t understand what they have been through? They can’t understand unless they have been there themselves.

Trenches

The Theatre of War and its performances of Ajax and Philoctetes seems to provide just what is needed for troops who are alone, and depressed, and dealing with PTSD and all the horrors that that entails – a forum of common understanding.

As I said before, I have not served in the military, so I can only imagine what our troops must be going through. However, there is a level on which I can understand some of this that is perhaps related.

It has to do with the study of history in general. Over the years, when I have felt isolated, out-of-place, depressed, or felt difficult emotion to some extreme, I’ve always found comfort in history, the people, the events.

Medieval battle

Medieval battle

Somehow, studying and trying to understand history, whatever the period, has always helped me to feel more attuned to the world about me, less lonely. No matter how bad I might have thought things were, how little I might have been understood, history, the past, has always shown me that similar things, more difficult things, have happened to others. I think the knowledge of the challenges people in the past have overcome has always given me strength.

I can’t imagine my life without having studied the past. From those difficult teenage years to the present day, the past has always been my comfort and compass, and helped me to move forward however small my steps.

Perhaps that is what our troops, those veterans of extreme emotion, get from listening to their fellow warriors’ voices out of the past?

Bryan Doerries says it at the end of each of his group’s performances:

“Most importantly, if we had one message to deliver to you, two thousand four hundred years later, it’s simply this: You are not alone across time.”

So, this November 11th, and all through the year, I will ever spare a thought or prayer for warriors past and present. It shouldn’t matter what you think of the kings or politicians who sent them to battle for whatever ends.

If history has taught me anything, it is that warriors through the ages have faced incredible challenges and horrors, and for that they deserve our compassion.

Lest we forget…

Thank you for reading.

 Poppy field

If you would like to learn a bit more about the Theatre of War, be sure to visit the website and spread the word. You can also watch the video trailer which shows some of the work they do and includes troops expressing their feelings post-performance. Powerful stuff!

http://youtu.be/RHTVBq5nkj8?list=PLaGnq8H7GaVKuX3GVeir9DZ8W8fDvkUbc

I would also recommend watching some of their performances. Below are clips of both Ajax and Philoctetes being performed by Theatre of War.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fus0JYIxFtk&index=1&list=PLaGnq8H7GaVKuX3GVeir9DZ8W8fDvkUbc

Click HERE to watch a performance of Ajax by Theatre of War.

 

 

Click HERE to watch a performance of Philoctetes by Theatre of War. 

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Philotimo – An Ancient Word Worth Remembering

Raphael's School of Athens

Raphael’s School of Athens

Words are fascinating to me. I work with them every day. I read them, hear them, write them, and ponder them. Together they help me to convey the stories that I have within me. They help me to communicate what is inside my head, and hopefully they inspire.

Some words are more powerful than others. Some words teach as well. Some words survive the test of time and the evolution of language. Why is that?

Why do some words get twisted with time so that, inevitably, their meanings are changed or watered down? I’ve studied different languages, but not linguistics, so there is probably an easy answer to this question that I just don’t know.

The other day I was reminded of a word that my eyes had previously glossed over without taking any real notice.

I’m talking about the Greek word, philotimo.

Φιλότιμο

This isn’t just any word. It’s an ideal, a concept, a way of living.

It’s also an ancient word that is said to have no counterpart in any other language.

Philotimo has survived the test of time from ancient Greece to the present day. And to many, it is as powerful as ever.

What does it mean? Very basically, philotimo means ‘love of honour’. But there is so much more to this concept. When Greeks hear this word, the things they are reminded of include a deep love of family, of country, of one’s society and the greater good. It isn’t just about personal honour, because no one person is an island.

Philotimo, at its heart, is about goodness. It’s about selflessness and the force that drives individuals to think about the people and the world around them. It’s no wonder that such a concept came out of the birthplace of democracy.

As a citizen of a polis, a society, it was one’s duty to do what was needed to better, not one’s personal state, but the state of those around you, whether it was your family, your neighbourhood, your city-state, or your country.

Thales

Thales

A quote that is commonly ascribed to the pre-Socratic philosopher, Thales of Miletus (c. 624-546 B.C.) says this:

“Philotimo to the Greek is like breathing. A Greek is not a Greek without it. He might as well not be alive.”

What I find interesting is that this word, and all the meanings ascribed to it, has been expressed since the 7th century B.C., and perhaps earlier. The importance of philotimo survived the polytheistic world of ancient Greece, through the Roman Empire, and on through the Byzantine and Christian Middle Ages to our modern world.

That’s not to say philotimo is an easy way of life. I suspect that few are able to act with pure philotimo in their lives on a day-to-day basis.

I’m half Greek, and I love Greece and Greek culture, but I think that many Greeks, past and present, do not put enough weight on Thales’ words above. I doubt the sad state of Greece is due to the philotimo of the crooked politicians and greedy bankers who have crippled the country and brought the average hard-working person to the edge of ruin, while they live the good life. Their lack of philotimo has done that to the country.

However, it’s the philotimo of the people that will get them through the trials they are currently facing. I don’t usually talk politics here, but it seems apt in this discussion.

I’ve been thinking about events in history where this idea of selflessness and honour can be seen, where philotimo was practiced. There are many.

300 Spartans at Thermopylae - by Peter Connolly

300 Spartans at Thermopylae – by Peter Connolly

The first that came to my mind was the stand of the 300 Spartans, and 700 Thespians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Leonidas and the rest of the warriors knew they were marching to meet certain death, but they went anyway, knowing that the delay, and example, they would provide would allow the rest of Greece to rally and meet the Persians.

In the Iliad, Hector goes out to meet Achilles in single combat, even though he knows he is going to die. He does it for his family’s honour, for his people, his country.

All wars are full of stories of horror and atrocity, and we hear a lot about those. They are the subject of books, and they are splattered all over the media and movie theatres.

Thermopylae today

Thermopylae today

We need to hear more about acts of philotimo, the acts of goodness in the midst of brutality, despite chaos. Closer to home on the historical timeline, the Greek resistance to the fascists in World War II is another example of people stepping up and laying their lives on the line for the greater good. Think of all those allied troops who bounded out of the trenches into enemy machine gun fire because they believed in the goodness they were fighting for.

Goodness and honour transcend religion, culture, politics, and financial status. The Greeks may have given it a word, and shaped the concept, but philotimo is in essence the best of the human race. Considering that we are, more often than not, an imperfect species, that is saying something.

It can be displayed by warriors on the battlefields of history, or by children in the school playground. Grand acts on the world stage can display philotimo, as can the youth who gives up his or her seat to an elderly person on the subway.

The Trenches in WWI

The Trenches in WWI

I had forgotten the word philotimo, but I would hope my actions reflect its presence in me, and in the characters I create. I want my stories to be inhabited by men, women and children who display the ideals of love, courage, honour and goodness that the word philotimo embodies.

If you would like to hear more about the concept of philotimo, there is a great video by the OXI Day Foundation in the USA. ‘OXI Day’ or ‘No Day’ is the day that Greece refused to help the Nazis and declared for the good side in World War II. You can see the video here:

 

 

What are your thoughts on the concept of philotimo?

Is there a particular event in history that you feel illustrates this ideal of living with honour that you would like to share? Please tell us in the comments below!

As ever, thank you for reading.

Greek Resistance Fighters in WWII

Greek Resistance Fighters in WWII

 

 

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I am Hercules!

posterWell, not me. Rather, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is, in the latest film portraying this hero from Greek mythology.

The movie has been out for a month now, but I finally got to go and see it this week.

When I first saw the trailer back in the spring, I was blown away by what I saw. I couldn’t wait. But there is always that part of me that worries the trailer is as good as it gets. ‘What if the rest of the movie is complete rubbish?’ ‘What if I waste my time and money?’

If you’ve been reading my posts for a long time, you’ll know that I’m open to modern interpretations of ancient and medieval tales. Retellings of these stories are essential to their survival.

But there are always versions that go a little too far, savaging the story until it is unrecognizable.

Thankfully, Hercules was not among the latter. This was a fun movie, filled with some wonderful moments.

This year I’ve been really interested in the character of Herakles. If you haven’t read them, check out the posts on the old website about The Triumph of Herakles, and The Tragedy of Herakles. Come back to this post to comment on those if you have any thoughts.

Hercules (I’ll use the Roman name the movie uses for the rest of this post) is a wonderful, heroic, and tragic character for the ages. It’s no wonder his exploits have harnessed our imaginations for ages.

*I’m not going to spoil anything major from the movie, but if you don’t want to know anything beforehand, you may want to come back to this post after you’ve seen the movie.

First of all, Dwayne Johnson was great as Hercules. He became Hercules, and his screen presence was powerful to say the least.

But let’s get a couple of things out of the way first, things that bothered the historian in me.

For some strange reason, the filmmakers set the movie in the mid-4th century B.C. That’s odd, because that’s the time of Phillip and Alexander of Macedon (the Great). The date is sort of irrelevant (if not misleading) but it would have been cool to see it set in the mid-14th century B.C. when such events might have taken place.

If we were to put things on an historical timeline, Herakles’ labours took place before the voyage of the Argo which took place before the Trojan War. The remains of Troy VI, the level that is commonly assigned to the Trojan War, have been dated to about c.1275 B.C. So, the mid-14th century may be the correct period for Hercules’ story. That foggy, less documented era certainly would have played better with the epic mythology of Hercules in the movie.

I know, perhaps I’m splitting historical hairs, but another thing that got me was that King Eurystheus, Hercules’ cousin (they were both grandchildren of Perseus), was King of Athens in the movie. In mythology, Eurystheus was actually King of Tyrins and Mycenae. However, there is a later tradition linking Eurystheus and Athens, and that comes from Euripides’ play Heracleidae. In the play, Herakles’ children hide from Eurystheus in Athens, under the protection of Demophon, who actually was King of Athens. My only thought is that Athens may be more recognizable to the average movie-goer.

King Eurystheus hiding from Herakles

King Eurystheus hiding from Herakles

Lastly, the movie is not about the Twelve Labours of Hercules, though the trailer does give that impression. You see a couple of the labours, but the film focuses more on the tradition of Hercules being asked by the King of Thrace to help him fight his enemies.

In mythology, it is the Gods themselves who ask for Hercules’ help in fighting the Giants in Thrace; the Battle of the Gods and Giants is one of the most depicted battles in ancient art.

But there are a lot of gems in this film, references to parts of the Hercules tradition that are told in a way that it could be fact or fiction – his parentage including Zeus, the snakes sent by Hera into his crib when he was a baby, and a few of the labours. It’s all good stuff!

What I like are the companions who accompany Hercules in the movie. Each person is actually from the generation before the Trojan War, which makes their inclusion more or less accurate.

Death of Tydeus from Etruscan temple pediment Pyrgi, Italy

Death of Tydeus from Etruscan temple pediment Pyrgi, Italy

There is Tydeus, who was one of the Seven against Thebes, and the seer Amphiaraus, who was also among the Seven against Thebes, as well as King of Argos. He is brilliantly played by Ian McShane. Autolycus, Odysseus’ grandfather on his mother’s side is there, as well as Atalanta whose son was one of the Seven against Thebes and who, in some traditions, was the only woman to join Jason’s crew on the Argo.

Amphiaraus leaving for war

Amphiaraus leaving for war

Atalanta

Atalanta

Lastly, Iolaus is there with Hercules as the hero’s nephew, and this lines up with ancient traditions about that character.

I won’t go into more detail because I don’t want to spoil things, but this ensemble of ancient names only serves to enhance the character of Hercules and make the story more interesting.

Mosaic depicting Iolaus and Herakles

Mosaic depicting Iolaus and Herakles

However, I have to say that my favourite part of the movie was how Dwayne Johnson and the writers explored the tragic side of Hercules. The hero is haunted by his past, the actions that led the gods to command him to carry out the Twelve Labours for Eurystheus. I go through this in The Tragedy of Herakles.

I’ve enjoyed some of Dwayne Johnson’s previous performances, but credit to him, he really got into this role and played it beautifully. Apparently, he isolated himself for training for 8 months in Hungary so that he could get deep into the person of Hercules.

I’d say he succeeded.

Some people will undoubtedly slam the movie for many things, but if you like mythology, and if the story of Hercules appeals to you, you should definitely see this movie. It has action, drama, laughs, and most importantly of all, it brings ancient storytelling to life before your eyes!

Having fun with history!

Having fun with history!

And anything that gets people interested in history and mythology is a good thing.

Thank you for reading!

If you’ve seen Hercules, I’d like to hear what you liked or didn’t like about the movie.

Tell us in the comments below.

Watch the Official Movie Trailer for Hercules!

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Argonautica – Part III – Love and the Forging of a Hero

The ArgoIt’s been a while since Part II of the Argonautica series, and this is the first on the new website. If you have not already done so, you may wish to read Part I and Part II first.

Today, we have an epic post.

Jason and the Argonauts have almost reached Colchis after their visit to the blind seer, Phineus. They have successfully navigated the Cyanean Rocks, using a white dove as Phineus suggested.

But the journey is far from over and the gods are watching.

They come to a desert island called Thynias, where Apollo appears to them, but does not speak. It is as though the Argonauts are being reminded of their place. They are awed by Apollo and keep their heads bowed. When he is gone, they build an altar to him.

Then they sail on to the land of the Mariandyni where they recount their tale to the king, Lycus, who is pleased that they defeated his enemies the Bebrycians. Lycus adds his son, Dascylus, to Jason’s crew. Lycus says that he will build a temple to Castor and Polydeuces for defeating the Bebrycian king, Amycus.

This is all well and good, but there is an odd episode before they leave the Mariandyni. Idmon, the son of Abas, one of Jason’s soothsayers, is killed by a huge white-tusked boar and promptly dies in his comrades’ arms. The Argonauts mourn for three days, during which Tiphys, son of Hagnias, dies of sickness. All of this sudden loss sends the Argonauts into despair.

The goddess Hera steps in to inspire the men once more and they finally set out after twelve days. They then reach the river Thermodon in the land of the Amazons.

There is reference to Herakles’ labour there but they do not wish to linger as they do not want battle with the fierce Amazons, those war-loving daughters of Ares.

They row on past the land of the iron people known as the Chalybes, and then past the lands of the Mossynocci who, Apollonius tells us, have an odd habit of performing private acts in public, and what are normally public acts in private.

Apollonius enjoys telling us about all of these peoples, places and regional traditions, but the Argo presses on.

Then they come to the Island of Ares where deadly bronze birds are said to attack anyone who approaches. The Argonauts remember Herakles’ labour in the Stymphalian swamps and how he defeated similar birds, not with bow and arrows, but by making a loud clamour. So, they don their crested helmets and shake their heads and spears and yell so that they can land on the island.

But why would they land there? Phineus had told them they should, and this is why…

Origins of the Fleece

On this island are stranded the four sons of Phrixus – Cytissorus, Phrontis, Melas, and Argus.

Phrixus, of course, is the one who had come to Colchis on the golden ram in order to escape the murder of himself and his sister, Helle, in Orchomenos in Greece. The ram, sent by their divine mother to save them, flew over the sea with the two of them on its back. Along the way, Helle fell into the sea and drowned. That is where the ‘Hellespont’ gets its name.

Phrixus, Golden Ram, Helle drowning

Phrixus, Helle, and the Ram

Aeetes received Phrixus and treated him kindly, giving his daughter, Chalciope, in marriage to Phrixus. In thanks for his finding a safe exile, Phrixus sacrificed the golden ram to Zeus, the protector of strangers, and gave the Golden Fleece to Aeetes in thanks.

Phrixus and Chalciope’s sons were returning to Orchomenos in Greece to reclaim their father’s birthright when their ship was wrecked on the island of Ares.

The Argonauts see the gods’ hand in this and the truth of Phineus’ words, and the sons of Phrixus become part of the crew. They sacrifice to Ares in a roofless temple where the Amazons used to pray.

Jason tells the sons of Phrixus what they plan to do and the latter express their fear of Aeetes.

“My friends, our strength, so far as it avails, shall never cease to help you, not one whit, when need shall come. But Aeetes is terribly armed with deadly ruthlessness; wherefore exceedingly do I dread this voyage… Nay to seize the Fleece in spite of Aeetes is no easy task; so huge a serpent keeps guard round and about it, deathless and sleepless, which Earth herself brought forth on the sides of the Caucasus…” (Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica)

In reading this, and meeting the sons of Phrixus, I found it strange that in all the retellings of The Argonautica that I’ve watched or read, there was never any mention or hint of the actual origins of the Golden Fleece. I think the story of Phrixus is fascinating and tragic. It makes a fantastic story.

The Argonauts are getting close now, the stage is set.

They sail from the Island of Ares until they see the Caucasian mountains rising into the sky where Prometheus is bound to the rocks and the eagle eats his liver anew every day. The Argonauts see the eagle flying high in the clouds and they can hear the “bitter cry of Prometheus as his liver was being torn away.”

The Caucasus of modern Georgia, land of Colchis

The Caucasus of modern Georgia, land of Colchis

This approach to Colchis, with the cries of the tortured Titan ringing over the land, sets a mood of danger as they approach their goal.

That night, they reach the river Phasis and they come near to the city of Aea and the Grove of Ares where the Fleece hangs on the oak tree, in the shadow of the Caucasus.

Jason pours libations of honey into the river and of wine onto the Earth, and offerings to the gods of Colchis, and the spirits of their fallen comrades.

Piety and gratitude, are ever important in this tale.

And this is something that the movies often ignore. In fact, movies and other modern adaptations of this tale show the heroes as defiant of the gods, but that is the complete opposite of how it is in these ancient stories.

It’s a little sad, in my opinion that modern interpretations feel the need to dismiss the gods, or make the heroes defiant of them, in order to make the tales more palatable to modern audiences.

The involvement and honouring of the gods, I think, makes these ancient stories richer and more interesting.

The Argonauts have finally landed and they discuss whether or not to approach Aeetes with kind words, or force. This is where Book II ends.

Enter the Goddesses

In Book III of The Argonautica, the theme changes to one of Love. This is what sets this epic apart from all others in the ancient world to that point.

Apollonius begins book three by calling on Erato now, the muse of lyric poetry, or love poetry.

“Come now, Erato, stand by my side, and say next how Jason brought back the Fleece to Iolcus aided by the love of Medea. For thou sharest the power of Cypris, and by thy love-cares dost charm unwedded maidens, wherefore to thee too is attached a name that tells of love.”

Erato, Muse of Love Poetry

Erato, Muse of Love Poetry

Jason and the Argonauts are waiting in ambush for the Colchians, but the goddesses Hera and Athena feel that they need to do something to help them. Aeetes will not be easily fooled or beaten.

However, even Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and Strategy, is at a loss as to what to do. So, Hera suggests they go to Aphrodite (Cypris) for help.

Their plan is to have Aphrodite ask her son, Eros, to cause Aeetes’ daughter, Medea, to fall in love with Jason. Hera believes Medea will help Jason, and so they go to Aphrodite’s palace, built for her by her husband, Hephaestus.

This episode provides the listener/reader with a rare and intimate glimpse of Goddess of Love.

Hera and Athena find Aphrodite sitting alone on a chair facing the door of her palace.

“…she all alone was sitting within, on an inlaid seat facing the door. And her white shoulders on each side were covered with the mantle of her hair and she was parting it with a golden comb and about to braid up the long tresses; but when she saw the goddesses before her, she stayed and called them within…”                                                                                                                                         

Aphrodite is suspicious of their visit, but Hera says that they are genuinely fearful for Jason and want to help him. Jason, of course, helped Hera across the river when she was disguised as an old crone.

Aphrodite is moved by Hera’s supplication and says she will help, but she says that her son, Eros, is disobedient and that he may not listen.

This is a stunningly human scene in which Aphrodite, one of the most revered goddesses, is now a mother fretting over her disobedient child.

Aphrodite and Eros

Aphrodite and Eros

Of course, one of the most appealing things of the gods of ancient Greece was that people could relate to them. They too struggled with emotions and other very human situations.

Aphrodite goes in search of Eros on Mount Olympus and finds him throwing dice with Ganymedes in the orchard of Zeus.

Eros comes across as very cheeky, feisty, and even quite naughty. He is in the middle of, erm…sorry, ‘fleecing’ Ganymedes at dice. In fact, when Ganymedes leaves upon Aphrodite’s arrival, the goddess chides her son for cheating!

She tells him what she wants him to do and in return promises him a magical ball that was Zeus’ when he was a child. The ball, which looks like a shooting star when it is thrown, seals the deal, and Eros rushes out of the gates of Olympus all the way to Colchis with his bow and arrows.

Aeetes, King of the Colchians

After further discussion, Jason has decided that he will go with Telamon, Augeias, and the sons of Phrixus to the palace of Aeetes to speak with the king.

Jason trusts in the ordinance of Zeus that protects strangers.

The route they take is very interesting. They cross the Plain of Circe where willows and osiers grow in lines. In the branches of the trees hang the corpses of dead Colchians. Apollonius tells us here of an unusual custom of the Colchians that they do not burn or bury their dead beneath mounds. Rather, they wrap their dead in ox hide and suspend them in trees far from the city.

It must have been a grisly site for the Jason as he made his way, no doubt his gut full of fear already, to the palace of Aeetes.

But Jason is loved by the Gods, and Hera covers him and his companions with a mist so that they arrive safely at the entrance to Aeetes’ palace. Apollonius’ description of the palace relates the wealth of Aeetes; there is even a court with four fountains spouting milk, wine, oil, and water.

Jason sees Medea for the first time as she is going from chamber to chamber looking for her sister, Chalciope.

Medea

Medea

Thus enters one of the most tragic and terrifying characters of the ancient Greek world.

Medea cries out when she sees the newcomers, and Chalciope and others come running to see the returned sons of Phrixus. There are joyful tears as Chalciope greets her sons.

Then Aeetes enters with his queen, Eidyia.

Among this confusion, Eros passes unseen into their midst and stands near Jason with is bow and arrow ready. He shoots Medea and “speechless amazement seized her soul.”

“…the bolt burnt deep down in the maiden’s heart like a flame; and ever she kept darting bright glances straight up at Aeson’s son, and within her breast her heart panted fast through anguish, all remembrance left her, and her soul melted with sweet pain.”

 A banquet is set and Aeetes questions the sons of Phrixus, asking them why they are back and who they bring with them. Argus answers before the gathering, telling of their shipwreck on the Island of Ares and how Jason saved them.

Argus then relates the task set for Jason by Pelias, and how the hero has come with the “mightiest heroes of all Achaea” to ask for the Fleece.

Aeetes is told that in return for the Fleece, Jason and his men will help him to defeat his bitter enemies, the Sauromatae (people of the Amazons and Scythians).

Argus tells Aeetes that the Argonauts are the “sons and grandsons of the immortals”!

But Aeetes is full of rage and wrath in his heart and accuses the sons of Phrixus and Chalciope of bringing the strangers there so that they might steel his throne. Argus’ own anger rises and before anything happens, Jason steps up to speak.

His words calm the situation but Aeetes is mulling over whether to kill them on the spot, or to set Jason a trial of strength, a task that he has completed himself.

An Impossible Task

Aeetes tells Jason that he must harness two fire-breathing bulls with bronze hooves, plow the field of Ares with an adamant plow, and then sow it with the teeth of a serpent which will then grow into armed, earthborn men whom Jason has to slay.

If Jason does this, Aeetes says he will give him the Fleece.

Chalciope is terrified for her sons, for she knows her father’s anger.

Medea herself feels immeasurable worry for Jason, her heart is wrenched on the one hand by her feelings for the stranger, and on the other by devotion to her father.

Argus tells Jason that he will go to his mother and ask her to ask Medea for help.

Jason agrees. He is definitely afraid, and returns to the Argo to tell the crew what is to happen. Despair ranges among the Argonauts, but Peleus (later father of Achilles) says that he will do the task for Jason. This causes others to rise to volunteer and the despair evaporates.

While they are on the deck of the Argo, a hawk falls from the sky and is impaled on the stern ornament. Mopsus, the soothsayer, says that they should seek the help of Medea, remembering Phineas’ words about obeying Aphrodite. The crew agrees, except Idas.

Idas shames the rest of the men for relying on women and Aphrodite. “Do ye look to doves and hawks to save yourselves from contests?” he says.

And it is true, that this dependence on love, or women, is not common it ancient epics. Aphrodite rescues heroes from the battlefield in the Iliad, true, but she is an Olympian goddess. Medea is not.

But Idas is overruled.

Meanwhile, Aeetes plans treachery and regrets ever welcoming Phrixus into his home; he did so by the command of Zeus. Aeetes however, remembers his father Helios’ prophecy that he must avoid the secret treachery of his offspring who, in this case, he believes to be the sons of Phrixus and his daughter Chalciope. He vows that the Argonauts shall not escape.

Medea however, can’t stop thinking about Jason. She can’t sleep or think straight. She is a young woman overcome with love and confusion. She goes to speak with her sister, Chalciope.

Not a Monster…Yet

The common perception that most people have of Medea is that of the tragic, vengeful, barbarian sorceress of Eurpides’ play Medea (431 B.C.). When she discovered Jason has been unfaithful, she killed their children. It doesn’t get more monstrous than that!

However, the Medea of Apollonius’ Argonautica is nothing of the sort.

Medea is not a monster at all, but rather a young woman torn by anguish and love for Jason. She decides to help Jason by calling on “Hecate’s temple charms”, but she knows that the Colchians will heap disgrace on her for preferring a stranger to her father.

Jason and Medea

Jason and Medea

She even considers suicide but is dissuaded in her heart by Hera. With the light of the next day, her mind is made up. Medea prepares an ointment called the “Charm of Prometheus” which is made from a root that looks like flesh, and that has been fed by the blood of the Titan’s wound on the Caucasus.

That morning, Argus brings Jason to the shrine of Hecate where Medea is waiting for him. Jason goes on alone, at Hera’s bidding, and arrives at the shrine to meet Medea face-to-face. Apollonius says that they are at first silent “like oaks or lofty pines, which stand quietly side by side on the mountains when the wind is still.”

Jason asks her to speak and not be shy. He tells her that he comes to her a suppliant and a stranger for her help. He says that the returning heroes will spread word of her fame across all Greece. Jason even mentions Ariadne who helped another stranger, Theseus, against her father’s Minotaur and then left her homeland with the hero. He says the gods will thank her!

In our hindsight, we know the irony of this statement – Ariadne was left by Theseus on the island of Naxos, and Medea receives anything but thanks later in life. She becomes more infamous than famous for her deeds.

Medea tells him of the ceremony he must perform, which involves bathing in the river by night, digging a round pit, and sacrificing a ewe to Hecate. Then Jason must pour Hecate a libation of honey. At dawn he is then to strip down and anoint his body with the charm of Prometheus which will give him “boundless prowess and mighty strength” and protect him from the bulls’ fire and the earthborn warriors’ spears.

Medea also tells Jason how he can defeat the earthborn warriors that will grow from the dragon’s teeth by casting a stone among them. She knows that once he succeeds he will leave and she:

“…cast her eyes to her feet in silence, and her cheek, divinely fair, was wet with warm tears as she sorrowed for that he was about to wander far away from her side over the wide sea…”

Jason says that he will never forget her, day or night, but she is hurt when he speaks to her of ‘guest-love’ such as Ariadne had for Theseus, and that he wishes Aeetes was as kindly toward himself as Minos was to Theseus.

“In Hellas, I ween, this is fair to pay heed to covenants; but Aeetes is not such a man among men as thou sayest was Pasiphae’s husband, Minos; nor can I liken myself to Ariadne; wherefore speak not of guest-love. But only do thou, when thou hast reached Iolcus, remember me, and thee even in my parents’ despite, will I remember.”                                                                                                                               

Medea’s feelings run deeper than Jason knows. Indeed, Apollonius refers to “Love the destroyer”.

At this point, Apollonius gives over to a long conversation between Jason and Medea, developing the theme of romantic love further. There is hope, but there is also irony, and dread; listeners at the time would have known what happened in their story later on.

Jason speaks of how if she came to Hellas, Medea would be worshipped as a goddess for helping their sons return home. He also speaks of their bridal chamber.

In a way, the gods are against Medea. She is a sort of casualty at the whim of Hera. The Queen of the Gods wishes only to help Jason, and it seems that Medea is just a pawn.

“…her soul melted within her to hear his words; nevertheless she shuddered to behold the deeds of destruction to come. Poor wretch! Not long was she destined to refuse a home in Hellas. For thus Hera devised it, that Aeaean Medea might come to Ioleus for a bane to Pelias, forsaking her native land.”

Calling on the Gods

Medea goes back to the palace distraught, and Jason returns to his comrades in good spirits.

That night, Jason undertakes the ritual to Hecate that Medea outlined so carefully. There is a detailed description of the ceremony and sacrifice carried out with great reverence. The ancients took these things seriously, so it is a little unfortunate that modern retellings never touch on these religious rituals.

The ceremony works and there is a particularly terrifying moment when Hecate appears to accept the offerings:

“And when he called on her he drew back; and she heard him, the dread goddess, from the uttermost depths and came to the sacrifice of Aeson’s son; and round her horrible serpents twined themselves among the oak boughs; and there was a gleam of countless torches; and sharply howled around her the hounds of hell. All the meadows trembled at her step; and the nymphs that haunt the marsh and the river shrieked, all who dance round that mead of Amarantian Phasis. And fear seized Aeson’s son, but not even did he turn round as his feet bore him forth…”

Morning comes and Jason finishes anointing himself and his weapons with the charm.

The trial is at hand. This is an episode that is shown in the retellings such as the Hallmark series but the details in the Argonautica are finer.

Jason goes onto the field where the adamant plow is and the bulls rush forth breathing their fire. But Jason is protected by his shield and charm as the bulls ram him and breath fire so that the “consuming heat played around him.”

Jason yoking the Bulls

Jason yoking the Bulls with Aeetes watching

With strength more fitting to Herakles, Jason wrestles the bulls into the yoke and makes them plow the field while goading them with his spear. Into the furrows he tosses the dragon’s teeth. It all takes the better part of a day, and after the bulls are unyoked, Jason returns to the field where the earthborn warriors are spring up all over the place, their armour and spears shining brilliantly.

Jason remembers Medea’s advice and heaves a bloody great boulder into their midst, causing the earthborn warriors to fight each other over it. Then:

“… did Aeson’s son rush upon the earthborn men, and he drew from the sheath his bare sword, and smote here and there, mowing them down, many on the belly and side, half risen to the air – and some that had risen as far as the shoulders – and some just standing upright, and others even now rushing to battle…and the furrows were filled with blood…”                                                                                 

Jason completes the impossible task that had been set for him and Aeetes returns to his palace in a rage, plotting how to defeat the heroes.

Book IV of the Argonautica begins with Aeetes’ wrath at Jason’s success, and Medea’s fear that her father will discover she has helped the heroes.

Hera puts so much fear into Medea’s heart that she flees to Jason and the sons of Phrixus who are at the Argo. There is a moving scene in which Medea touches the doors and walls of her room before fleeing her home, and she leaves a long tress of her hair behind for her mother.

Hera - Queen of the Gods

Hera – Queen of the Gods

A part of her wishes the sea had destroyed Jason before he had ever reached Colchis, for all the pain she is feeling.

She leaves the palace in the night, barefoot, and runs across the plain. The moonlight shines down on her and the goddess of that celestial orb warns Medea that “some god of affection has given thee Jason to be thy grievous woe.” But Medea keeps running.

I wonder if Shakespeare, prior to writing Romeo and Juliet, wasn’t inspired by this ancient tale of star-crossed lovers. Medea knows the dangers, and hears the warnings, but she carries on.

She arrives at the Argo where the heroes are gathered, and says that they must flee before Aeetes attacks. She says she will lead them to the grove where the Fleece is, and will lull the serpent guardian to sleep so that they can get the Fleece.

Here Medea, thoroughly terrified, makes Jason swear to honour his promise to her in front of the crew:

“Lady, let Zeus of Olympus himself be witness to my oath, and Hera, queen of marriage, bride of Zeus, that I will set thee in my halls my own wedded wife, when we have reached the land of Hellas on our return.”                                                                                                                                                          

The Golden Fleece

They sail the Argo up the river near to the grove of Ares where the Fleece is, and they come to the altar of Zeus where Phrixus sacrificed the golden ram.

Nearby is the sacred oak tree “on which was hung the Fleece, like to a cloud that blushes red with the fiery beams of the rising sun.”

Medea shows Jason the Fleece

Medea shows Jason the Fleece

As soon as they arrive, the giant serpent rises and hisses at them, and the sound echoes over the grove and the land of Colchis, waking the people of the land with fear.

Here, it is not Jason who performs acrobatic antics about the serpent to obtain the Fleece, as happens in the movies. It is thanks to Medea and her charms, her voice, that Jason is able to grab the prize. As the serpent uncoils and rears, Medea approaches its eyes, speaking softly:

“And Aeson’s son followed in fear, but the serpent, already charmed by her song, was relaxing the long ridge of his giant spine, and lengthening out his myriad coils, like a dark wave, dumb and noiseless, rolling over a sluggish sea; but still he raised aloft his grisly head, eager to enclose them both in his murderous jaws. But she with newly cut spray of juniper dipping and drawing untempered charms from her mystic brew, sprinkled the eyes, while she chanted her song; and all around the potent scent of the charm cast sleep; and on the very spot he let his jaw sink down; and far behind through the wood with its many trees were those countless coils stretched out.”

Jason snatches the Fleece unceremoniously from the tree and they run back to the Argo. Once on board, he finally holds up the prize for all to see:

“Heavy it was, thickly clustered with flocks; and as he moved along, even beneath his feet the sheen rose up from the earth. And he strode on now with the fleece covering his left shoulder from the height of his neck to his feet, and now again he gathered it up in his hands; for he feared exceedingly, lest some god or man should meet him and deprive him thereof.”

The Fleece is divine, and Apollonius describes it as gleaming “like the lightning of Zeus.”

The quest seems complete, and Jason addresses the crew that has come with him this far:

“No longer now, my friends forbear to return to your fatherland. For now the task for which we dared this grievous voyage, toiling with bitter sorrow of heart, has been lightly fulfilled by the maiden’s counsels. Her – for such is her will – I will bring home to be my wedded wife; do ye preserve her, the glorious saviour of all Achaea and of yourselves.”

The Argonauts set sail, fully armed and ready for an attack, and Jason stands beside Medea on the deck.

The Hero, Jason

The Hero, Jason

It seems to me that Medea is an unsung hero in most retellings of the Argonautica. Could Jason have done this without the gods’ help, or without Medea’s? Probably not. To our modern view, Jason is not the shiny hero we often read about or perceive. He is standing on the shoulders of others.

But perhaps that is the lesson the ancients wanted taught? In the ancient world, the belief was that mortals needed the gods’ help in all things. The gods deserved their due reverence. It is only in modern retellings of these heroic epics that this message is watered down, showing heroes to be more like rebels when it comes to the gods who oversee their world.

Aeetes and his son, Apsyrtus, rush to the Colchian shore with their full army ready for battle only to find that the Argonauts, sons of Phrixus, and Medea, have already set sail. The king calls on Helios and Zeus to witness the Argonauts’ evil deeds. He also calls on all his people to seize Medea on land or sea and bring her back to him. Aeetes wants vengeance!

I know this post has been longer than the others, but it just goes to show how much this original story entails, and how much is usually left out in the retellings we are so familiar with.

Most often, the story is on a downward slope from here on. In the movies, Jason and the Argonauts return to Colchis, confront Pelias, and all ends happily ever after.

But that is not how things go in the Argonautica. We are only half way through the tale and the homeward journey is something more akin to the Odyssey than to a breezy Aegean pleasure cruise to victory.

In the next couple posts of this series, we’ll find out what trials await the Argonauts, and whether the gods are pleased or full of fury at what has transpired.

Thank you for reading.

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