Orpheus as part of the argonauts

So orpheus ended up representing the hight of the thracian kingdom building epoch in greece. His story connects to the journeys of jason and the argo naughts, which means we will be examining this tale as well, we will begin the Argonautica this year. Argonautica is a better choice to do before we read the psalms as we will know more about orpheus and the influences of these journeys that influenced them. Using this method we will have also covered jason and another epoch of greek history, by the end of this analysis we will have covered both the argonauts and orphic digma.

The Argonautica

By Apollonius

Translated by R. C. Seaton

http://classics.mit.edu/Apollonius/argon.html

also see :http://omacl.org/Argonautica/

Golden Fleece
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_fleece

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2395

The Argonautica has been divided into the following sections:

from the wikipedea
In the first book, the ship Argo is built and a crew of around fifty heroes is assembled in response to an oracle received by King Pelias. Led by Jason, the heroes include Heracles and his companion Hylas, Castor and Pollux (the Dioscuri: sons of Tyndareus and brothers of Helen and Clytemnestra), Orpheus, Meleager, Zetes and Calais (sons of Boreas), Peleus (father of Achilles), Laertes (supposed father of Odysseus), Telamon (father of Ajax), and the ship's builder, Argos. Their goal is to travel to Colchis and to obtain the Golden Fleece. After Jason suggests the election of a leader, Hercules (Heracles) recommends Jason himself, and the heroes agree.

The story of the argos begins with the building of a ship based on a vision by King palias. as one notices this era predates the oddysey and represents a time in which hercules existed. Some have interpreted teh golden fleece to represent grain. To further our understanding of this section we will also examine the story of frixcun and eli that contains the early greek tale concerning the origin of the fleece. These are the main stories that link the tales with orpheus. Hercul4es suggests making jason and they do not chose hercules, thus the rite of hercules gave authority to jason to lead the band. Orpheus also gave rite by way of thrace which in this time was an area larger than bulgaria and eastern north greece and eautropean turkey
if yopu look at the wikipedea site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argonautica there is map, but the thracians founded many kingdoms in the bulkans and along the black sea. Jason is a story of the greeks entering the eastern part of the black sea, as the golden fleece was llocated in georgia of the cacuses.

After making prayers to Apollo,[1] they set sail from the eastern coast of Thessaly, the Argonauts first reach Lemnos, where the women, led by their Queen Hypsipyle, have murdered all of their husbands. Omitting the murder from her story, Hypsipyle convinces the men (except for Hercules) to breed with the women in order to repopulate the island. If Hypsipyle, Jason’s choice of consort, has a son, he tells her, send him to my parents; then the Argo sets sail. Traveling through the Hellespont, they reach land of the Doliones; though the King, Cyzicus, is friendly, the Argonauts accidentally fight with the Doliones and kill Cyzicus. His widow Cleite then commits suicide, and Jason makes sacrifices in order to appease the gods. The Argonauts’ next destination is Cius, where Heracles’s companion Hylas is abducted by nymphs. Heracles becomes upset and the Argo is obliged to leave him behind, though Glaucus appears from the sea to reassure its crew that they made the right decision.

The second book begins in Bebryces, where King Amycus challenges the heroes to a boxing match. Pollux accepts, killing the king.

if one notices king Amycus autheticates teh rights of teh argo naughts by boxing them, once you had a fair boxing match it was the equivalents to a peaceful killing of teh king, esp if you won

read from here down for next week:

At Bosporus, Zetes and Calais drive the Harpies away from Phineas, a former king being punished for the misuse of his prophetic gifts; Phineas rewards them with the secret to passing through the Clashing Rocks. He tells the heros to fly a dove through the rocks first, if the bird makes it, then row through the narrow channel with all their might.[2] Passing through the Clashing Rocks, using this secret and the aid of Athena, they visit many strange lands: the land of the Amazons, led by Hippolyte; the land of Mossynoikoi, who make love in public; an island sacred to Ares, where they are attacked by Ares’ birds. Passing near the place where Prometheus is chained, they rescue the survivors of a ship from Colchis, and the Argonauts gain the grateful sons of Phrixus as accomplices in their bid to steal the Golden Fleece. Arriving in Colchis, Jason considers the best way of approaching the cruel King Aeëtes.

Athena helps build the Argo; Roman moulded terracotta plaque, first century CE

The third book begins with Hera and Athena, determined to help Jason in his quest. Hera conceives a plan; she suggests they get Kypris to influence her son Eros with a toy[3] made for Zeus by his nurse Adresteia. Kypris tells her son, if he fires an arrow at Aeëtes’ daughter Medea, causing her to fall in love with Jason, he shall get the toy.[4] Jason, accompanied by Phrixus' sons, goes to see Aeëtes. Phrixus' sons tell the king of their shipwreck and rescue by the Argonauts. Aeëtes sees a conspiracy in this story, and tells Jason he can take the fleece if he passes a test of strength and courage: harness the bulls with bronze hooves, plow the plain of Ares, and plant the teeth of a serpent, giving rise to an army of soldiers. Medea, powerful and skilled with herbs and magic, sees the hopelessness of the task and prays to Hecate. Jason, seeing that Medea is a useful tool although not knowing that she is under a divine love spell, asks her for drugs and aid and receives them; he returns her affection, asking her to follow him to Greece and to be his wife.

Medea instructs Jason to build a pyre and make sacrifices to Hecate. After honoring the goddess, he is to turn around and retreat. She says he will hear the sound of hellish barking dogs, but he is not to look back lest he ruin everything. Courageously, he does exactly what Medea says.[5] After making sacrifices to Medea’s favored goddess, Jason sprinkles Medea’s drug on his skin, clothing, spear, and sword. Protected by the drug, he is able to withstand the charge of the bulls and to harness them to plow the field. He plants the teeth in the plowed field, and the earth-born warriors rise from the ground. Jason places a great round rock among them, which Medea has also instructed him to do. They go to war over this rock, and Jason joins in the fighting until all are slain. Jason has succeeded at his task, but Aeëtes does not intend to release the Golden Fleece.

In the last book, Medea offers to put the dragon guarding the fleece to sleep in exchange for the Argonauts taking her aboard their ship and away from the father she has betrayed. Jason agrees, promising again to marry her, and she uses her skill with drugs to neutralize the dragon. Departing with the Golden Fleece, the Argo is pursued by Aeëtes and by Medea’s older brother Absyrtus. Jason proposes to leave Medea to Artemis, protector of virgins, an idea which causes an enraged Medea to threaten setting fire to the ships until Jason explains she is the bait in a trap set out for Absyrtus; the trap works, and Absyrtus is ambushed and killed by Jason, causing the Colchians to scatter.[6]. However, in order to reach home, they have to navigate a second set of dangerous rocks known as the Planktai. With the help of Hera, Thetis and the maiden Nereids, they safely make it through.[7]

A few incidental adventures later, the Colchians return, demanding the return of Medea. They are persuaded that Medea, because she left voluntarily, may stay with Jason if their marriage has been consummated, but she may not if she is still a virgin; Medea and Jason then consummate their marriage, and Medea is allowed to remain with her husband. At Lake Triton, possibly the Nile, they come across a serpent killed by Hercules, but are unable to find the hero himself. On Crete, the Argonauts encounter Talos, the last survivor of an ancient race of men, who attacks them; Medea comes to the rescue with her spells, and slays Talos, who bleeds ichor as he dies. Euphemus, son of Poseidon, casts a clod of earth he received at Lake Triton into the sea, creating the island of Kalliste (Thera); and at long last, the Argo reaches the coast of Thessaly and home.

I will continue interpreting this section next week, I will interpret at the same pace as
I was with the other myths