Notes on Jason & Medea

Once again I've finished a Penguin 80p book. I love these because they're usually excerpts of good books, but since they are contained within their own binding I can count them as a book on my yearly goal. Maybe that's cheating; maybe it isn't. But, I only set the goal in June, so I needed to get a boost to hit 50 by the end of the year. So, these classics are helping out a bit.

This story of Jason and Medea comes from Apollonius of Rhodes in the form of his epic poem The Voyage of Argo. As stated in previous posts, I love ancient history and have since an early age. Much of that is because my parents made me read a lot as a young child and much of that is because of classic epic movies from the fifties and sixties (and earlier). This myth was no exception.

I had some abridged version for young readers in my recent memory when I first saw the 1963 film, Jason and the Argonauts. The story was good; the acting was hammy and perfect; but, the film came alive to me because of the claymation. Oddly enough, the stop-animation director, Ray Harryhausen retired after making my favorite 'epic' movie of my childhood, the 1981 Clash of the Titans. The modern remake of Jason and the Argonauts was everything that the old film was not. Good graphics and terrible. I actually enjoyed the remake of Clash of the Titans, but missed the claymation owl. That is neither here nor there, however.

This excerpt from the longer epic poem deals with Jason arriving at Colchis and the goddesses conspiring to help him attain the Golden Fleece. Jason does his bit with the fire breathing bulls plough and teeth seeds and proceeds to slaughter the crop much to the chagrin of King Aetes and the delight/agony of his daughter Medea. The story is well known, but there were a couple of things that stuck out to me on this reading.

First, was the interesting death ritual of the Colchians. "They never bury them or raise a mound above them, but wrap them in untanned oxhide and hang them up on trees at a distance from the town. Thus, since it is their custom to bury women, earth and air play equal parts in the disposal of their dead" (Apollonius, 8-9). I happen to be doing a preliminary study on Pre-Socratic at the moment I think this statement stuck out because of that little study and because the imagery of the dead being hung in trees as ritual, not punitive was an interesting image in my head. But, because of the Greek sense of justice being balance the fact that earth and air play equal parts in their death ritual makes sense, so that neither air nor earth would overstep its bounds.

Another interesting point came to me in the inequality and equality given to male and female characters. Medea is a rock star in the book, but the male characters aren't super keen on giving her that status. The author has no problem with it, but Jason states, "But oh, how bleak the prospect is, with our one hope of seeing home again in women's hands" (Apollonius, 18).

Mopsus reads a sign and declares, "May all turn out as I foresee, reading the omens with my inward eye" (Apollonius, 21). I like the imagery of a mystical reading using the 'inward eye'.

I also enjoyed the description of Medea and her pains and love for Jason. "Tears of pity ran down her cheeks and her whole body was possessed by agony, a searing pain which shot along her nerves and deep into the nape of her neck, that vulnerable spot where the relentless archery of Love causes the keenest pangs" (Apollonius, 28). I'm not really sure why I liked it so much, but the description stuck with me.