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FLAVIAN EPIC
of incidents' which make up the story is a golden opportunity to crystallize
a whole range of contrasting situations and events. Some structural features are
immediately detectable. In Book 2, the Argonauts disembark at Lemnos,
a community that has suffered a devastating social trauma. Their visit, after
some initial resistance (2.31 iff.), brings about regeneration and renewal. Later,
however, they reach the kingdom of Cyzicus. They are received with generous
hospitality (2.634^.); but their return, in a mental blindness imposed by Cybele's
ira, spins the wheel of fortune; prosperity and happines are replaced by grief
and ruin. The realms of Hypsipyle and Cyzicus are set out as a diptych. Jason's
abandonment of the queen can be seen as a prefiguration of his killing of the
king. Similarly, the rescue of Hesione by Hercules (in Book 2) corresponds
with his loss of Hylas (in 3). The fight between Pollux and King Amycus
(4-49ff.) has a symbolic equivalence with the scattering of the Harpies by
Calais and Zetes (4.423^".). Mopsus' homily on cathartic rites (3.3776^.) is
dexterously connected with Orpheus' exposition of the myth of Io (4.35 iff.);
in both, sacral and religious concepts are set forth which illumine wider aspects
of the Voyage. The prophecies of Cretheus (i-74iff.), Helle (2.587ff.) and
Phineus (4.553^.) form an ordered sequence. The passage of the Cyanean
rocks (4-636ff.) signifies the completion of the first stage of the quest. After
that, the scene shifts to Colchis and to Jason's attempts to gain possession of
the Fleece. He tries negotiation (Book 5) and displays his martial valour (Book
6). It is finally through the power of love, leading to the use of thaumaturgy
and theft (Book 7—8), that he achieves his end and departs from Colchis.
In Book 1, Jupiter provides a commentary on the Voyage in reply to complaints
from Sol, Mars, Pallas and Juno. His speech is momentous within the
fabric of the Argonautica. He begins by enunciating a stern doctrine of necessity,
of the inflexible dominion that he has imposed on the universe:
turn genitor: 'uetera haec nobis et condita pergunt
ordine cuncta suo rerumque a prineipe cursu
fixa manent; neque enim terris turn sanguis in ullis
noster erat cum fata darem; iustique facultas
hinc mihi cum uarios struerem per saecula reges.
atque ego curarum repetam decreta mearum.' (1.531—6)
Then the Father replied: 'All these events were laid down by me long ago. They are
proceeding in due order and remain unchangeable from the primal inauguration of the
universe. When I ordained the course of Fate, no descendants of ours existed in any
quarter of the earth. For that reason, I had the opportunity for strict impartiality
in establishing divers sovereigns for ages still to come. Now I shall reveal to you what
I have decreed in my providential care.'
The words have a Stoic flavour, but the tenor of Jupiter's ' decrees' {decreta,
536) is unexpected. They disclose not a personal or a particular design but
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