by Emily Hauser
As for the legendary Golden Fleece, theories abound as to what it might have been, from an allegorical symbol of royal power and divinity to recent suggestions that it was perhaps a historical representation of local methods of panning for gold. As with the richest myths, the Golden Fleece seems to symbolize both the wealth, and the impenetrability, of legend.
If you are interested in finding out more about the world of Atalanta and the Argonauts, take a look at the suggestions for further reading (see here), and visit my website, www.emilyhauser.com.
Suggestions for Further Reading
Apollonius’ Argonautica
Translations from the ancient Greek
Green, Peter. 1997. The Argonautika: The Story of Jason and the Quest for the Golden Fleece, by Apollonios Rhodios. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Hunter, Richard. 1993. Apollonius of Rhodes: Jason and the Golden Fleece (The Argonautica). Oxford: Clarendon.
Rieu, E. V. 1959. Apollonius of Rhodes: The Voyage of Argo. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Secondary readings
Gutzwiller, Kathryn J. 2007. A Guide to Hellenistic Literature. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 74–84.
Hunter, Richard. 1993. The Argonautica of Apollonius: Literary Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
— 1996. ‘Apollonius Rhodius’. In The Oxford Classical Dictionary, edited by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 124–6.
The myth of Jason, the Argonauts and the Golden Fleece
Colavito, Jason. 2014. Jason and the Argonauts through the Ages. Jefferson NC: McFarland.
Lordkipanidse, Otar. 2001. ‘The Golden Fleece: Myth, Euhemeristic Explanation and Archaeology’. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 20 (1): 1–38.
Okrostsvaridze, A., N. Gagnidze, and K. Akimidze. 2014. ‘A modern field investigation of the mythical “gold sands” of the ancient Colchis Kingdom and “Golden Fleece” phenomena’. Quaternary International, 20 November 2014.
Wood, Michael. 2005. In Search of Myths and Heroes: Jason and the Golden Fleece. Dir. Sean Smith. TV Series: BBC 4/PBS.
Atalanta
Barringer, Judith M. 1996. ‘Atalanta as Model: The Hunter and the Hunted’. Classical Antiquity 15 (1): 48–76.
Harder, Ruth, and Anne Ley. 2016. ‘Atalante’. In Brill’s New Pauly, edited by Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider. Brill Online, 2016.
Mayor, Adrienne. 2014. ‘Atalanta, the Greek Amazon’. In The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1–16.
Bronze Age Greece
Adrymi-Sismani, Vassiliki. 2007. ‘Iolkos: Myth, Archaeology and History’. Phasis 10 (1): 20–32.
Chadwick, John. 1976. The Mycenaean World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Vermeule, Emily. 1964. Greece in the Bronze Age. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Bronze Age Colchis and its connection to Greece
Braund, David. 1994. Georgia in Antiquity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 8–39.
Hughes, Bettany. 2015. Caucasian Roots: Episode 1. Presented on BBC Radio 3, 22 March 2015, available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05mqhb3.
Licheli, Vakhtang. 2007. ‘New discoveries in Colchis and an interpretative version’. Phasis 10 (1): 111–17.
Lordkipanidse, Otar. 1991. Archäologie in Georgien: Von der Altsteinzeit zum Mittelalter. Weinheim: VCH, Acta Humaniora, 93–145.
Bronze Age Calendar
The evidence from ancient Mycenaean Greek tablets for the calendar is fragmentary and difficult to piece together, but various different words have been found that seem to apply to months of the year. Thus we have wodewijo – the ‘month of roses’; emesijo – the ‘month of wheat’; metuwo newo – the ‘month of new wine’; ploistos – the ‘sailing month’; and so on. Although we have no further clues as to which months these referred to, by matching them to the farming calendar in Hesiod’s Works and Days, as well as the seasonal growth of plants and crops in Greece, I have amassed the following Bronze Age calendar, which is followed throughout the text:
dios The Month of Zeus January
metuwo newo The Month of New Wine February
deukijo The Month of Deukios (?) March
ploistos The Month of Sailing April
amakoto(s) The Month of the Harvest May
wodewijo The Month of Roses June
emesijo The Month of Threshing Wheat July
amakoto(s) The Month of the Grape Harvest August
… The Month of Ploughing September
lapatos The Month of Rains October
karaerijo … November
diwijo The Month of the Goddess December
The ancient Greeks of the later period split the hours of daylight into twelve, no matter the time of year – meaning that these so-called ‘hours’ were longer in summer and shorter in winter. Each hour was named after one of the twelve Horai, goddesses of time. Taking the hours of daylight on the summer solstice at the site of Iolcos, modern Volos (14.7 hours), I have divided them into twelve to create an approximation of the hours of the Horai below:
Augé The Hour of Daybreak 06:02
Anatolé The Hour of the Rising Sun 07:16
Mousiké The Hour of Music 08:30
Gymnastiké The Hour of Athletics 09:44
Nymphé The Hour of the Bath 10:58
Mesémbria The Hour of the Middle of the Day 12.12
Spondé The Hour of Offerings 13:26
Életé The Hour of Prayer 14:40
Akté The Hour of the Evening Meal 15:54
Hesperis The Hour of Evening 17:08
Dusis The Hour of the Setting Sun 18:22
Arktos The Hour of the Stars 19:36
… The Hours of Night 20:50 until dawn
Glossary of Characters
Most of the characters in this book come from the real myths, legends and literature of the ancient Greeks. Mortals are indicated in bold, and immortals in bold italics. Characters I have invented for the purposes of this story are marked with a star*.
Aeëtes – Mythical king of the kingdom of Colchis, home of the Golden Fleece, and father of the legendary Medea.
Aeson – Father of Jason and rightful king of Iolcos, before he was usurped by his half-brother Pelias.
Alcimede – Wife of Aeson and mother of Jason.
Aphrodite – Goddess of love and sex.
Apollo – God of archery, medicine, the sun and poetry.
Ares – God of war.
Argus – Builder of the Argo (the ship was named after him) and one of the Argonauts.
Artemis – Goddess of hunting, the moon, childbirth and virginity; twin sister of Apollo.
Atalanta – The narrator of the story, Atalanta is the daughter of Iasus, king of Pagasae, and one of the Argonauts.
Athena – Goddess of wisdom and war.
Bellerophon – A hero from ancient Corinth, and one of the Argonauts.
Castor – Mortal twin brother of Pollux (and half-brother of Helen of Troy), the son of Tyndareus of Sparta; one of the Argonauts.
Clymene – Wife of King Iasus of Pagasae and mother of Atalanta and Lycon.
*Corycia – Atalanta’s foster-sister in Kaladrosos, daughter of Tyro and Eurymedon.
*Corythus – Nobleman of Pagasae and Myrtessa’s master.
*Dedali – The priestess of Suzona; the name is taken from the Zan (the language of the ancient Colchians) word for ‘mother, woman’.
Deucalion – Son of the mythical King Minos of Crete.
Dolius – The name Myrtessa takes when she disguises herself as a slave.
*Eurymedon – Atalanta’s foster-father in Kaladrosos.
Fates, the – Three goddesses whose task it is to spin the thread of human life.
*Hantawa – An Anatolian slave, steward of Bellerophon.
Hera – Queen of the gods and wife of Zeus; goddess of marriage and childbirth.
Hermes – The son of Zeus and Maia, Hermes is the messeng
er god, and god of tricks and thievery.
Hesperides, the – Daughters of the evening, these three nymphs dwelt in their garden at the edge of the world tending the mythical golden apples.
Hippomenes – Sometimes also known as Melanion, Hippomenes is the son of Megareus from Onchestos in Boeotia, and joins Jason as one of the Argonauts.
*Hora – One of the slaves in Corythus’ house.
Iasus – King of Pagasae, husband of Clymene and father of Atalanta.
*Illa – The trader with whom Atalanta and Hippomenes stay on their return from Colchis. The name is testified in Anatolian texts.
Iris – Messenger goddess for Hera and goddess of the rainbow; daughter of the sea god Thaumas and the nymph Electra.
Jason – Son of Aeson and heir to the throne of Iolcos, Jason is sent by the usurper Pelias to recover the Golden Fleece and thus leads the voyage of the Argonauts.
Laertes – King of Ithaca (father of Odysseus) and one of the Argonauts.
*Leon – Atalanta’s foster-brother in Kaladrosos, son of Tyro and Eurymedon.
Lycon – Son of King Iasus and Queen Clymene of Pagasae, and one of the Argonauts.
*Maia – Atalanta’s foster-sister in Kaladrosos, daughter of Tyro and Eurymedon.
*Mala – The wife of the trader with whom Atalanta and Hippomenes stay on their return from Colchis. The name is testified in Anatolian texts.
Medea – The mythical daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, who falls in love with Jason and accompanies him back to Greece, only to exact her revenge upon him when he deserts her for another woman.
Meleager – Son of Oeneus, king of Calydon, and one of the Argonauts.
Muses, the – The nine goddesses of poetry and song, daughters of Apollo and the goddess Memory.
*Myrtessa – Slave of Corythus, companion and friend of Atalanta.
*Neda – One of the slaves in Corythus’ house.
Nestor – A Greek noble and lord of Pylos; one of the Argonauts.
*Opis – One of the slaves in Corythus’ house.
Orpheus – A Greek lord from Pieria in the north of Greece (and one of the Argonauts), Orpheus’ song was said to be so enchanting that he could summon the birds and the beasts to him whenever he played.
Peleus – The lord of Phthia in Thessaly and one of the Argonauts; also the father of the legendary Achilles.
Pelias – The half-brother of Aeson and usurper to the throne of Iolcos.
*Philoetius – One of the slaves in Corythus’ house.
*Phorbas – A steward of Peleus.
Pollux – Immortal twin brother of Castor (and brother of Helen of Troy), the son of Zeus and Leda; one of the Argonauts.
Poseidon – God of the ocean and brother of Zeus.
*Sarpa – The sister of the trader with whom Atalanta and Hippomenes stay on their return from Colchis. The name is testified in Anatolian texts.
*Telamon – A noble of Crete, son of Deucalion (and thus grandson of the legendary king Minos); the name Atalanta gives as her disguise aboard the Argo.
Theseus – Legendary king of Athens in Attica and one of the Argonauts; also famous for defeating the Minotaur in Crete with the help of Ariadne.
*Tyro – Atalanta’s foster-mother in Kaladrosos.
Zeus – King of the gods, Zeus is the god of thunder and husband of Hera.
Glossary of Places
Many of the locations visited by Atalanta and the Argonauts in this book are real sites which you can still visit today; most are also described in the myths, legends and literature of the ancient Greeks. Places I have invented for the purposes of this story are marked with a star*.
Achaea – A city state in the north of the Peloponnese in Greece. Its principal city in the Bronze Age was Mycenae, home of Atreus, father of Agamemnon (later commander of the Greeks against Troy) and Menelaus.
Aegean (Sea), the – The part of the Mediterranean Sea that separates the mainland of Greece from what is now the mainland of Turkey.
Aetolia – A city state on the northern coast of the Gulf of Corinth in Greece.
Anatolia – The region later known as Asia Minor, encompassing all of modern Turkey and some of modern Syria and Iraq, bordered on the west by the Aegean Sea and to the east by the Euphrates River, to the north by the Black Sea and to the south by the Mediterranean. It was peopled in the thirteenth century BCE (late Bronze Age) by a number of different groups, from the Masians and Kaskaeans in the north to the vast Hittite Empire that spread across the Anatolian Plateau, to the Trojans, Mysians, Maeonians and Lycians on the western and south-western coast of the Aegean.
Anauros, the – The river running from Mount Pelion past ancient Iolcos.
*Aphussos – A small village on the bay of Pagasae; based on modern Áfissos.
Argos – A city state on the north-east of the Peloponnese in Greece, ruled by Diomedes. The ruins of Argos can still be visited today.
Athens – The major city of Attica, a city state on the Attic peninsula; settled in the Bronze Age and legendary home of Theseus, but not the centre of democracy until the fifth century BCE.
Black Sea, the – The large, subsidiary sea of the Mediterranean, to which it is connected via the strait of the Bosphorus, which divides south-eastern Europe and western Asia. It was bordered in the Bronze Age by Thrace (to the west; modern Turkey and Bulgaria); Anatolia (to the south; modern Turkey); and Colchis (to the east; modern Georgia).
Boeotia – A region in the south-eastern part of central Greece, flanked either side by the Gulf of Euboea and the Gulf of Corinth, in which the cities of Thebes, Orchomenos and Onchestos, among others, were located. Its broad, fertile plains, watered by Lake Copais and several others, meant that it was renowned for its farmland (wheat in particular), and its inhabitants were caricatured in antiquity as stolid, simple farming folk.
Bosphorus, the – The strait lying between the Propontis and the Black Sea, separating the kingdom of Thrace to the west and Anatolia to the east.
Calydon – A city in ancient Anatolia. The Calydonian boar hunt, in which Atalanta was the first to strike the boar, was said to have taken place here; it was the city of the hero Meleager.
Caucasus Mountains, the – See Kaukasos.
Colchis – An ancient region located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea in modern Georgia, bordered to the north by the Caucasus Mountains and to the south by the Meskheti Range. Colchis was the mythical site of the kingdom of King Aeëtes and the location of the Golden Fleece. Bronze Age remains have been located throughout the area, and Greek settlements from the seventh century BCE onwards have been discovered in the region, particularly at Vani.
Copais, Lake – The large lake in Boeotia, Greece, on the shores of which the town of Onchestos was built. The lake has now dried up, but the plain, Kopaida, still bears its name.
Corinth – Ancient city on the Gulf of Corinth with ruins well worth visiting, near modern Néa Kórinthos, in the northern Peloponnese; city of the hero Bellerophon.
Crete – The largest of the Greek islands and home to a flourishing Bronze Age Greek culture, most famously at Knossos (the site of which was excavated by Sir Arthur Evans; impressive, if vastly reconstructed, ruins can still be visited today).
Delphi – Said by the Greeks to be the ‘belly button of the world’, Delphi is still an imposing and beautiful site.
Greece – Homeland of the Greeks, comprising the city states of Achaea, Aetolia, Argos, Attica, Laconia and Thessaly, among others.
Hades – Both the god of the Underworld and the name of the Underworld itself, where the ancients believed that the spirits of the dead went to spend eternity. It was reached by crossing the River Styx in a boat ferried by a man called Charon. There were several different parts to the Underworld: Tartarus, where the wicked were punished, the Elysian Fields, where the heroes went, and the Isles of the Blessed, the ultimate destination and eternal paradise.
Hellespont, the – The narrow strait opposite the ancient city of Troy, now
called the Dardanelles.
Hittite Empire, the – One of the largest empires of the Bronze Age, the Hittite Empire reached its zenith in the mid-fourteenth century BCE. It endured until its sudden collapse in around 1200 BCE, around the same time as the destruction of the Bronze Age kingdoms in Greece and the fall of Troy. Its capital was at Hattusa (modern Boğazköy in Turkey).
Imbros – An island, now called Gökçeada, just off the western coast of modern north-west Turkey near the Dardanelles (ancient Hellespont).
Iolcos – Modern Volos, the city of Aeson and, later, his son Jason. Iolcos is mentioned by Homer in the Iliad, by Hesiod, Pindar, and many other ancient Greek poets. A Mycenaen town from the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries BCE has recently been excavated in the area of Dimini, including several houses, a central road, a palace and a couple of tombs, suggesting that this may be the site of ancient Iolcos.
Ithaca – A rocky island to the west of mainland Greece ruled by Odysseus.
*Kaladrosos – The village where Atalanta grew up, on the eastern slopes of Mount Pelion (modern Kalamaki).
Kaska – A region of Anatolia, bordering the Black Sea, inhabited by the Kaskaeans, a semi-nomadic tribe who lived at the edge of the Hittite Empire.
Kaukasos, the – The Greek spelling of the Caucasus, the region containing the great mountain system of the same name that spans the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.