William Sterling

A detailed examination of the voyages and their fantastical encounters relating them to reality.

Jason’s voyage to collect the Golden Fleece was described by Apollonius of Rhodes in his Argonautica written in Alexandria in the C3rd BC. He encountered the murderous women of Lemnos, the six-armed giant Gegeines, Phineas and the harpies, the clashing rocks, the sirens and the bronze giant Talos.  We shall also look at the rest of his story and his relationship with Medea. Odysseus’s story comes from Homer’s Odyssey composed in the C8th BC. Odysseus encountered the Lotus Eaters, the Cyclopes, the cannibalistic Laestrygonians, the witch Circe, the sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, the nymph Calypso and the Phaeacians on his epic voyage home from Troy. We shall also cover the rest of his story briefly. Aeneas’s voyage from Troy to Italy was described by Virgil in his Aeneid written for the emperor Augustus round about 25 BC. He encounters Polydorus in Thrace, the harpy Celeano, Hector’s widow Andromache in Buthrotum, Scylla and Charybdis, the Cyclopes, and Queen Dido in Carthage. We shall briefly note the rest of his story.