Mythos, katalog und prophezeiung

This book deals with the mythographical tradition, poetic technique and unity of the Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes. Three studies focus successively on the Argonautic myth, the catalogue of Argonauts in book 1 and the prophecy of Phineus and the unity of book 2. In the first section, the development of the Argonautic myth is analysed. Testimonia (including new material) for the myth until Hellenistic period are carefully collected and assessed chronologically, avoiding any speculative reconstruction of the Urfabel. The extant lists of Argonauts are dealt extensively, shedding new light on the position of Hyginus and Pseudo-Apollodorus in the history of the myth. A comparative table chronologically collects evidence on over 100 Argonauts. Sections 2 and 3 deal with the neglected and difficult passages that frame the books 1-2: The catalogue of Argonauts and the prophecy of Phineus. A combined formalistic and narratological approach results into a new definition of the literary terms 'list', 'catalogue' and 'catalogue narrative'. Apollonius' catalogue is examined under the aspects of unity, narratorial irony and intertextuality; lemmatisation and macro-syntax; and finally the function of myth and geography. Whereas the catalogue is analysed regarding innovative techniques, the prophecy of Phineus is established as an embedded catalogue prolepsis corresponding paradoxically to the catalogue narrative concluding book 2. Besides the Odyssean Teiresias and Circe, Nestor (Iliad 23) and Prometheus (Prometheus vinctus) are interpreted as the most important models for Phineus. For the relationship between Phineus' prophecy and its corresponding primary narrative the musicological term Durchführung, 'development', is introduced.