Apollonius of Rhodes (Apollonios Rhodios)

Apollonius of Rhodes, Apollonios Rhodios, III in BC. e., Greek poet. Born in Alexandria. His nickname is obliged to a long stay in Rhodes. Information about the life of a. R. vague and difficult to interpret. He certainly was in charge of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina after Zeno of Ephesus and to Eratosphen. Conducted philological studies, which were the fruit of his works: 6Protiv Zenodota (Pros Zenodoton), containing criticism zenodotova edition of Homer, and work on Archilochus, Hesiod, Antimahu Kolofonskomu (not preserved). He was also the author of the missing poems on the base cities (among whom were Alexandria, Knidos, Naucratis, Rhodes) and the poem Canopy (helmsman of Menelaus and the city, near Alexandria).

Ap. wrote another poem about the Argonauts Argonavtika (Argonautika) of 5855 hexameters, the unit deployed with the epic action, although this genre, and decried the legislator Alexandrian poetry Callimachus. Perhaps the first version of this poem ap. created in his youth, and read his work publicly in Alexandria. Cold passed, went to Rhodes, where he wrote the second version of the poem. This development seems most plausible, but in this case we encounter a serious chronological difficulties (when ap. led by the Library?) According to ancient tradition, Argonavtika has caused a bitter dispute between the ap. and Kallimahom. Traces of this controversy can be found in the works Kallimaha, who wrote against the ap. poem Ibis. Ap. responded to the accusations wizard epigrams (Fr.).

Argonavtika remained the only surviving (only in the second, "Rhodes" edition) and the most important piece of ap. The poet calls it one of the oldest myths, telling of the Argonauts for the Golden Fleece. He has studied various options, trying to bring them into line with each other. This ap. relied on Hesiod, Pindar, Antimaha, Sophocles (not survived the tragedy Kolhidyanki), as well as Kallimaha. Used it and details of local historians and mythology. Despite this abundance of samples and sources, ap. have to be original. The first two books are epic in the smallest details of the preparations for the journey and the path of the Argonauts to Colchis. Ap. exercise any case (and many of them) to show off characteristic of Alexandrian poets, mythological, and geographical-ethnographic erudition.

In the third book ap. describes the love story of Medea to Jason, thereby introducing a love motif in the heroic epic and making the protagonist a young girl. This was a decisive step that ensured immortality as the most AR, and its product. Action develops at 2 levels: on Olympus and on earth. At Olympus Athena and Hera asked Aphrodite to intervene: Let Eros shoots from his bow in the Medea and the spark in her love for Jason. Mythological here only the names itself the same scene could well occur in the affluent home in Alexandria. And anyway, this whole "God's machine", which plays such an important role in Homer, at ap. is totally unnecessary. The poet himself in the remainder of the third book about it forgets, but with great skill and with a decent surprise entry into the psychology of drawing a sense of inner struggle and Medea. The fourth book, though written in haste and more schematic, it is dedicated to the fantastic adventures of the Argonauts on their way back from Colchis to Greece. It seems that the ap. trying not to forget anything from the rich tradition that leads him to an excessive concentration of facts.

Coldly adopted Kallimahom Argonavtika not earned the recognition and a more recent critics: the anonymous author of an essay on the sublime, Quintilian and Gable. You can, of course, imputed to ap. as the heterogeneity of the poetic and the weight of the poem demonstrate his erudition, and the lack of consistency in the depiction of characters. No need, however, forget that it is ap. was the creator of a new epic form, in which there was a place for love of a young girl and for a variety of genre scenes. In the poem ap. obviously influence not only of Homer, but the Athenian tragedy (especially Euripides), was much to thank Argonavtiku Virgil (Aeneid, especially Prince. IV) and Ovid (Metamorphoses), it was taken as a model as the authors of the Greek novels and the Orphic poems Argonavtika (cm. Orphic). In Rome, were made two free translation Argonavtiki ap. the Latin language (see. Varro Atacinus and Faliro Flaccus). Epic ap. was otkommentirovan ancient scholars, and Myth (among others Hyginus and the author attributed to Apollodorus Bibliofiki) used them as the main source of legends of the Argonauts.