A Sandal in the Wind: The Argonautica of Apollonius, Part I (Ad Navseam, Episode 222)

Crashing rocks, a golden fleece, the smelly women of Lemnos, a lost waterboy, fraternal murder, potions, and Jason, the very unheroic lead...ready for another epic? Join Dave and Jeff as they climb aboard the Argo with a roster of heroes from the days before the Trojan war. The Hellenistic poet Apollonius of Rhodes (d. circa 215 B.C.) takes us on a four-book, seafaring journey from distant and exotic Colchis all the way back to Thessalian Iolcus. Can Jason reclaim the throne from his wicked uncle Pelias by himself, or does he need the sorceress Medea, granddaughter of the sun, to make up for his many heroic deficiencies? What does the prophecy of the "man with one sandal" have to do with the tale, and does Apollonius' epic really fit Hellenistic sensibilities of "big book, big problem"? Or, is there something else involved? Tune in to find out, and don't miss your final chance to catch the secret code word and enter to win a free copy of the Berg & Parker translation of Plautus and Terence: Five Comedies, courtesy of Hackett.