GENEALOGIA
DEORUM GENTILIUM
(On the Genealogy of the Gods of the Gentiles)
Giovanni Boccaccio
1360-1374
trans. Jason Colavito (2011)
Best known as the author of the Decameron, GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO (1313-1375) wrote extensively on classical subjects, including summaries of the lives of Hypsipyle and Medea in his Famous Women, and a massive Latin-language genealogical history of Greco-Roman mythology, the Genealogia deorum gentilium ("On the Genealogy of the Gods of the Gentiles"), completed in 1360 and revised until the author's death in 1374. Boccaccio's mythography relied on what the author claimed were genuine and reliable ancient sources, though these were usually late Latin works rather than the mostly still-unknown Greek originals. Boccaccio's manual became, for a time, the most popular of mythological manuals, though it gradually lost prominence and was almost forgotten. It was not translated into English until 2011, when the first volume of a multi-volume set was produced. Below, I have translated directly from the Latin text published in 1532 by Jacob Mycillus the chapter on Jason (there are also chapters on Aeetes and Medea), which draws heavily on Lacantius Placidus' Narrations (Narrationes fabularum ovidianarum), a summary of Ovid's Metamorphoses with material related to Statius and Hyginus; Ovid, the Roman poet; and (uncredited in this chapter) Justin, the summarizer of Trogus.
BOOK XIII
Chapter XXVI
On Jason the son of Aeson, who fathered Thoas, Eunaeus, Philomelus, and Plutus
Jason was the son of Aeson, as witnessed by Ovid, from whom this great history is recited. Jason’s uncle Pelias was the king of Thessaly, to whom an oracle was given that he should present an annual sacrifice to his father Neptune, as Lactantius says, and then when he would see a celebrant with one bare foot come to the sacrifice, he would know his death to be near. Thus it happened that while making the sacrifice, Jason, while hurrying to the sacrifice, left behind one sandal in the mud of the river Anaurus. Seeing this, Pelias trembled and urged Jason to go searching for the Golden Fleece in Colchis, thinking he would not return when he heard that this task was insurmountable for strong men.
When the journey was being undertaken, a long ship was built by Argus in the Pegassean Gulf, and named Argo after its builder. Jason called together almost all the noble young men of Greece, among whom was Hercules. There were besides Orpheus, Castor, Pollux, Zetes, Calais, and many others of the most splendid well-born and strong young men, whom Statius, in the Thebaid, calls semi-divine on account of their nobility, saying, “Now then, when in my vigorous youth the pinewood ship of Thessaly bore me in the company of the semi-divine princes,” etc. They are called Argonauts from the name of the ship. When they had gathered, they loosened the ship from the Pegassean Gulf, and the ship was drawn to Lemnos by a favorable wind. But there the women, despising the rule of men, had killed all of the men, and there reigned Hypsipyle, daughter of the former king Thoas. She was conquered, as Statius says, when Jason was offered by Hypsipyle her entertainment and her bedroom. However, he abandoned the pregnant Hypsipyle when called back by Hercules.
He arrived in Colchis, where was received by Medea, daughter of the king of Colchis, with blooming youth and beauty. When he secretly promised that he would marry her, making a bargain, from her he was taught by her how to tame the bronze-footed bulls and subdue them to the yoke, how to kill the ever-watchful dragon, and how to plant its teeth. And from the sewn teeth rose up armed men, and Jason allowed them to kill each other. Thus, the way was passable to the Golden Fleece. When he had accomplished everything he had been advised to do, Jason came to the desired treasure. Amid her companions, Medea was privately elated, and she took flight.
It is generally agreed that not all made it back from the journey. Hercules and some others were left behind when they had come to Propontis and the Hellespont. All the ancients wrote that Jason entered the Ister and came to the part where the Ister divides and was brought to the Adriatic, where Aristotle asserts, in On Marvelous Things Heard, that because that place is unnavigable, Jason sailed through the stretched out Cyanae. He said there is proof of this journey, because at the place through which Jason made the journey one might still come upon wonderful altars built by Jason, and on an island in the Adriatic Sea a temple to Diana built by Medea. And besides, the town of Pola, which continues to exist in our time, was originally a colony of Colchis. In my judgment, this does not prove the navigation; no indeed, they only confirm that others testify that Jason certainly was able to sail to accomplish his journey up to that time. On account of the mountains, his crew had to carry the ship over the mountains on their shoulders from the Ister to a river on the south side of the Alps. The altars and sacrificial places of which they tell were made as they traveled over every part of the mountains.
After the journey had been made, it is generally agreed that when the Golden Fleece was brought to the home land, as Lactantius says, Jason carried it to Creon, king of Corinth. However, when he had two sons by Medea, she made Aeson younger and had Pelias slaughtered by his daughters, an enormous crime. For these and other causes, Jason repudiated her. And, so says Lactantius, he took Glauce as his wife. Seneca, in his tragedy Medea, has him take as a wife Creusa, daughter of the king of Corinth. On account of her indignation, Medea envisioned crimes, as Seneca said. She saw the palace and the new wife burning, and from this same vision, she saw her children torn from her with a sword. This came to pass because, Lacantius said, Glauce married Jason. Finally, when on account of his guilt, she fled from Aegeus, who had accepted her in marriage, she was again accepted by Jason, who had been expelled from Thessaly, so they say. And when she again crossed over to Colchis, Jason restored Medea’s father, the old man Aeetes, who had been driven out of the kingdom; and he drove through Asia, and in that same place he was honored with the rites of a god and many temples were built to his name. Afterward, Alexander of Macedon, perhaps jealous of his glory, ordered them destroyed; of what they were like or where they were, however, no memory was collected.
Having recited this history under its poetic veil, it will now be opened up, if we are able. For it was first written that the bulls having bronze feet and flaming nostrils were tamed. I think that they were the nobles of the kingdom of Colchis, insurmountable by strength, and of raised spirits, but, I think, overcome not by war but by oratory and trickery. Following this opinion, Medea induced the people to sedition and slaughtered through fraud the ever-vigilant dragon; that is, the commander of the guards of the kingdom. On account of his death, as if planting the teeth, the Colchians equipped themselves with arms in the cause of defense, and persisting in battle to such a degree they became weary, so that they could easily be subdued by Jason alone. Their riches were stripped bare, along with the “Golden Fleece,” that is, a flock having the most expensive fleece. This, Pliny thought, was the first prince who sailed in a long boat.
Translation copyright © 2011 Jason Colavito. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording and/or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Jason Colavito.
Chapter XXVI
On Jason the son of Aeson, who fathered Thoas, Eunaeus, Philomelus, and Plutus
Jason was the son of Aeson, as witnessed by Ovid, from whom this great history is recited. Jason’s uncle Pelias was the king of Thessaly, to whom an oracle was given that he should present an annual sacrifice to his father Neptune, as Lactantius says, and then when he would see a celebrant with one bare foot come to the sacrifice, he would know his death to be near. Thus it happened that while making the sacrifice, Jason, while hurrying to the sacrifice, left behind one sandal in the mud of the river Anaurus. Seeing this, Pelias trembled and urged Jason to go searching for the Golden Fleece in Colchis, thinking he would not return when he heard that this task was insurmountable for strong men.
When the journey was being undertaken, a long ship was built by Argus in the Pegassean Gulf, and named Argo after its builder. Jason called together almost all the noble young men of Greece, among whom was Hercules. There were besides Orpheus, Castor, Pollux, Zetes, Calais, and many others of the most splendid well-born and strong young men, whom Statius, in the Thebaid, calls semi-divine on account of their nobility, saying, “Now then, when in my vigorous youth the pinewood ship of Thessaly bore me in the company of the semi-divine princes,” etc. They are called Argonauts from the name of the ship. When they had gathered, they loosened the ship from the Pegassean Gulf, and the ship was drawn to Lemnos by a favorable wind. But there the women, despising the rule of men, had killed all of the men, and there reigned Hypsipyle, daughter of the former king Thoas. She was conquered, as Statius says, when Jason was offered by Hypsipyle her entertainment and her bedroom. However, he abandoned the pregnant Hypsipyle when called back by Hercules.
He arrived in Colchis, where was received by Medea, daughter of the king of Colchis, with blooming youth and beauty. When he secretly promised that he would marry her, making a bargain, from her he was taught by her how to tame the bronze-footed bulls and subdue them to the yoke, how to kill the ever-watchful dragon, and how to plant its teeth. And from the sewn teeth rose up armed men, and Jason allowed them to kill each other. Thus, the way was passable to the Golden Fleece. When he had accomplished everything he had been advised to do, Jason came to the desired treasure. Amid her companions, Medea was privately elated, and she took flight.
It is generally agreed that not all made it back from the journey. Hercules and some others were left behind when they had come to Propontis and the Hellespont. All the ancients wrote that Jason entered the Ister and came to the part where the Ister divides and was brought to the Adriatic, where Aristotle asserts, in On Marvelous Things Heard, that because that place is unnavigable, Jason sailed through the stretched out Cyanae. He said there is proof of this journey, because at the place through which Jason made the journey one might still come upon wonderful altars built by Jason, and on an island in the Adriatic Sea a temple to Diana built by Medea. And besides, the town of Pola, which continues to exist in our time, was originally a colony of Colchis. In my judgment, this does not prove the navigation; no indeed, they only confirm that others testify that Jason certainly was able to sail to accomplish his journey up to that time. On account of the mountains, his crew had to carry the ship over the mountains on their shoulders from the Ister to a river on the south side of the Alps. The altars and sacrificial places of which they tell were made as they traveled over every part of the mountains.
After the journey had been made, it is generally agreed that when the Golden Fleece was brought to the home land, as Lactantius says, Jason carried it to Creon, king of Corinth. However, when he had two sons by Medea, she made Aeson younger and had Pelias slaughtered by his daughters, an enormous crime. For these and other causes, Jason repudiated her. And, so says Lactantius, he took Glauce as his wife. Seneca, in his tragedy Medea, has him take as a wife Creusa, daughter of the king of Corinth. On account of her indignation, Medea envisioned crimes, as Seneca said. She saw the palace and the new wife burning, and from this same vision, she saw her children torn from her with a sword. This came to pass because, Lacantius said, Glauce married Jason. Finally, when on account of his guilt, she fled from Aegeus, who had accepted her in marriage, she was again accepted by Jason, who had been expelled from Thessaly, so they say. And when she again crossed over to Colchis, Jason restored Medea’s father, the old man Aeetes, who had been driven out of the kingdom; and he drove through Asia, and in that same place he was honored with the rites of a god and many temples were built to his name. Afterward, Alexander of Macedon, perhaps jealous of his glory, ordered them destroyed; of what they were like or where they were, however, no memory was collected.
Having recited this history under its poetic veil, it will now be opened up, if we are able. For it was first written that the bulls having bronze feet and flaming nostrils were tamed. I think that they were the nobles of the kingdom of Colchis, insurmountable by strength, and of raised spirits, but, I think, overcome not by war but by oratory and trickery. Following this opinion, Medea induced the people to sedition and slaughtered through fraud the ever-vigilant dragon; that is, the commander of the guards of the kingdom. On account of his death, as if planting the teeth, the Colchians equipped themselves with arms in the cause of defense, and persisting in battle to such a degree they became weary, so that they could easily be subdued by Jason alone. Their riches were stripped bare, along with the “Golden Fleece,” that is, a flock having the most expensive fleece. This, Pliny thought, was the first prince who sailed in a long boat.
Translation copyright © 2011 Jason Colavito. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording and/or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Jason Colavito.