Jason and the Argonauts
  • Home
  • About the Book
  • The Myth
    • Overview >
      • Lemprière's Summary
      • Hawthorne's Version
      • Schmitz's Summary
      • Bulfinch's Summary
      • Berens' Summary
      • Colum's Golden Fleece
    • Heroes & Villains >
      • Iolcians >
        • Aeson
        • Alcimede
        • Pelias
      • Argonauts >
        • Argonaut Biographies
        • Jason >
          • Jason as Diomedes
        • Heracles
        • Castor and Pollux
        • Boread Twins
        • Orpheus
      • Colchians >
        • Aeetes
        • Medea
        • Absyrtus
        • Circe
      • Others >
        • Hypsipyle
        • Phineus
        • Cyzicus
        • Amycus
        • Glauce
    • Gods & Monsters >
      • Gods >
        • Zeus
        • Hera
        • Poseidon
        • Athena
        • Aphrodite
        • Helios
        • Ares
        • Hades
        • Hecate
      • Monsters >
        • Cheiron
        • The Harpies
        • The Sirens
        • Stymphalian Birds
        • Fire-Breathing Bulls
        • The Sown-Men
        • The Dragon
        • Talos
    • Places >
      • Maps
      • Iolcus (Iolkos)
      • Lemnos
      • Samothrace
      • Cyzicus
      • Symplegades
      • Colchis
      • Lake Tritonis
    • The Argo >
      • Argo Navis
      • Argo and the Ark
    • The Golden Fleece >
      • Fleece as Pure Fiction
      • Fleece as Purple
      • Fleece as Gold Mining
      • Fleece as the Name Ram
      • Fleece as Royal Power
      • Fleece as Book
      • Fleece as Rain Cloud
      • Fleece as Covenant
      • Fleece as Blonde Hair
      • Fleece as Solar Symbol
      • Fleece as Hittite Sack
      • Fleece as UFO
    • The Myth in Context >
      • Argonautica and Odyssey
      • Argonautica and the Heroes >
        • Jason and Perseus
        • Jason and Heracles
        • Jason and Theseus
      • Argonautica as Catabasis
      • Argonautica and India
      • Argonautica and Africa
      • Argonautica and Bible
  • Texts
    • Pre-Greek Influences >
      • Epic of Gilgamesh >
        • English Translation of Gilgamesh
        • Aelian on Gilgamesh
      • Inanna and Dumuzi >
        • Ishtar's Descent into Hades
        • Lucan's De Dea Syria
      • Isis and Osiris
      • Teshub and the Dragon
      • Eshmun
      • Kresnik, Perun and Jarilo
      • Amirani
      • Linear B Texts and Oral Traditions
    • Greek Sources >
      • Ancient Fragments
      • Pindar's Pythian 4
      • Euripides' Medea
      • Lycophron's Alexandra
      • Apollonius' Argonautica >
        • Book I
        • Book II
        • Book III
        • Book IV
      • Diodorus Siculus' Library
      • Apollodorus' Library
      • Orphic Argonautica >
        • Orphic Argonautica Summary
        • Date of the Orphic Epic
    • Latin Sources >
      • Latin Fragments
      • Seneca's Medea
      • Ovid >
        • Metamorphoses
        • Heroides
        • Tristia
      • Valerius' Argonautica
      • Hyginus' Fabulae
      • Geta's Medea Cento
      • Justin's Epitome
      • Lactantius' Narrationes
      • Dares Phrygius
    • Medieval and Modern Sources >
      • First Vatican Mythographer
      • Second Vatican Mythographer
      • Dante's Inferno
      • Boccaccio's Genealogy
      • Chaucer's Good Women
      • Gower's Confessio Amantis
      • Lydgate's Troy Book
      • Lefèvre's History of Troy
      • Lefèvre's History of Jason
      • Pomey's Pantheum
      • Grillparzer's Medea
      • Morris' Life and Death of Jason
    • Scholarship >
      • Isaac Newton
      • Antoine Banier
      • Charles Dupuis
      • F. A. Paley
      • E. H. Bunbury
      • Andrew Lang
      • F. Max Müller
      • William Ridgeway
      • Arthur Drews
      • J. Rendel Harris
    • Popular Culture >
      • Orders of the Golden Fleece
      • Jason and Alchemy
      • Wieland's History of the Abderites
      • Planché's Golden Fleece
      • The New Argonauts
      • Mythology on the Half-Shell
      • Hawthorne's Golden Fleece
      • Modern Argonauts (Cartoon)
      • A Fleece of Gold
      • Orzesko's Argonauts
      • Jason: A Romance
      • Images from Medea
    • Filmography >
      • Giants of Thessaly (1960)
      • Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
      • The Merry Chronicle (1986)
      • Jason and the Argonauts (2000)
  • Galleries
    • Argonaut Geography
    • Argonauts in Ancient Art
    • Argonauts in Medieval & Modern Art
    • Ancient Greece
    • Ancient Near East
  • Free eBooks
  • About the Author
    • Author Biography
    • Media Inquiries
    • Contact Jason
Texts

THE MODERN ARGONAUTS (Cartoon)
Oliver Herford
1886

OLIVER HERFORD (1863-1935) was an American artist and illustrator who contributed cartoons to the likes of Life and Ladies' Home Journal among other publications. The following cartoon from the Library of Congress was first published in Life on March 11, 1886. The cartoon uses the motif of the Argonauts' voyage to Colchis to comment on a copyright infringement dispute between the U.S. and Britain.


Modern Argonauts
The Modern Argonauts, India ink over pencil on white wove paper; 42 x 34 cm. (Library of Congress)

CAPTION FROM LIBRARY OF CONGRESS:
A crew of "modern argonauts" sails on a small, overcrowded ancient Greek vessel, sitting on bags of money. The sailors include: English writer Matthew Arnold; Anglican clergyman Canon Frederick William Farrar; Irish poet and dramatist, Oscar Wilde; English actor Sir Henry Irving; English dramatist and librettist William Schwenck Gilbert; British actress and beauty, Lillie Langtry.

Herford's cartoon is a parody on the Greek legend of Jason and the Argonauts who sails to Colchis in quest of the Golden Fleece. The caption may refer to the growing concern over the uncontrolled copyright infringement in the U.S. of the work of foreigners without credit or just compensation. The commentary that accompanies the cartoon facetiously suggests that these "pillaged" foreigners had actually profited from their successes in the United States, fleecing the Americans in the process.



Picture
Picture
© 2014 Jason Colavito. All rights reserved.