Jason and the Greek Epic Hero in Light of Archetypal Criticism
Jason and the Greek Epic Hero in Light of Archetypal Criticism

Summary/Abstract: Frye’s seminal work on literary criticism is used as the theoretical basis of this paper, which examines the role of Jason as the hero of the Argonautica in light of archetypal criticism. Through a close reading and analysis of the text of Apollonius’ Argonautica and reflection upon Frye’s archetypal criticism as related in his Anatomy of Criticism it is demonstrated that Jason may only superficially be identified as a hero, as his characterization, in many instances, breaks the rules of the Greek epic genre, this being especially evident after considering the role of Medea in the third and fourth books of The Argonautica.

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