[The AMAIC would give the priority to Jonah, instead]
....
Sea-monsters
There is no musically enchanted dolphin in the book
of Jonah, but a large fish or ketos who swallows and then vomits up the hero. Neither
is there a leviathan or dolphin in the extant textual variants of Jason’s
odyssey. But Jason does fight a sea- or land-monster in several of the variants
of the tale, often represented on vases, in actions similar to those of
Heracles.**25** Or in scenes found widespread around the Mediterranean, Jason
emerges from a coiled, upright serpent or monster.**26** It is in this context
that earlier scholars briefly noted the connection with Jonah. In particular, a
beautiful red-figured cup found at Cerveteri (Caere) in 1833 and dated from the
beginning of the fifth century BCE (490-475) shows a scaly and wide-eyed monster
vomiting a limp, naked, bearded, and long-haired Jason (see plate). To the
right of the scene is Athena, with spear in her right hand, bird in her left,
and perhaps looking into the eyes of the dragon, whom she has commanded to
disgorge Jason.**27** Behind the dragon’s head, at left, the Golden Fleece
hangs as limp as Jason, on a tree laden with fruit (apples?). It is most
natural to conceive of this monster as a sea-monster, as did A. Flasch and other
scholars,**28** given the position of Cerveteri, an Etruscan sea-port which
would be understandably interested in Jason's Gesti as those of the first navigator. An abundance
of maritime themes at the place is evidence of this interest. The Boreads
themselves do not appear to be represented at Caere but they figure prominently
in many other places, for instance, in Laconia.**29**
This cup has been widely commented upon in the
past, but has remained unnoticed, as far as I am aware, by biblical
commentators. Late XIXth and turn-of-the-century commentators offer varying
interpretations of this scene. A. Flasch thinks that the dragon is alive,
forced to disgorge a passive Jason, which is also my interpretation.**30**
Flasch is followed by H. Schmidt and others, e.g. Pfuhl and Kerényi. Vian, in
his recent edition of Apollonius' Argonautica, mentions the cup without comment. M. Lawrence,
after E. Pfuhl and K. Kerényi, thinks it is a sea-monster "forced by Athena to
disgorge Jason [....] a rare variant of the famous story."**31** The rest of
Lawrence’s article deals with the iconography of Jonah's story. But the
commentary of P.E. Arias and M. Hirmer on Athena is inexact. They think that
Athena, with owl, is looking with surprise at Jason coming out of the dragon’s
mouth.**32**
It is interesting to discover that a version of
Jason's story had Athena as his helper, rescuing him from death, which is
perhaps closer to the role of the Hebrew God in the book of Jonah. The bird she
carries on her left hand, however, is not necessarily the usual owl, as all
commentators seem to identify it,**33** but could actually be a dove (or a sea
bird). Athena's owl is usually represented with its head turned outward, facing
the viewer, at least in all images of her catalogued in the Lexicon
Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae.**34** On the Caere cup, the bird has a straight
beak and a more sloping body. However, since ornithological details may not
have been the concern of the vase painters, the idea of a dove can only remain a
suggestion. The role played by doves in reporting prophecies and helping
heroes has been mentioned above: in Apollonius’ Argonautica, the crew of the Argo takes along a dove in a
cage. They also are featured in several illustrations of the episode of the
capture of the fleece.**35**
....
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