Full Moon and Marriage in Apollonius' Argonautica

Abstract

There are two passages in which the poet introduces a full moon to accentuate a particular aspect of a scene in his narrative; 1.1228–33 and 4.166–71. I shall concentrate on the second. Commentators have contributed various suggestions but failed to understand the specific erotic-nuptial connotation of the full moon. The same applies to the more specialized contributions of Drogemiiller and Rose. I shall (1) first present the evidence for the nuptial associations of the full moon, then (2) apply this idea to the Apollonian passages, especially 4.166–71, and finally (3) add a remark about the special effect obtained by Apollonius here in relation to an Homeric passage (Od. 23.231–9).