The Argo’s Long Shadow over Lake Tritonis and Lemnos: Two Dormant Oracles in Herodotus

Abstract

Two dormant oracles in Herodotus’ Histories, 4.179 and 6.139-140, allow us to establish an interrelation between the Greek colonisation of Libya and the Athenian conquest of Lemnos based on the Argonautic myth. This paper conducts an in-depth examination of both passages from a comparative perspective, considering these aspects: mythical setting, conditioned oracular structure, use of tricks by characters, flashback as a narrative technique and the wind’s role in the tales. Results show that the myth presents a Panhellenic vocation in the first oracle and a local vocation in the second.

Keywords

• Argonauts;
• dormant oracles;
• Herodotus;
• Lemnos;
• Libya;
• Miltiades;