engleski

Following heavenly fire: latitude sailing in Apollonius of Rhodes and Plutarch?

Two almost identical descriptions of an unusual nautical voyage are found in Apollonius’ Argonautica and in Plutarch’s Life of Timoleon. Even though the contexts of these two episodes are different, their syntagmatic structure is surprisingly similar. This is due to their derivation from a common literary topos, which might be called ‘the topos of following heavenly fire’. This literary construction was derived from contemporary navigational practices, which included the use of stars in navigating the open sea. Even though it cannot be positively concluded that the particular navigational method underlying this topos is latitude sailing, some elements of this technique entered into its formation.

stellar navigation; Plutarch; Apollonius Rhodius

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