ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Argonautica, the third-century bc epic by Apollonius of Rhodes. It examines some wider issues arising from his text, issues which in one way or another concern movement and magic. As dozens of scholars and thousands of other readers have noticed, Apollonius' Medea is a juxtaposition of opposites: on the one hand, the woman tormented by personal anguish, torn between her Colchian family and her Greek lover; on the other hand, the manipulator with uncanny powers. The general opposition between Medea-the-victimized-woman and Medea-the-sorceress recurs in most ancient narratives about Medea. Several images of Medea depict her being driven to violent action because of her domestic turmoil. A Medea in aerial flight is not the Medea of Apollonius: in Apollonius she translocates by conventional means. Of all ancient sorceresses, Medea moves her base of operations the most often.
