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The Jason Voyage Q4: Other Tim Severin Books
At least three of us have read another Tim Severin book, which is partly why I picked this one. Clash has read The Brendan Voyage, recreating a journey from Ireland to the Americas, Richard has read The Sindbad Voyage, recreating a voyage from Arabia to Chine, and I have read The Ulysses Voyage, which charts Odysseus' trip roundabout home from Troy to Ithaca (and travelling in the the very same boat, the Argo, that was used in this voyage). How did The Jason Voyage compare to the other Tim Severin book(s) you've read?
Comments
It was very similarly structured, actually. The Brendan Voyage was less cut and dried than that of the Argo - sailing from island to island in the middle of the ocean is far different from sailing along a coast - but the same device of examining the past voyage in light of the current voyage was used. Also, myths get very... mythic over time.
There was a medieval tale written down with the magic turned up to 11, as is usual in these cases. Like an Arthurian story. We have stops at this isle and that island, but where we know exactly what path Jason would have had to have taken, it's much less definite with Brendan. Brendan spent seven years going back on forth several times between these islands. I haven't read it in a long time, so I will say no more.
That medieval tale is The Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot) c. 900. The voyage is also referred to in a Life of Brendan.
I have broadly similar comments as @clash_bowley . The structure of the book was similar, with problems at the start finding a shipbuilder who knew enough to replicate the traditional mode of manufacture, the assembly of the crew taking care to have the various host nations represented, the administrative task of getting permissions to sail and land, then the voyage itself, along with warm and rapturous welcome offered by everyone along the way.
Now, certainly the Jason Voyage was more pinned down in terms of staging points, whereas Sinbad was more esoteric and uncertain - perhaps middling in between Jason and Brendan? but the overall style was definitely familiar.
The Ulysses Voyage was the one I read, and although I liked The Jason Voyage, I preferred The Ulysses Voyage. Because it used the same boat, it was a lot less about how the boat was constructed and less about what it was like to sail her. Instead, we spent much more time looking at the landscape and puzzling out Odysseus' possible route, and to do this Severin took a closer look at the text and would try to match this specific cove or headland to that description. Also, I don't recall if he ever explicitly stated this, but I had the distinct impression that Severin wasn't trying to prove that Odysseus actually made such a voyage, or even prove that it was possible. I think instead he was looking for the landscapes that would have inspired Homer directly (or the people that recounted things to Homer, if we accept that he was blind and could not have seen them with his own eyes).
So, it read to me more like an attempt to solve a historical puzzle than a recounting of a voyage, even though it was both of these things. The puzzle-solving aspect is more exciting to me.
Hm maybe I should tackle that at some stage - I'm thinking Brendan next though