La morte di Canto (Ap. Rh. 4, 1467 - 1501): tradizioni mitiche, svolte narrative e amicizie eroiche

The episode relating to the death of Canthus (Ap. Rh. 4, 1467 - 1501) presents a very accurate narrative structure: the passage recalls the previous episodes of the first and second books (respectively the presentation of the hero in the Catalog and the double death of Tiphys and Idmon, which is a prelude to that of Canthus himself and Mopsus), while the actions of the hero, although interrupted by death, highlight the bond of Canthus with Heracles and above all with Polyphemus, recalling to the reader’s memory complex mythical traditions in which the two characters could perhaps interact. The episode also constitutes an important prelude to the last essential narrative turning point of the poem, the one that will allow - thanks to divine intervention - the Argonauts to return to the open sea to head towards Crete. The death of Canthus therefore creates a complex set of eferences to other places in the poem, reaffirms the hero’s bond with Polyphemus and makes a safe restart from the Libyan coast possible.