Editing Argo (section)

== Construction ==
[[File:Building Argo BM TerrD603.jpg|thumb|250px|Roman terracotta relief of Athena (left) with Argus (right) and Tiphys building the ''Argo'' ([[British Museum]])]]
The ''Argo'' was constructed by the [[shipbuilding|shipwright]] [[Argus (son of Arestor)|Argus]], and its crew were specially protected by the goddess [[Hera]]. The best source for the myth is the ''[[Argonautica]]'' by [[Apollonius Rhodius]]. Argus was said to have planned or constructed the vessel with the help of [[Athena]]. The ship was built for travel in the open sea and designed to move quickly with the assistance of a sail. Apollodorus stated the ship had fifty oars, all of which were manned by the Argonauts.<ref>Apollodorus (1921). ''The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer''. London: Harvard University Press. pp. Chapter 9, Section 1.</ref> His description of the boat would place it as a forerunner or early version of a boat type that became known as a [[penteconter]].

The boat was built with a variety of wood from around the region of Greece. In ''[[Medea (play)|Medea]]'', [[Euripides]] mentions the oars were made from pine trees around [[Pelion|Mount Pelion]].<ref>Euripides. ''Medea (Euripides with an English translation by David Kovacs)''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp. Lines 1-48.</ref> [[Catullus]] later mentioned the boat was made out of fir-wood.<ref>Catullus, Carmina Valerius (1894). ''Carmina (translated by Sir Richard Francis Burton''. London. pp. Poem on Marriage of Peleus and Thetis.</ref> The [[prow]] of the ship was also made with a special piece of oak from [[Dodona]], an area sacred to [[Zeus]]. The oak was said to be able to speak with a human voice and could tell oracles.<ref>Warner, Rex (1967). ''The Stories of the Greeks''. USA: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, Inc. p. 57.</ref>

According to Apollodorus and Catullus, the ''Argo'' was the first ship to sail the seas and was favored by the gods.<ref name=":0">Curtius, Ernst Robert (2015). "The Ship of the Argonauts". ''Essays on European Literature''. 10.1515.97: 465–496.</ref> [[Dionysius Scytobrachion]] called the ''Argo''  a well crafted vessel but did not consider her the first ship.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Jackson|first=Steven|date=1997|title=Argo: The First Ship?|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41234283|journal=Rheinisches Museum für Philologie |series=Neue Folge|volume=140|issue=3/4 |pages=249–257|jstor=41234283 }}</ref> Some sources state that since people had not seen a ship before they described the ''Argo'' as a monster.<ref name=":0" />

The ''Argo'' was built in [[ancient Thessaly|Thessaly]] around the area of Mount Pelion.<ref name=":2">P. Ovidius Naso (1813). ''Commentary on the Heroides of Ovid''. London. pp. Hypsipyle Jasoni lines 3–6.</ref> The Roman poet [[Sextus Propertius]], writing during the reign of [[Augustus]], said it departed from the port of [[Pagasae]].<ref>Sextus Propertius (1995). ''Elegies (translated by Vincent Katz)''. Los Angeles: Sun and Moon Press. pp. Addressed to Gallus.</ref>