Taking the Argo to Nineveh: Jonah and Jason in a Mediterranean context. From: Judaism: A Quarterly Journal of Jewish Life andThought | Date: June 22, 1995| Author: Hamel, Gildas | COPYRIGHT 1995 American Jewish Congress. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

A comparison of the story of Jonah in the Old Testament with the story of Jason and the Argonauts revealed common motifs that may have been the result of cultural borrowings by the writer of the Book of Jonah. The common motifs include the act of fleeing like the wind and causing a storm, the sailors' attitude, the presence of a monster that threatens the hero and the similarity between the Greek word 'kukeon' and the Hebrew word 'kikayon.' Christian and Jewish representations of Jonah are so...