Academic Scientific JournalsThe Argonautic expedition and the archetype of strategic coordination on the Caucasian frontier
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26881/jpgs.2026.2.05Keywords:
Caucasian frontier, strategic leadership, strategic coordination, coalition theory, archetypal analysisAbstract
This article reinterprets the myth of Jason’s expedition to Colchis through an interdisciplinary framework combining archetypal analysis, frontier studies, political sociology, coalition theory, collaborative governance, and strategic leadership. Its aim is to reconstruct the Argonautic expedition as an archetypal model of strategic coordination and collective action within a frontier environment marked by uncertainty, cultural diversity, and political complexity.
The analysis shows that Colchis and the Caucasus function in the narrative as an archetypal frontier at the edge of the ancient oikoumene, creating structural conditions that make cooperation among actors with complementary capabilities necessary. The expedition is therefore interpreted as a strategic coalition integrating navigation, intelligence, forecasting, military capability, communication, symbolic legitimacy, diplomacy, engineering expertise, and local knowledge. Jason emerges not as a hero defined by individual superiority but as a strategic coordinator whose authority depends primarily on coalition-building, resource integration, and adaptive leadership.
A binocular reading that juxtaposes Hellenic and Colchian-Caucasian perspectives also reveals the shadow dimensions of this model, including ethical ambiguity, political violence, competing claims to legitimacy, the agency and instrumentalisation of Medea, the death of Apsyrtus, and divine intervention as a force shaping strategic outcomes. The study argues that classical myth retains analytical value for understanding strategic leadership, frontier dynamics, and complex multi-actor systems.
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