Product Description

The Argonautica is the dramatic story of Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece and his relations with the dangerous Colchian princess, Medea. The only extant Greek epic poem to bridge the gap between Homer and late antiquity, it is a major product of the brilliant world of the Ptolemaic court at Alexandria, written by Apollonius of Rhodes in the 3rd century BC. Apollonius explores many of the fundamental aspects of life in a highly original way: love, deceit, heroism, human ignorance of the diven, the limits of science. This volume offers the first scholarly translation into English prose for many years, combining readability with accuracy and an attention to detail that will appeal to readers both with and without Greek. `Based on a deep understanding of the text, this translation, with informative notes and an excellent introduction, will bring Apollonius to the audience he deserves....' (TLS)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31722 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 216 pages

TLS
"Based on a deep understanding of the text, this translation, with informative notes and an excellent introduction, will bring Apollonius to the audience he deserves."

Review
Based on a deep understanding of the text, this translation, with informative notes and an excellent introduction, will bring Apollonius to the audience he deserves. (TLS )

About the Author
Richard Hunter is a Fellow of Pembroke College, and University Lecturer in Classics at the University of Cambridge.

Customer Reviews

Take a trip to Colchis....
I bought this book out of curiosity after having been a big fan of the Ray Harryhausen 'Jaon and the Argonauts' movie for many years. It's surprisingly readable and provides a whole host of mythological wonders and scenarios for the heroes to overcome. The introduction and notes are excellent. The references to Greek mythology and culture in this text are great, but they're more than adequetely explained by the notes (you do need to keep your thumb in the back section as you're reading). I read this purely for interest in Mythology, but I was surprised to find the story becomes quite gripping, particularly toward the end. Overall, a big thumbs up to both Apollonius and Richard Hunter.

Shorter, sweeter and varied in theme
Having seen the Jason London movie many years earlier, his face stuck in my mind as the hero for most part of reading this book. This beats the classical mythology canon in Apollonius' shorter, less convoluted and more modern plot, being written some 700 years after Homer. Although the actual mythological plotline is a much older tale than the story of Troy.

I enjoyed this story immensely, and wrote my final essay on the book. It reads much like an adventure/travel story among the hero and his friends, on a voyage to locate/redeem the Golden Fleece. They travel through the Mediterranean and ancient parts of Greece, Europe and Africa, emerging from obstacles and dangers, including the famous crashing rocks. Not withstanding the story's ancience and style of writing, it could easily be adapted to a modern movie setting, or children's flick like 'The Treasure Planet'.

The fourth and final chapter, with the entrance of Medea and her falling for Jason is a classical love story of its times. Read Euripides' 'Medea' to get the more gory, alternative ending to this mythological (happier) tale when Medea and Jason get married, some 10 years down the line.