num_pages: 301
description: The first commentary since 1912 on all four books of the Argonautika , the tale of Jason and the quest for the Golden Fleece, is accompanied by a dynamic translation of the Hellenistic epic which was a radical depature from the Homeric tradition, featuring a rather unsensational hero whose best quality is being a hit with the ladies, and a heroine who is a major chracter in her own a virgin sorceress whose magic brings Jason's triumph yet cannot save her from her own infatuation. The introduction discusses Apollonios in his Alexandrian world and proposes a new understanding of his poetic puropse and acheivement. The commentary is especially good at explaining mythical allusions which abound.
language: English
title: The Argonautika by Apollonios Rhodios
titlecomplete: The Argonautika by Apollonios Rhodios
characters: Aietes, Euphemus, Castor, Peleus, Philoctetes, Telamon, Pelias, Athena (Greek goddess), Boreads, Medea of Colchis, Hypsipyle, Atalanta (Mythology), Orpheus, Chiron, Pollux, Achilles, Heracles, Jason, the Argonaut, Hylas
genres: Classics, Epic, Fantasy, Fiction, Ancient, Greek Mythology, Greece, Literature, Mythology, Poetry
ratings_count: 10011
places: Ancient Greece, Greece
publisher: University of California Press