The Argonautika: The Story of Jason and the Quest for the Golden Fleece Hardcover - 1997

First line

Starting from you, Phoibos, the deeds of those old-time mortals I shall relate, who by way of the Black Sea's mouth and through the cobalt-dark rocks, at King Pelias's commandment, in search of the Golden Fleece drove tight-thwarted Argo.

From the rear cover

"A smooth-running and highly readable verse translation of Apollonios's epic tale of the voyage of the Argonauts from the pen of a writer whose elegant verse translations of Ovid's Erotic Poems and Juvenal's Satires have long been justly admired by scholars and the general public alike. The introduction, written with Green's customary verve and wit, locates Apollonios in his Alexandrian world and proposes a new understanding of his poetic purpose and achievement. But that is not all. The translation is followed by a detailed commentary that explains difficulties and mythical allusions. The commentary will be helpful for Greek-less readers, but it will also command the attention of scholars. Though there are many commentaries available for the third book of the poem, there is nothing else in print in English that covers all four. Peter Green's Argonautika is, quite simply, invaluable."--Bernard Knox, author of Backing into the Future "Peter Green turns his formidable classical learning and his finely nuanced sense of English verse to bear on the challenge of restoring Apollonios to his true place--on a par with the best modern poetic versions of Homer and Virgil."--Robert Fagles, translator of Homer's Iliad "The style is crisp, energetic, and masculine in the narrative, but not unsympathetic to the love-suffering of Medeia."--Jasper Griffin, Oxford University

From the jacket flap

"A smooth-running and highly readable verse translation of Apollonios's epic tale of the voyage of the Argonauts from the pen of a writer whose elegant verse translations of Ovid's Erotic Poems and Juvenal's Satires have long been justly admired by scholars and the general public alike. The introduction, written with Green's customary verve and wit, locates Apollonios in his Alexandrian world and proposes a new understanding of his poetic purpose and achievement. But that is not all. The translation is followed by a detailed commentary that explains difficulties and mythical allusions. The commentary will be helpful for Greek-less readers, but it will also command the attention of scholars. Though there are many commentaries available for the third book of the poem, there is nothing else in print in English that covers all four. Peter Green's Argonautika is, quite simply, invaluable."--Bernard Knox, author of Backing into the Future "Peter Green turns his formidable classical learning and his finely nuanced sense of English verse to bear on the challenge of restoring Apollonios to his true place--on a par with the best modern poetic versions of Homer and Virgil."--Robert Fagles, translator of Homer's Iliad "The style is crisp, energetic, and masculine in the narrative, but not unsympathetic to the love-suffering of Medeia."--Jasper Griffin, Oxford University

Media reviews

Citations

• Library Journal, 07/01/1997, Page 82
• New York Review of Books, 07/19/2001, Page 53