The Argonautica of Apollonius

by R. L. Hunter

Overview

In recent years the subtlety and complexity of Apollonius' Argonautica have been better appreciated, but in Dr Hunter's view the purposes and aesthetic of the epic are still not readily understood and much basic analysis remains to be done. The present book seeks to offer some of that analysis and to place the Argonautica within its social and intellectual context. A series of studies deal with notions of heroism; with eros and the suffering of Medea; the role of the divine; poetic voice and literary self-consciousness; and the Ptolemaic context of the poem. A pervasive theme of the book is Apollonius' creative engagement with Homer, and a final chapter sketches out an approach to Virgil's use of Apollonius in the Aeneid. The Argonautica emerges as a brilliant and original experiment. This book is the only advanced study of the Argonautica currently available. All Greek is translated.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521604383
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/20/2005
Pages:	220
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.51(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. Modes of heroism; 3. Images of love; 4. The gods and the divine; 5. The poet and his poem; 6. The Argonautica and its Ptolemaic context; 7. Argonautica and Aeneid; Appendix: hen aeisma dienekes: Aristotle, Callimachus, Apollonius.