The Argonautica

Produced by Douglas B. Killings, and David Widger

[Illustration] 




The Argonautica

by Apollonius Rhodius


Originally written in Ancient Greek sometime in the 3rd Century B.C. by the
Alexandrian poet Apollonius Rhodius (“Apollonius the Rhodian”).
Translation by R.C. Seaton, 1912.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY: ORIGINAL TEXT—

Seaton, R.C. (Ed. & Trans.): “Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica”
(Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, 1912). Original Greek text with
side-by-side English translation.

OTHER TRANSLATIONS—

Rieu, E.V. (Trans.): “Apollonius of Rhodes: The Voyage of the Argo”
(Penguin Classics, London, 1959, 1971).

RECOMMENDED READING—

Euripides: “Medea”, “Hecabe”, “Electra”,
and “Heracles”, translated by Philip Vellacott (Penguin Classics,
London, 1963). Contains four plays by Euripides, two of which concern
characters from “The Argonautica”.

Contents

 INTRODUCTION
 THE ARGONAUTICA
 BOOK I
 BOOK II
 BOOK III
 BOOK IV
 ENDNOTES




INTRODUCTION


Much has been written about the chronology of Alexandrian literature
and the famous Library, founded by Ptolemy Soter, but the dates of the
chief writers are still matters of conjecture. The birth of Apollonius
Rhodius is placed by scholars at various times between 296 and 260
B.C., while the year of his death is equally uncertain. In fact, we
have very little information on the subject. There are two “lives” of
Apollonius in the Scholia, both derived from an earlier one which is
lost. From these we learn that he was of Alexandria by birth,[1] that
he lived in the time of the Ptolemies, and was a pupil of Callimachus;
that while still a youth he composed and recited in public his
_Argonautica_, and that the poem was condemned, in consequence of which
he retired to Rhodes; that there he revised his poem, recited it with
great applause, and hence called himself a Rhodian. The second “life”
adds: “Some say that he returned to Alexandria and again recited his
poem with the utmost success, so that he was honoured with the
libraries of the Museum and was buried with Callimachus.” The last
sentence may be interpreted by the notice of Suidas, who informs us
that Apollonius was a contemporary of Eratosthenes, Euphorion and
Timarchus, in the time of Ptolemy Euergetes, and that he succeeded
Eratosthenes in the headship of the Alexandrian Library. Suidas also
informs us elsewhere that Aristophanes at the age of sixty-two
succeeded Apollonius in this office. Many modern scholars deny the
“bibliothecariate” of Apollonius for chronological reasons, and there
is considerable difficulty about it. The date of Callimachus’ _Hymn to
Apollo_, which closes with some lines (105-113) that are admittedly an
allusion to Apollonius, may be put with much probability at 248 or 247
B.C. Apollonius must at that date have been at least twenty years old.
Eratosthenes died 196-193 B.C. This would make Apollonius seventy-two
to seventy-five when he succeeded Eratosthenes. This is not impossible,
it is true, but it is difficult. But the difficulty is taken away if we
assume with Ritschl that Eratosthenes resigned his office some years
before his death, which allows us to put the birth of Apollonius at
about 280, and would solve other difficulties. For instance, if the
Librarians were buried within the precincts, it would account for the
burial of Apollonius next to Callimachus—Eratosthenes being still
alive. However that may be, it is rather arbitrary to take away the
“bibliothecariate” of Apollonius, which is clearly asserted by Suidas,
on account of chronological calculations which are themselves
uncertain. Moreover, it is more probable that the words following “some
say” in the second “life” are a remnant of the original life than a
conjectural addition, because the first “life” is evidently incomplete,
nothing being said about the end of Apollonius’ career.

The principal event in his life, so far as we know, was the quarrel
with his master Callimachus, which was most probably the cause of his
condemnation at Alexandria and departure to Rhodes. This quarrel
appears to have arisen from differences of literary aims and taste,
but, as literary differences often do, degenerated into the bitterest
personal strife. There are references to the quarrel in the writings of
both. Callimachus attacks Apollonius in the passage at the end of the
_Hymn to Apollo_, already mentioned, also probably in some epigrams,
but most of all in his _Ibis_, of which we have an imitation, or
perhaps nearly a translation, in Ovid’s poem of the same name. On the
part of Apollonius there is a passage in the third book of the
_Argonautica_ (ll. 927-947) which is of a polemical nature and stands
out from the context, and the well-known savage epigram upon
Callimachus.[2] Various combinations have been attempted by scholars,
notably by Couat, in his _Poésie Alexandrine_, to give a connected
account of the quarrel, but we have not _data_ sufficient to determine
the order of the attacks, and replies, and counter-attacks.