The Argonautika: The Story of Jason and the Quest for the Golden Fleece (Hellenistic Culture and Society, No 25)

Rating:
Summary: Certainly one can do better
Review: Green writes like a pompous ass. He throws in whatever tropes will push the academic buttons but he totally misses Apollonius. A truly excellent translation has yet to be written.

Rating:
Summary: Should be more widely read...
Review: The Argonautika should be as widely read as the Iliad and the Odyssey (or for that matter the Aeneid). Before reading this particular version one should first study the structure of the work, completly discarding Green's Introduction to it, unless, of course, you happen to be a working classical scholar! The translation of Apollonios Argonautika is an excellent read, made much more understandable by the excellent Glossary, which provides background information on all the characters and gods mentioned in the epic, and on geographical locations as well. This glossary is either an excellent first source of information or as a refresher to what the reader might already know. Excellent maps detailing the route the Argonauts took are found in the back of the book. Although an excellent read, it's not one that should be done at a rapid pace! The bibliography makes no mention of Robert Graves narative work on Jason and the Golden Fleece, Hercules My Shipmate.