1993
First Published
4.33
Average Rating
211
Number of Pages
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.
Avg Rating
4.33
Number of Ratings
6
5 STARS
50%
4 STARS
33%
3 STARS
17%
2 STARS
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1 STARS
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Author
Richard L. Hunter
Author · 4 books
Richard Lawrence Hunter, FBA is an Australian classical scholar. From 2001 to 2021, he was the 37th Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge.
