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sjbozich 's review for:
Jason and the Argonauts
by Apollonius of Rhodes
I prefer the Oxford World Classic editions usually. But started out with that, the 1994 "new" translation by Richard Hunter. But after reading the Intro, where he talks about the "poetry" and refers to line numbers, and then hit the text - which was blocked like a novel, with no line numbers, I took a look at this edition/translation on amazon and ordered the ebook so I could read it right away.
A 2014 translation, presented as a poem. The problem with the ebook is there are no hyperlinks to the Notes section. BTW, the Hunter edition Notes are mostly geographic. The reader is hit with a bushful of names throughout the short book, but even using 2 different editions, not all the names were explained.
If you are of an age, this is nothing like the movie (which I really do need to go back and watch - it is often shown on TCM).
Keep in mind that Apollonius is an Alexandrian scholar. As Acosta-Hughes reminds us, there was a great interest in origins of all kinds at that time, especially for the Greeks they claimed a connection to. This is also a boasting Ptolemain travelogue - how far their influence reached.
It does have a surprising modern feel to it at times (non-linear, and Medea's inner thoughts), which I believe Acosta-Hughes plays up well in his translation. There is an occasional nice piece of literary style humor used here and there.
Enjoyable to read the real story of Jason (who does not quite fit the Homeric hero mold) and the Golden Fleece - and Medea (gotta love her pleading that she is just a poor girl who has been taken hostage, never mentioning tha she helped kill her brother in cold blood!). Go with the Penguin Acosta-Hughes translation. His Notes are also helpful tying this to the work of Homer and Callimachus.
A 2014 translation, presented as a poem. The problem with the ebook is there are no hyperlinks to the Notes section. BTW, the Hunter edition Notes are mostly geographic. The reader is hit with a bushful of names throughout the short book, but even using 2 different editions, not all the names were explained.
If you are of an age, this is nothing like the movie (which I really do need to go back and watch - it is often shown on TCM).
Keep in mind that Apollonius is an Alexandrian scholar. As Acosta-Hughes reminds us, there was a great interest in origins of all kinds at that time, especially for the Greeks they claimed a connection to. This is also a boasting Ptolemain travelogue - how far their influence reached.
It does have a surprising modern feel to it at times (non-linear, and Medea's inner thoughts), which I believe Acosta-Hughes plays up well in his translation. There is an occasional nice piece of literary style humor used here and there.
Enjoyable to read the real story of Jason (who does not quite fit the Homeric hero mold) and the Golden Fleece - and Medea (gotta love her pleading that she is just a poor girl who has been taken hostage, never mentioning tha she helped kill her brother in cold blood!). Go with the Penguin Acosta-Hughes translation. His Notes are also helpful tying this to the work of Homer and Callimachus.