A Commentary on Apollonius Rhodius Argonautica III, 1-471

Book excerpt: This is a commentary on the third book of Apollonius' Argonautica, one of the most influential and admired products of the Hellenistic era. The author sets out to deal comprehensively with all important aspects of the work; in particular, proper attention is paid for the first time to the poet's constant manipulation of the two Homeric epics; many thorny problems of text and interpretation are examined afresh; and a wealth of hitherto unadduced illustrative material drawn from Greek and Roman poetry of various genres and periods is used to shed light on a number of issues. The volume closes with a series of detailed digestive indexes dealing with diction, models and imitations, language and style, metre, transmission, mythology, religion, geography, ethnography and aetiology.