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The story of Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece is one of the oldest and most familiar tales in classical literature. Apollonius of Rhodes wrote the best-known version, in Greek, in the third century B.C.E. The Latin poet Gaius Valerius Flaccus began his own interpretation of the story in the first century of the Christian era, but he died before completing it. With The Voyage of the "Argo," the acclaimed poet and translator David Slavitt recovers for modern readers the only surviving work of this little-known writer. The result is an engaging rendition of Jason's adventures, of particular interest when compared to the Greek version of the story. While Apollonius' ...
Gaius Valerius Flaccus was a first century Roman poet that flourished during the Flavian dynasty. His sole surviving work is the Latin epic poem ‘Argonautica’, which owes a large debt to the epic poem commonly ascribed to Apollonius of Rhodes, composed four centuries before. It narrates the story of Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece, with many differences from its Greek model. Valerius is notably more descriptive in his portrayal of character, while indicating the influence of Virgil. An important work of the Latin Silver Age, the epic poem’s greatest strength is the portrayal of the relationship between Medea and Jason, especially in the vivid depiction of ...
This volume consists of an introduction, the text of book 4 of Valerius Flaccus' "Argonautica," commentary, bibliography and index. However, it is not a standard philological commentary. Although it contains textual criticism (but only where meaning and appreciation are substantially affected) and explanation of sense and references (a vital basis for critical analysis), above all there is literary appreciation of Valerius' fourth book, which should help to bring about a revaluation of this largely neglected and sadly underestimated author. The book alerts readers to important aspects of Valerius' highly intellectual poetry, such as wit, humor, elegance, point, subtlety, narrative skill, and creative engagement with forerunners, especially Apollonius of Rhodes and Virgil.
It discusses, inter alia, the limited evidence for Valerius' life; the main features of his often difficult poetic language; the handling of the Argonautic myth in literature prior to Valerius; his innovative treatment of the inherited material; and his self-positioning within the broader literary tradition, particularly his sophisticated adaptation of formal and thematic elements from his two principal poetic models, Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica and Virgil's Aeneid. While the commentary is written for readers with some competence in Latin, the introduction, and the facing English translation, are thoroughly accessible to non-Latinate readers with an interest in Roman literature and in the ancient epic tradition."--BOOK JACKET.
The Roman epic retelling of the quest for the golden fleece. Valerius Flaccus, Gaius, Latin poet who flourished in the period ca. AD 70-90, composed in smooth and sometimes obscure style an incomplete epic Argonautica in eight books, on the auest for the golden fleece. The poem is typical of his age, being a free re-handling of the story already told by Apollonius Rhodius, to whom he is superior in arrangement, vividness, and description of character. Valerius' poem shows much imitation of the language and thought of Virgil, and much learning. The chief interest of the epic lies in the relationship between Medea and Jason, especially the growth of Medea's love, where Valerius is at his best. The long series of adventures and various Roman allusions suggest that the poet meant to do honor to Vespasian (to whom the epic is dedicated) with special reference to that emperor's ships in waters around Britain.
This volume offers a new interpretation of Flaccus' Argonautica, a Latin epic poem. Stover's approach to the text is both formalist and historicist as he seeks not only to elucidate Flaccus' dynamic appropriation of Lucan, but also to associate the Argonautica's formal gestures within a specific socio-political context.
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This work provides a full commentary on the first book of Valerius Flaccus' Argonautica, an epic which has received increased attention in the last few decades, as may be seen from two recent editions (1997 and 2003). Its first aim is to clarify the text, which is sometimes rather difficult and, in places, still not established with certainty. Apart from this philological aspect, the literary merits of the poem have also been taken into account.
The story of Jason and the Argonauts is one of the best known of ancient Greek myths and has captivated people for over two and a half thousand years. Focusing on Medea's attempts to resist her love for Jason, Book 7 of Valerius Flaccus' Argonautica presents one of the most attractive and engaging episodes in all of Greco-Roman epic: the key moment when Jason and Medea fall in love and when Jason, with Medea's help, yokes the king's fire-breathing bulls, sows the dragon's teeth, and compels the earthborn men to destroy themselves. Although versions of the story of the Argo's journey from Greece to the Black Sea had been told by many earlier poets, this Roman account of the myth differs from ...