Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Argonautica
Ancient Greek with an independent metrical English translation
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Facing Pages · Branch 106 of 245
Book II · Lines 1153–1176
Ancient Greek
p. 218The Argonautica: Book II
p. 219we now sail for Orchomenus to claim Athamas' possessions.
And if, as you say, you truly desire to learn all our names,
this one's name is Cytissorus; that one's Phrontis,
this man is Melas; I myself am called Argus.
His words were done; the noble chiefs rejoiced at this meeting,
and tended the brothers in wonder; Jason next in turn
answered them again in fitting measure with these words:
Truly, paternal kinship binds our houses closely,
and you seek friendly aid to end your present anguish.
Cretheus and Athamas were born together as full brothers.
Cretheus' grandson, one among this gathered band of comrades
I sail from that same Hellas toward Aeetes' city.
But these things we shall tell each other hereafter.
For now put on your clothes; by the gods' own prompting,
I think stern need has brought you straight within my grasp.
So he spoke and gave the brothers clothes from the ship to wear.
Together all went toward Ares' sacred temple,
to sacrifice the sheep; they all crowded round the altar,
which, made of pebbles, stood outside the roofless temple;
inside, a black stone had been set securely there,
sacred, and once all Amazons had prayed before it.
No Amazon woman, coming from the opposite shore, might
burn sheep or cattle offerings upon this sacred altar;
instead they carved up horses from herds that never failed.
Socrates
Reading The Argonautica · Book II · Lines 1153–1176
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Apollonius’s Argonautica follows Jason and the Argonauts from their gathering at Pagasae through the voyage to Colchis and the difficult return home. This exact line-for-line edition pairs the Ancient Greek poem with an independent metrical English translation prepared by Diotimos Editions, preserving one English verse for every Greek reading line across all four books.
Historical Text and Translation
The Greek reading text follows the Perseus transcription derived from George W. Mooney’s 1912 edition, pinned to a stable canonical-greekLit commit. Mooney and LSJ provide the principal controls for Books I–III; Peter Hulse’s Dickinson commentary directly supports Book IV. Deleted records and canonical numbering gaps remain documented rather than being silently repaired. The supplied release identifies itself as a complete source-audited working edition and recommends independent classicist review before print publication.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this independent translation directly from the Greek. Its six-beat English house form preserves the poem’s source order, imagery, learned names, narrative delays, shifts of register, and line-by-line correspondence while allowing syntax to move across adjacent verses where the Greek requires it.
Rights
Apollonius’s ancient Greek source work is in the public domain. The 2026 English translation and Diotimos editorial matter are original to this edition and remain © 2026 Diotimos. The pinned Perseus Greek transcription is reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- public-domain-base-witnessPinned Perseus Greek transcription — canonical-greekLit
- print-control-and-commentaryGeorge W. Mooney’s 1912 Argonautica — Internet Archive
- book-four-commentaryApollonius Argonautica, Book IV — Dickinson College Commentaries
- lexical-controlLiddell–Scott–Jones Greek-English Lexicon — Scaife ATLAS
- greek-transcription-licenseCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0