Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Argonautica
Ancient Greek with an independent metrical English translation
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English Page · Branch 112 of 245
Book III · Lines 1–24
Ancient Greek
p. 232The Argonautica: Book III
p. 233Come now, Erato, stand at my side and tell me the story:
how Jason carried the Fleece on the homeward way to Iolcus,
won through Medea's love. You share in the realm of Cypris,
and love-laden cares enchant girls still unwed into longing;
thus Erato, your lovely name, has been fastened upon you.
So the men stayed unseen where close-standing reeds crowded thickly,
heroes waiting in ambush; Hera and Athena saw them.
Unknown to Zeus himself and all of the other immortals,
they went to a chamber in secret, apart from the rest of the gods,
taking counsel; and Hera first sounded Athena:
Daughter of Zeus, begin; give the first of our counsels.
What shall we do? Will you fashion a plot so the heroes can seize
Aeetes' Golden Fleece and carry it home into Hellas,
or win Aeetes over by words of gentle persuasion?
Terrible arrogance swells in the king beyond measure.
Still, it is right that we leave no trial unattempted.
So Hera spoke; Athena beside her answered at once:
Even as I pondered such things in my heart, you have questioned
me outright, Hera; yet still I have not discerned
one useful plot that can strengthen the hearts of the heroes,
though many plans I have weighed, and doubted every one.
She ended; both fixed their eyes on the ground at their feet,
each pondering deeply; but Hera at once found a counsel,
and, first of the two, gave voice to the plan she had fashioned:
Socrates
Reading The Argonautica · Book III · Lines 1–24
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