Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Argonautica
Ancient Greek with an independent metrical English translation
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Facing Pages · Branch 3 of 245
Book I · Lines 49–72
Ancient Greek
p. 10The Argonautica: Book I
p. 11Nor did Admetus, ruling Pherae rich in sheep,
remain beneath the lookout-height of Chalcodon's mountain.
Nor did the sons of Hermes, rich in cropland, stay in Alope,
both well versed in cunning, Erytus and Echion.
After those two, their own kinsman came as third.
Aethalides; there, by Amphrysus' broad river currents,
Myrmidon's daughter, Phthian Eupolemeia, gave him birth.
the other two were born of Antianeira, Menetes' daughter.
And Coronus came, leaving wealthy Gyrton behind him,
Caeneus' son; a noble man, yet no better than his father.
For singers proclaim that Caeneus, even while still alive,
fell to the Centaurs when alone he drove them far from the other
heroes. Then wheeling about, the Centaurs charged him anew,
they could not force him backward, nor could they hew him in pieces;
unbroken and unbending, he sank down under the earth,
struck by the massive fir trees crashing downward upon him.
Then Titaresian Mopsus came, whom Leto's son
taught unmatched skill in reading signs from birds.
And Eurydamas too, Ctimenus' son, who near the lake
of Xynias there made his dwelling in Dolopian Ctimene.
Actor moreover sent his son Menoetius out from Opus,
to journey with the noblest men and win safe return.
Then Eurytion followed, with battle-strong Erybotes,
Teleon fathered one; Irus, Actor's son, the other;
Socrates
Reading The Argonautica · Book I · Lines 49–72
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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