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Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

Apollonius of Rhodes

The Argonautica

Ancient Greek with an independent metrical English translation

The ArgonauticaBook I · Lines 73–96

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 4 of 245

Book I · Lines 73–96

Ancient Greek

p. 12
Line I.73: ἤτοι ὁ μὲν Τελέοντος ἐυκλειὴς Ἐρυβώτης,Line I.74: Ἴρου δʼ Εὐρυτίων. σὺν καὶ τρίτος ἦεν Ὀιλεύς,Line I.75: ἔξοχος ἠνορέην καὶ ἐπαΐξαι μετόπισθενLine I.76: εὖ δεδαὼς δῄοισιν, ὅτε κλίνωσι φάλαγγας.Line I.77: αὐτὰρ ἀπʼ Εὐβοίης Κάνθος κίε, τόν ῥα ΚάνηθοςLine I.78: πέμπεν Ἀβαντιάδης λελιημένον· οὐ μὲν ἔμελλενLine I.79: νοστήσειν Κήρινθον ὑπότροπος. αἶσα γὰρ ἦενLine I.80: αὐτὸν ὁμῶς Μόψον τε δαήμονα μαντοσυνάωνLine I.81: πλαγχθέντας Λιβύης ἐνὶ πείρασι δῃωθῆναι,Line I.82: ὡς οὐκ ἀνθρώποισι κακὸν μήκιστον ἐπαυρεῖν,Line I.83: ὁππότε κἀκείνους Λιβύῃ ἔνι ταρχύσαντο,Line I.84: τόσσον ἑκὰς Κόλχων, ὅσσον τέ περ ἠελίοιοLine I.85: μεσσηγὺς δύσιές τε καὶ ἀντολαὶ εἰσορόωνται.Line I.86: τῷ δʼ ἄρʼ ἐπὶ Κλυτίος τε καὶ Ἴφιτος ἠγερέθοντο,Line I.87: Οἰχαλίης ἐπίουροι, ἀπηνέος Εὐρύτου υἷες,Line I.88: Εὐρύτου, ᾧ πόρε τόξον Ἑκηβόλος· οὐδʼ ἀπόνητοLine I.89: δωτίνης· αὐτῷ γὰρ ἑκὼν ἐρίδηνε δοτῆρι.Line I.90: τοῖσι δʼ ἐπʼ Αἰακίδαι μετεκίαθον· οὐ μὲν ἅμʼ ἄμφω,Line I.91: οὐδʼ ὁμόθεν· νόσφιν γὰρ ἀλευάμενοι κατένασθενLine I.92: Αἰγίνης, ὅτε Φῶκον ἀδελφεὸν ἐξενάριξανLine I.93: ἀφραδίῃ. Τελαμὼν μὲν ἐν Ἀτθίδι νάσσατο νήσῳ·Line I.94: Πηλεὺς δὲ Φθίῃ ἐνὶ δώματα ναῖε λιασθείς.Line I.95: τοῖς δʼ ἐπὶ Κεκροπίηθεν ἀρήιος ἤλυθε Βούτης,Line I.96: παῖς ἀγαθοῦ Τελέοντος, ἐυμμελίης τε Φάληρος.
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The Argonautica: Book I

p. 13

one was renowned Erybotes, Teleon's own son;

and Eurytion, Irus' son. Third with them came Oileus,

outstanding in manly might, skilled to attack from behind

against the foe whenever their ranks turn backward in flight.

Then Canthus came from Euboea, eager, whom Canethus

Abas' son had sent; yet Canthus was never destined

to come home again to Cerinthus; for fate had ordained

that Canthus and Mopsus, skilled in many forms of prophecy,

should wander together, be slain at the far bounds of Libya:

truly, no doom lies so remote that mortals cannot meet it,

since even these were given their burial there in Libya,

as far from the Colchians as the sun's two distant bounds

are seen apart: sunset in west, sunrise in east.

After him Clytius and Iphitus gathered together,

both warders of Oechalia, sons of Eurytus the ruthless,

Eurytus, to whom the Far-shooter gave the bow; yet he gained no

joy from the gift, for he chose to challenge the giver himself.

Then Aeacus' sons came after them, but not together,

nor from the same place: in flight they settled far apart from

Aegina, after killing their own brother Phocus,

in folly. Telamon made his home on the Attic island;

but Peleus, parted from him, made his home there in Phthia.

Next came warlike Butes out of Cecropia,

son of noble Teleon, and Phalerus, skilled with the spear.

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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.

Discussion Questions

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.