Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Argonautica
Ancient Greek with an independent metrical English translation
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Facing Pages · Branch 54 of 245
Book I · Lines 1274–1297
Ancient Greek
p. 112The Argonautica: Book I
p. 113and wind-breaths swept down; swift Tiphys gave the call
to board the ship at once and catch the favoring breeze.
The eager crew embarked at once; then high from Argo
they hauled the mooring-stones aloft and drew sheet-lines aft.
The canvas bellied midships; far away from shore
swiftly they sailed rejoicing past Poseidon's headland.
When high in heaven bright-eyed Dawn began to shine,
rising out of the east, and pathways gleamed clearly in view,
and dewy plains shone bright beneath her radiant beam,
then they discovered their blind mistake had left two heroes.
A bitter quarrel struck them; boundless uproar flared
unbounded, since they sailed and left far behind the finest
of all their comrades. Jason sat there, crushed and helpless,
he spoke no word in answer, neither this nor that;
Aeson's son sat beneath his heavy ruin,
eating his heart; then anger seized Telamon, who shouted:
Sit calmly there at ease; this purpose suited you well,
to leave Heracles. The scheme arose from your own mind,
so Heracles' glory through Hellas would not eclipse yours,
if gods should grant us passage home and full return.
But empty words bring no delight; I leave your comrades,
those men of yours who helped construct this treacherous plot.
He spoke and charged at Tiphys, Hagnias' son; his eyes
flashed like the curling tongues of fierce, devouring fire.
Socrates
Reading The Argonautica · Book I · Lines 1274–1297
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