DiotimosReading Desk

Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

Apollonius of Rhodes

The Argonautica

Ancient Greek with an independent metrical English translation

The ArgonauticaBook I · Lines 121–144

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Ancient Greek Page · Branch 6 of 245

Book I · Lines 121–144

Ancient Greek

p. 16
Line I.121: Αἰολίδης σταθμοῖσιν ἐν Ἰφίκλοιο Μελάμπους.Line I.122: οὐδὲ μὲν οὐδὲ βίην κρατερόφρονος ἩρακλῆοςLine I.123: πευθόμεθʼ Αἰσονίδαο λιλαιομένου ἀθερίξαι.Line I.124: ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ ἄιε βάξιν ἀγειρομένων ἡρώων,Line I.125: νεῖον ἀπʼ Ἀρκαδίης Λυρκήιον Ἄργος ἀμείψαςLine I.126: τὴν ὁδόν, ᾗ ζωὸν φέρε κάπριον, ὅς ῥʼ ἐνὶ βήσσῃςLine I.127: φέρβετο Λαμπείης, Ἐρυμάνθιον ἂμ μέγα τῖφος,Line I.128: τὸν μὲν ἐνὶ πρώτῃσι Μυκηναίων ἀγορῇσινLine I.129: δεσμοῖς ἰλλόμενον μεγάλων ἀπεθήκατο νώτων·Line I.130: αὐτὸς δʼ ᾗ ἰότητι παρὲκ νόον ΕὐρυσθῆοςLine I.131: ὡρμήθη· σὺν καί οἱ Ὕλας κίεν, ἐσθλὸς ὀπάων,Line I.132: πρωθήβης, ἰῶν τε φορεὺς φύλακός τε βιοῖο.Line I.133: τῷ δʼ ἐπὶ δὴ θείοιο κίεν Δαναοῖο γενέθλη,Line I.134: Ναύπλιος. ἦ γὰρ ἔην Κλυτονήου Ναυβολίδαο·Line I.135: Ναύβολος αὖ Λέρνου· Λέρνον γε μὲν ἴδμεν ἐόνταLine I.136: Προίτου Ναυπλιάδαο· Ποσειδάωνι δὲ κούρη.Line I.137: πρίν ποτʼ Ἀμυμώνη Δαναῒς τέκεν εὐνηθεῖσαLine I.138: Ναύπλιον, ὃς περὶ πάντας ἐκαίνυτο ναυτιλίῃσιν.Line I.139: Ἴδμων δʼ ὑστάτιος μετεκίαθεν, ὅσσοι ἔναιονLine I.140: Ἄργος, ἐπεὶ δεδαὼς τὸν ἑὸν μόρον οἰωνοῖσινLine I.141: ἤιε, μή οἱ δῆμος ἐυκλείης ἀγάσαιτο.Line I.142: οὐ μὲν ὅγʼ ἦεν Ἄβαντος ἐτήτυμον, ἀλλά μιν αὐτὸςLine I.143: γείνατο κυδαλίμοις ἐναρίθμιον ΑἰολίδῃσινLine I.144: Λητοΐδης· αὐτὸς δὲ θεοπροπίας ἐδίδαξεν
16

The Argonautica: Book I

p. 17

Melampus, Aeolus' grandson, endured in Iphiclus' stalls.

Nor did we hear that mighty Heracles, stout of heart,

made light of the eager summons of Aeson's son.

Yet once the report of the gathered heroes reached Heracles,

he crossed Lyrceian Argos, setting out from Arcadia,

the road on which he carried the boar still living, that fed

in Lampeia's deep glens, around great Erymanthus' marsh.

That boar he brought to Mycenae's first assembly-ground,

and laid it down, bound, writhing, from his massive shoulders;

then, of his own will, despite Eurystheus' intention,

he set forth; Hylas went with him, his worthy attendant,

in youth's first bloom, to bear his shafts and guard the bow.

Next came a scion of godlike Danaus' race,

Nauplius; Clytoneus, Naubolus' son, sired the hero;

Naubolus in turn was Lernus' son; and Lernus, we know, was

the son of Proetus, Nauplius' son. And once the maiden

Amymone, Danaus' daughter, lay with Poseidon and bore

Nauplius, who outshone all other men in seamanship.

Idmon came last of those who had their homes in Argos,

although birds had revealed his own grim approaching doom,

he went, lest his own people grudge his lasting glory.

He was no true son of Abas; rather, the god himself

begot Idmon the prophet, numbered with illustrious Aeolids,

Leto's son, who himself taught Idmon the ways of prophecy,

17

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.