Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Argonautica
Ancient Greek with an independent metrical English translation
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Facing Pages · Branch 84 of 245
Book II · Lines 625–648
Ancient Greek
p. 174The Argonautica: Book II
p. 175and straightway refused this voyage, even if fate ordained me
to die without pity, torn and scattered limb from limb.
Now fear beyond measure and intolerable cares
lie heaped on me: I hate these ice-cold sea-pathways
to cross by ship; I hate it too whenever we step
onto land; in every quarter men prove hostile.
Always I keep a groaning watch, night after day,
ever since first you gathered here for my own sake,
thinking through each thing; but you can speak at ease,
concerned for nothing but preserving your own life.
For myself I am not even slightly terrified; I fear
for this man and for that one equally, for you,
and all the rest, if I fail to bring you safe to Hellas.”
He spoke to test the heroes; they raised a common shout
of fearless words; their urging warmed his heart within,
then Jason spoke again, answering in forthright words:
“My friends, your valor makes the courage grow within me.
Therefore now, though sent through Hades' deepest chasms,
no fear will grip me while you all stand firm and steadfast
amid harsh terrors. Once we sail clear of the Clashing
Rocks, I believe no later fear will match their force,
if truly we keep faith and drive the ship onward,
following every careful direction Phineus gave.”
Jason spoke; at once the heroes ceased from words like these
Socrates
Reading The Argonautica · Book II · Lines 625–648
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