The Path of the Argo: Language, Imagery and Narrative in the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius (Cambridge Classical Studies)

An innovative critical study emphasizing thematic and narrative complexities arising from the poet's use of language. In This Study Of Apollonius Rhodius' Influential Epic Poem From The Hellenistic Period, The Author Aims Both To Offer Fresh Insights Into Popular Critical Issues And To Consider The Work From New Perspectives. The Principal, Unifying Concern Is The Poet's Measured And Complex Use Of Language And The Manipulation Of Meaning Generated Therewith. The First Part Presents A Detailed Analysts Of The Poem's Constantly Shifting Commentary On The Voyage Of The Argo As Articulated Throughout All Four Books Of The Poem, And The Conflicting Strategies According To Which The Epic Journey Of The Argonauts Is Presented For Interpretation. The Second Part Of The Book Identifies Hitherto Unexplored Descriptive, Thematic And Image-related Rhythms Within The Narrative, Which Serve Both To Bind The Poem Together And To Generate Further Complexities Of Meaning. The Book Is Written To Be Accessible To Non-specialists And Passages Of Original Greek Text Are Accompanied By An English Translation.--jacket. Pt. I. There And Back Again. 1. Epic Beginning. 2. Outward Bound. 3. Other Journeys. 4. Homeward Bound -- Pt. Ii. Order And Disorder. 5. Patterns Of Action. Orpheus And Medea. Poetics And Rhetoric. R.j. Clare. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 286-293) And Index.