6 h 53 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the quest that makes you a hero is meant to send you to your death?
Jason must bring back the Golden Fleece from the edge of the known world. Pelias, king of Iolcus, expects him never to return. In The Argonautica, the Greek epic poem by Apollonius of Rhodes, a young leader who doubts his own strength sails with famous heroes while the gods quarrel and scheme above him.
The voyage carries the Argonauts past Lemnos and through the Clashing Rocks toward Colchis, where King Aeetes guards the fleece. There, Medea faces a struggle between her family and her love. In hexameter verse, sea adventure meets the uncertainty of a hero who needs help, and a woman pulled between duty and desire.
What you’ll discover
- A hero who needs others Follow Jason as he leads great heroes without great strength or cunning of his own.
- A sea full of danger Approach the Clashing Rocks, where a dove tests the narrow passage before the ship.
- Medea between love and family Meet a priestess skilled in magic, caught between loyalty to her family and love.
- Music aboard the Argo Discover Orpheus, whose singing keeps the rowers in time and calms quarrels aboard.
- A king's deadly challenge Enter Colchis, where Aeetes sets Jason a trial that puts his life at stake.
Is it for you?
This is for readers who enjoy myth, sea voyages and the roots of the Western adventure tale, and for anyone who has met Jason or Medea in other works. It may suit you less if you want fast, plain action.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A king sends Jason on a doomed errand
- A crew of heroes gathers and sails
- Lemnos, Cyzicus and the loss of Hylas
- Fists, Harpies and a blind prophet
- Through the Clashing Rocks and along the Black Sea coast
- The gods set Medea's heart on fire
- Medea's struggle between duty and desire
- The bulls, the dragon teeth and the stone
- What the poem is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- JasonA young prince of Iolcus, sent to fetch the Golden Fleece, who must lead famous heroes while doubting his own strength.
- MedeaThe daughter of King Aeetes and a priestess of Hecate, skilled in drugs and magic, who is torn between her family and her love.
- AeetesThe king of Colchis and son of the sun god, who guards the fleece and sets Jason a deadly trial.
- PeliasThe king of Iolcus, who fears an oracle and sends Jason on a voyage he expects him not to survive.
- HeraclesThe strongest of the heroes, who gives up command to Jason and is lost to the crew early in the voyage.
- OrpheusThe famous singer of Thrace, who keeps the rowers in time and calms quarrels on board the Argo.
- PhineusA blind prophet tormented by Harpies, who gives the Argonauts the advice they need to reach Colchis.
- HeraThe queen of the gods, who protects Jason and works with Athena and Aphrodite to help him win the fleece.
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- Large-print eBook
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- Audiobook
- 6 h 53 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Les Argonautiques
Jason and his crew sail in search of the Golden Fleece.
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Language: Français
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
A king sends Jason on a doomed errand
The story begins in Iolcus, a city in Thessaly in northern Greece. The king, Pelias, has taken the throne by force, and an oracle has warned him to beware a man with one sandal. When Jason arrives in the city missing a sandal, lost while crossing a river, Pelias knows who he is.
Pelias does not kill Jason openly. Instead he sets him a task that seems impossible. He tells Jason to sail to Colchis, a land at the far eastern end of the Black Sea, and bring home the Golden Fleece. This was the fleece of a flying ram that had once carried a boy named Phrixus to safety, and it now hangs in a grove guarded by a sleepless serpent.
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The author
Apollonius of Rhodes
294 BC–214 BC · Ancient Greek epic poet
3rd century BC Greek epic poet.
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What is the Argonautica about?
It tells how Jason and a crew of Greek heroes sail on the ship Argo to Colchis to bring back the Golden Fleece, meeting prophets, monsters and a king's cruel tests, with help from the sorceress Medea.
Who was Apollonius of Rhodes?
He was a Greek poet of the third century BC who worked in Alexandria. He is known for this epic, which blends Homeric style with the learned tastes of the Hellenistic age.
Is the Argonautica based on a true story?
No. It is a retelling of a Greek myth. The places, such as the Black Sea and Colchis, are real, but the heroes, gods and monsters belong to legend rather than history.
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