Audiobook6 hours
Jason and the Golden Fleece: The Argonautica
Written by Apollonius Rhodius
Narrated by Jonathan Keeble
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this audiobook
Jason and the Golden Fleece is one of the finest tales of Ancient Greece, an epic journey of adventure and trial standing beside similar stories of Perseus, Theseus and the Labours of Heracles. The finest classic account comes from Apollonius of Rhodes, the Greek poet of the 3rd century BCE and librarian at Alexandria. Though less well-known than Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and much shorter, it is an epic poem which is both exciting and moving, with remarkably vivid portraits of the main characters, Jason and Medea. In the hands of Apollonius, these are far from one-dimensional figures of ancient myth.
Jason is a very human hero, forced to undertake the quest by a vengeful ruler, and though he leads a ship full of heroes - Heracles, Peleus, Caster and Polydeuces among them - he has moments of doubt and prevarication which he has to overcome in order to ultimately grasp the Golden Fleece. And Medea, a virgin witch possessing consummate skill with spells and an ability to be cruel, is shown here with some sympathy, for she is under the sway of the immortals Hera and Athena. Succumbing to their machinations and Eros's arrow, she finds herself on a dangerous path, flouting the will of her powerful father Aeetes, King of the Colchians, to help the Argonauts.
And then there is the ship itself, Argo, wrought with the help of Athena to survive the challenges of a distant voyage past Scylla and Charybdis into the Black Sea. Apollonius weaves plot and poetry, courage and boldness, tenderness and sympathy, to fashion one of the greatest monuments of Western literature. R. C. Seaton's classic translation has been considerably revised for this recording by Nicolas Soames, and it is read with verve by Jonathan Keeble.
Jason is a very human hero, forced to undertake the quest by a vengeful ruler, and though he leads a ship full of heroes - Heracles, Peleus, Caster and Polydeuces among them - he has moments of doubt and prevarication which he has to overcome in order to ultimately grasp the Golden Fleece. And Medea, a virgin witch possessing consummate skill with spells and an ability to be cruel, is shown here with some sympathy, for she is under the sway of the immortals Hera and Athena. Succumbing to their machinations and Eros's arrow, she finds herself on a dangerous path, flouting the will of her powerful father Aeetes, King of the Colchians, to help the Argonauts.
And then there is the ship itself, Argo, wrought with the help of Athena to survive the challenges of a distant voyage past Scylla and Charybdis into the Black Sea. Apollonius weaves plot and poetry, courage and boldness, tenderness and sympathy, to fashion one of the greatest monuments of Western literature. R. C. Seaton's classic translation has been considerably revised for this recording by Nicolas Soames, and it is read with verve by Jonathan Keeble.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 27, 2017
ISBN9781004133178
Related to Jason and the Golden Fleece
Related audiobooks
Jason and the Argonauts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Aeneid Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Knyghte's Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of the Peloponnesian War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTheogony Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beowulf Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFaerie Queene Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Persian Expedition: The March of the Ten Thousand, or Anabasis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Histories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The History of Herodotus - Book 8: Urania (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArgonautika Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Froissart's Chronicles—Excerpts: From The Great Wars of England and France Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Golden Ass or Metamorphoses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Song of Roland Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Metamorphoses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Le Morte d'Arthur: The Whole Book of King Arthur and of His Noble Knights of the Round Table Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Idylls of the King Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPearl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Four Arthurian Romances Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Odyssey (Unabridged) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lost Fatherland: Europeans between Empire and Nation-States, 1867-1939 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hunchback of Notre Dame Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of Rasselas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Satyricon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Golden Ass Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Troilus and Cressida Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat Not Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Iliad (Unabridged) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Three Musketeers (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Song of Roland Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Classics For You
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Complete Sherlock Holmes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Clockwork Orange Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Iliad: A New Translation by Caroline Alexander Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Picture of Dorian Gray: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bell Jar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Their Eyes Were Watching God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fountainhead Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frankenstein Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Old Man and the Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Atlas Shrugged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Perks of Being a Wallflower Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Series of Unfortunate Events #1 Multi-Voice, A: The Bad Beginning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5War & Peace - Volume I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Tale of Two Cities Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Crucible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To Kill a Mockingbird Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Schindler's List Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pride and Prejudice: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flowers in the Attic: 40th Anniversary Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Farewell to Arms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Around the World in 80 Days: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Thousand Ships: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/520,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gone With The Wind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5White Noise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For Whom the Bell Tolls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Jason and the Golden Fleece
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews