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A review by sabrinaslivingliterature
Jason and the Golden Fleece (the Argonautica) by Apollonius of Rhodes
5.0
The epic poem that links Homer with Late Antiquity follows the journey of Jason on his quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Apollonius explores many of the fundamental aspects of life in a highly original way: love, deceit, heroism, human ignorance of the divine, and the limits of science, and offers a gripping and sometimes disturbing tale in the process.
Apollonius' writing is very different from Homer, however, the story is fun and the writing is still beautiful. Compared to Achilles and Herakles Jason is very normal which makes him more endearing to the reader you hope he makes it home because from the start this really is the only thing he wants, apart from his men to get home as well. The focus on companionship compared to individual heroics makes this story interesting and compelling.
I loved the story and despite the fact that you are very obviously not meant to like Medea I found myself loving her character, probably due to reading it in the 21st century.
Apollonius' writing is very different from Homer, however, the story is fun and the writing is still beautiful. Compared to Achilles and Herakles Jason is very normal which makes him more endearing to the reader you hope he makes it home because from the start this really is the only thing he wants, apart from his men to get home as well. The focus on companionship compared to individual heroics makes this story interesting and compelling.
I loved the story and despite the fact that you are very obviously not meant to like Medea I found myself loving her character, probably due to reading it in the 21st century.