“There is no benefit when music stands secret and hidden.” — Lucian

Apollonious Rhodius’ Argonautica has a curious relationship with the two Homeric epics, the Odyssey and the Iliad. For although it was written about 500 years after them, around the 3rd century BCE, it takes place one generation before the heroes of the Trojan War, as many of their fathers were members of the fabled Argonautic expedition.

As the only surviving hellenistic epic, the Argonautica was an ambitious attempt to both imitate Homer, as well as include those breakthroughs in geography, ethnography, history, and literature that had been made during the time of the Library of Alexandria. Although it tackles a well-known myth, it introduces new elements, from the internal monologue to the romance, unknown to the epic genre until then. Accordingly, Apollonius’ epic is quite shorter than the works of Homer, consisting of only four books. This brevity is thought to have been a result of the influence of Aristotle, as well as Callimachus, an extremely influential Alexandrine scholar and literary critic.

This is a curated selection of stories & verses from the great epic so that you can narrate its key moments with your lyre, adding one of the most significant and compelling stories of the ancient world to your repertoire.

Song list: Invocation to Apollo ✦ The Gathering of the Heroes ✦ The Women of Lemnos ✦ King Amycus ✦ The Clashing Rocks (The Symplegades) ✦ Medea and the Trials of Jason ✦ The Golden Fleece ✦ The Sirens ✦ Hesperides

“This Sheet Music Book is our latest addition to our effort to enrich the available educational resources for lyre and lyre-like musical instruments,” Nikolaos Koumartzis, the series’ director, explains.

This book is part of the Lyre Sheet Music series, which features some of the greatest lyre players around the world, including Lina Palera, Thanasis Kleopas, Michael Levy, and Theodore Koumartzis.

Pages: 40 | Dimensions: 9 x 12 inches | sheet music for lyres or kitharas with 7 or more strings

_Credits
Nikolaos Koumartzis, D.Phil. (editor-in-chief)
Fotis Giantsios, M.Litt. (research director)
Lina Palera (composer)