SOURCE: An introduction to The Renewal of Epic: Responses to Homer in the "Argonautica" of Apollonius, E. J. Brill, 1995, pp. 1-48.

In the following excerpt, Knight explores Appolonius's extensive use of the Iliad and the Odyssey as literary models and as sources of allusions and similes.

The Argonautica has now emerged from a long period of comparative neglect to be considered in its own right, rather than merely as a stepping stone between Homer and Virgil. It may seem surprising, then, that I shall throughout this work measure the Argonautica against the Homeric epics, both in verbal detail and in more general themes. This approach is not intended to be opposed to those which study the poem without reference to its mnodels; rather, it will be used to explore one particular aspect of Apollonius' poetic technique to show how it reinforces the others.

Until recently, progress in criticism...