SOURCE: "Love, Fate, and Deceit: Some Principal Themes in the Argonautica," in Unity and Coherence: Studies in Apollonius Rhodius's "Argonautica" and the Alexandrian Epic Tradition, Lund University Press, 1992, pp. 1-21.

In the excerpt below, Nyberg replies to the criticism that the Argonautica lacks narrative unity, arguing that the poem's unity is found in its themes and imagery.

1 Unity and Coherence

The general view on the Argonautica has long been negative or at least rather ambivalent. As Levin has observed, there has been a tendency

to approach the Argonautica in connection with studies whose primary focus, if not bias as well, is directed towards some predecessor, successor or contemporary rather than Apollonius himself.¹

The outcome of such comparative studies has not been in Apollonius' favour as he is invariably considered inferior to his predecessors (Homer) or followers (Vergil, Valerius Flaccus). Some episodes, especially in the third book, are admitted...