This is the first volume of a five-volume commentary on the third book of Apollonius’s Argonautica , one of the most influential and admired products of the Hellenistic era. The author sets out to deal with all important aspects of the work. In particular, attention is paid to the poet’s constant manipulation of the two Homeric epics. Many thorny problems of text and interpretation are examined, and illustrative material drawn from Greek and Roman poetry of various genres and periods is used to shed light on a number of issues. The volume closes with a series of indexes dealing with diction, models and imitations, language and style, metre, transmission, mythology, religion, geography, ethnography and aetiology.