The Argonauts

Grillparzer, Franz, 1791-1872Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.7

Word count: 97K words
Chapters: 10

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971, and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Die Argonauten by Franz Grillparzer. Author: Grillparzer, Franz, 1791–1872. Language: German. Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures. Release Date: April 1, 2005

Editor's review

Grillparzer's Die Argonauten retells the ancient Greek myth of Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece in the form of a German-language drama. The author does not stop at heroic adventure but turns his gaze to his characters' inner conflicts and the weight of fate, giving the ancient material the psychological depth characteristic of nineteenth-century Austrian drama. As a public-domain e-book, it is moderate in length with taut language, making it a good introductory text for encountering German literary classics and myth-adapted drama. Reading it, one can feel the dramatic rhythm of alternating chorus and dialogue, and note how the author handles the emotional shifts of Medea and other characters as the plot advances. For readers who want to understand how German-language drama transforms classical material, this is a work worth close reading; read alongside the Greek sources, it reveals even more clearly the choices and intentions behind the adaptation.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want to encounter classical myth-adapted drama through the German original
Those with a basic knowledge of the Greek Argonaut legend who wish to see literary re-creation
Students of nineteenth-century German-language drama or Grillparzer's work
Readers who enjoy plays of modest length driven by dialogue and chorus

Not a good fit for

Readers with no German at all who do not intend to use a translation
Readers expecting fast-paced adventure-novel narration or unfamiliar with dramatic conventions
Readers who want only a summary of the myth and are unwilling to read character dialogue closely

Reading tips

First learn the basic outline of the Jason and Golden Fleece legend, then enter the play to reduce obstacles to understanding the plot.
Read in sections by scene, and after each scene note how the chorus's songs comment on the characters' actions.
If German is difficult, proceed alongside a reliable translation, focusing on the dramatic structure.
After finishing, review the Medea passages and compare this play with the traditional figure in Euripides.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this Die Argonauten a novel or a play?

It is a dramatic work by Grillparzer, unfolding through dialogue and chorus; it belongs to the dramatic genre in German literature, not narrative fiction. Read it scene by scene, attending to the stageworthy character dialogue and choral passages.

Can I understand it without having read Greek myth?

You can, but knowing beforehand the basic legend of Jason, the Golden Fleece, and Medea will markedly reduce the difficulty. It is advisable to read a brief myth summary first, then enter the play, to grasp the relationships and plot more quickly.

What is special about this e-edition?

This edition comes from Project Gutenberg and is a free public-domain e-book; the text is in German and classified under Germanic literature. It is easy to search and carry, but contains no modern scholarly annotations, so classical allusions may require separate reference works.

Is it suitable for learning German?

It can serve as material for readers with some German foundation to encounter literary texts, but the dramatic language includes verse and archaic expression and is not suitable as a zero-beginner textbook. Use a dictionary and a translation, and read closely scene by scene rather than for speed.

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About the author

Grillparzer, Franz, 1791-1872 Author

Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872) was an Austrian dramatist and novelist. Publicly available information on the details of his life is limited, but the works he left behind are enough to show his important place in the history of German-language literature. Many of his plays draw on history and classical legend: König Ottokars Glück und Ende and Ein Bruderzwist in Habsburg deal with the rise and fall of dynasties and conflicts over power, while Das goldene Vließ and Medea retell ancient Greek myths. He also wrote works such as Die Jüdin von Toledo, which involves entanglements of love and politics, and Der arme Spielmann, which portrays with delicate strokes the fate of ordinary people. His plays are tightly structured and written in concise language, and he was skilled at revealing his characters' psychological conflicts and moral dilemmas within historical frameworks, exerting a lasting influence on the later development of Austrian drama.