Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica Book I

Valerius, a member of the Roman patrician class, seems to have died about 90 AD, perhaps leaving unfinished his long poem on the Argonauts in the middle of the eighth book. Retired Dutch classicist Kleywegt elucidates the text of the first book, the sense of which remains unclear in some places, and in others has not even been established in a satisfactory manner. The Latin text he uses is based primarily on Liberman's 1997 edition. His analysis follows the story and the poem from the prooemium through Thessaly and the journey outward bound, to home and parents Readers are presumed to be reasonably familiar with ancient literature in general and with the Roman epic in particular. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

A.J. Kleywegt studied Classics at Leiden University (Ph.D. 1961), taught at several schools, and later joined the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where he was Professor of Latin from 1977 to 1993. He has published several articles on Valerius Flaccus.