Record Number: 32376

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

(1) 'I have just started the "Argonautica" the Greek poem on the same subject,and though I haven't got very far — only in fact to the launching of the Argo — it is shaping very well. It will be interesting to compare this version with Morris's, although indeed the story of the Golden Fleece is so perfect in itself that it really can't be spoiled in the telling. Don't you find the very names "Argo" and "Argonauts" somehow stirring?' (2) 'I have come to the Hylas part in the Greek Argonautica. He doesn't go into it nearly as fully as Morris, but in some ways it is better.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 7 Jul 1916 and 31 Jul 1916

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

Great Bookham
Surrey
'Gastons'

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Clive Staples Lewis

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

29 Nov 1898

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Student

Religion:

Church of England

Country of Origin:

Northern Ireland

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Apollonius Rhodius

Title:

Argonautica

Genre:

Classics, Poetry, Greek mythology, 3rd century BC epic poem in four books

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

32376

Source:

Print

Author:

C. S. Lewis

Editor:

Walter Hooper

Title:

C. S. Lewis Collected Letters

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

2000

Vol:

1

Page:

209, 221

Additional Comments:

(1) From a letter to Arthur Greeves, 11 July 1916. The 'same subject' refers to William Morris: The Life and Death of Jason (2) From a letter to the same, 25 July 1916

Citation:

C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (ed.), C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, (London, 2000), 1, p. 209, 221, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32376, accessed: 22 November 2024

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Additional Comments:

I cannot determine whether Lewis was reading this in the original Greek, or whether it was part of his formal studies, nor can I determine whether he ever finished it. The poem is in four books, but it takes him two weeks to reach the 'Hylas part', which means that he is still reading Book One. From 1 August until 21 September he is at home in Belfast with little opportunity for reading; this book is not referred to again in his correspondence.