Statius' Thebaid and the Poetics of Civil War
This study focuses on ways in which Statius' epic Thebaid, a poem about the civil war between Oedipus' sons Eteocles and Polynices, reflects the theme of internal discord in its narrative strategies. At the same time that Statius reworks the Homeric and Virgilian epic traditions, he engages with Hellenistic poetic ideals as exemplified by Callimachus and the Roman Callimachean poets, especially Ovid. The result is a tension between the impulse towards the generic expectations of warfare and the desire for delay and postponement of such conflict. Ultimately, Statius adheres to the mythic paradigm of the mutual fratricide, but he continues to employ competing strategies that call attention to the fictive nature of any project of closure and conciliation. In the process, the poem offers a new mode of epic closure that emphasises individual means of resolution.
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Statius' Thebaid and the Poetics of Civil War
This study focuses on ways in which Statius' epic Thebaid, a poem about the civil war between Oedipus' sons Eteocles and Polynices, reflects the theme of internal discord in its narrative strategies. At the same time that Statius reworks the Homeric and Virgilian epic traditions, he engages with Hellenistic poetic ideals as exemplified by Callimachus and the Roman Callimachean poets, especially Ovid. The result is a tension between the impulse towards the generic expectations of warfare and the desire for delay and postponement of such conflict. Ultimately, Statius adheres to the mythic paradigm of the mutual fratricide, but he continues to employ competing strategies that call attention to the fictive nature of any project of closure and conciliation. In the process, the poem offers a new mode of epic closure that emphasises individual means of resolution.
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Statius' Thebaid and the Poetics of Civil War

Statius' Thebaid and the Poetics of Civil War

by Charles McNelis
Statius' Thebaid and the Poetics of Civil War

Statius' Thebaid and the Poetics of Civil War

by Charles McNelis

Overview

This study focuses on ways in which Statius' epic Thebaid, a poem about the civil war between Oedipus' sons Eteocles and Polynices, reflects the theme of internal discord in its narrative strategies. At the same time that Statius reworks the Homeric and Virgilian epic traditions, he engages with Hellenistic poetic ideals as exemplified by Callimachus and the Roman Callimachean poets, especially Ovid. The result is a tension between the impulse towards the generic expectations of warfare and the desire for delay and postponement of such conflict. Ultimately, Statius adheres to the mythic paradigm of the mutual fratricide, but he continues to employ competing strategies that call attention to the fictive nature of any project of closure and conciliation. In the process, the poem offers a new mode of epic closure that emphasises individual means of resolution.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780521123617
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication date: 11/19/2009
Pages: 216
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Charles McNelis is Assistant Professor of Classics at Georgetown University, Washington DC.

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. Gods, humans and the literary tradition; 2. Beginning; 3. Nemea; 4. Middle; 5. Heroic deaths; 6. End.
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Related Subjects

Literature
Literary Criticism
Poetry - Literary Criticism
Ancient & Medieval Literature
Ancient Roman Poetry - Literary Criticism
Literature
Literary Criticism
Poetry - Literary Criticism
Ancient & Medieval Literature
Ancient Roman Poetry - Literary Criticism

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