Statius' Thebaid and the Poetics of Civil War

Charles McNelis author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:8th Feb '07

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Statius' Thebaid and the Poetics of Civil War cover

A significant reading of the epic which argues that its narrative strategies reflect the theme of internal discord.

This highly original study argues that Statius' epic Thebaid reflects the theme of internal discord in its narrative strategies. The Homeric and Virgilian epic traditions compete with Hellenistic poetic ideals to produce a tension between the impulse towards the generic expectations of warfare and the deferral of such conflict.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.

"a welcome addition to Statian scholarship...The book is extremely nuanced and works at a number of levels." ―BMCR

ISBN: 9780521867412

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 16mm

Weight: 490g

214 pages