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Author: Statius
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801458080
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 541
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Book Description
The Thebaid, a Latin epic in twelve books by Statius (c. 45–96 C. E.) reexamines events following the abdication of Oedipus, focusing on the civil war between the brothers Eteocles, King of Thebes, and Polynices, who comes at the head of an army from Argos to claim his share of royal power. The poem is long—each of the twelve books comprises over eight hundred lines—and complex, and it exploits a broad range of literary works, both Greek and Latin. Severely curtailed though he was by the emperor Domitian and his Reign of Terror, Statius nevertheless created a meditation on autocratic rule that is still of political interest today. Popular in its own time and much admired in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance—most notably by Dante and Chaucer—the poem fell into obscurity and has, for readers of English, been poorly served by translators. Statius composed his poem in dactylic hexameters, the supreme verse form in antiquity. In his hands, this venerable line is flexible, capable of subtle emphases and dramatic shifts in tempo; it is an expressive, responsive medium. In this new and long-awaited translation the poet Jane Wilson Joyce employs a loose, six-beat line in her English translation, which allows her to reveal something of the original rhythm and of the interplay between sentence structure and verse framework. The clarity of Joyce's translation highlights the poem's superb versification, sophisticated use of intertextuality, and bold formal experimentation and innovation. A substantial introduction and annotations make this epic accessible to students of all levels.
Author: Statius
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801458080
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 541
Get Book Here
Book Description
The Thebaid, a Latin epic in twelve books by Statius (c. 45–96 C. E.) reexamines events following the abdication of Oedipus, focusing on the civil war between the brothers Eteocles, King of Thebes, and Polynices, who comes at the head of an army from Argos to claim his share of royal power. The poem is long—each of the twelve books comprises over eight hundred lines—and complex, and it exploits a broad range of literary works, both Greek and Latin. Severely curtailed though he was by the emperor Domitian and his Reign of Terror, Statius nevertheless created a meditation on autocratic rule that is still of political interest today. Popular in its own time and much admired in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance—most notably by Dante and Chaucer—the poem fell into obscurity and has, for readers of English, been poorly served by translators. Statius composed his poem in dactylic hexameters, the supreme verse form in antiquity. In his hands, this venerable line is flexible, capable of subtle emphases and dramatic shifts in tempo; it is an expressive, responsive medium. In this new and long-awaited translation the poet Jane Wilson Joyce employs a loose, six-beat line in her English translation, which allows her to reveal something of the original rhythm and of the interplay between sentence structure and verse framework. The clarity of Joyce's translation highlights the poem's superb versification, sophisticated use of intertextuality, and bold formal experimentation and innovation. A substantial introduction and annotations make this epic accessible to students of all levels.
Author: Charles McNelis
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139462911
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 214
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Book Description
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.
Author: Stefano Rebeggiani
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190882921
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 334
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Book Description
Statius' narrative of the fraternal strife of the Theban brothers Eteocles and Polynices has had a profound influence on Western literature and fascinated generations of scholars and readers. This book studies in detail the poem's view of power and its interaction with historical contexts. Written under Domitian and in the aftermath of the civil war of 69 CE, the Thebaid uses the veil of myth to reflect on the political reality of imperial Rome. The poem offers its contemporary readers, including the emperor, a cautionary tale of kingship and power. Rooted in a pessimistic view of human beings and human relationships, the Thebaid reflects on the harsh necessity of monarchical power as the only antidote to a world always on the verge of returning to chaos. While humans, and especially kings, are fragile and often the prey of irrational passions, the Thebaid expresses the hope that an illuminated sovereign endowed with clementia (mercy) may offer a solution to the political crisis of the Roman empire. Statius' narrative also responds to Domitian's problematic interaction with the emperor Nero, whom Domitian regarded as both a negative model and a secret source of inspiration. With The Fragility of Power, Stefano Rebeggiani offers thoughtful parallels between the actions of the Thebaid and the intellectual activities and political views formulated by the groups of Roman aristocrats who survived Nero's repression. He argues that the poem draws inspiration from an initial phase in Domitian's regime characterized by a positive relationship between the emperor and the Roman elite. Statius creates a number of innovative strategies to negotiate elements of continuity between Domitian and Nero, so as to show that, while Domitian recuperated aspects of Nero's self-presentation, he was no second Nero. Statius' poem interacts with aspects of imperial ideology under Domitian: Statius' allusions to the stories of Phaethon and Hercules engage Domitian's use of solar symbols and his association with Hercules. This book also shows that the Thebaid adapts previous texts (in particular Lucan's Bellum Civile) in order to connect the mythical subject of its narrative with the historical experience of civil war in Rome in 69 CE. By moving past recent solely aesthetic readings of the Thebaid, The Fragility of Power offers a serious and thoughtful addition to the recent scholarship in Statian studies.
Author: Ruth Parkes
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 9780199695256
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Thebaid is a Latin epic, composed by Statius in AD 80-92, about the mythological story of the expedition of the seven warriors against Thebes. In this volume Parkes offers the first full-length scholarly commentary on the whole of Thebaid 4, with text and apparatus criticus, an English translation, and a comprehensive introduction.
Author: Johannes Jacobus Louis Smolenaars
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004171347
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 289
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Book Description
The Roman poet P. Papinius Statius (ca. 45-96) is the author of two epics (the "Thebaid" and the unfinished "Achilleid") and a large corpus of occasional verse ("Silvae"). This poetry, long seen as derivative or decadent, is increasingly appreciated for the daring and originality of its responses both to the Greek and Latin literary tradition and to the contemporary Roman world. This volume offers the papers delivered at a symposium on Statius (Amsterdam 2005) by leading scholars in the field from Europe and North America. These papers demonstrate the fascination of Statius' poetry on account of the poet's vast knowledge of Greek and Latin tragedy, his rapid narrative, psychological acumen, brilliant eulogies, and pessimistic views on gods and men. The focus of the collection is on literary technique in the "Thebaid," on socio-historical aspects of the "Silvae," and on the reception of Statius in European literature and scholarship.
Author: William J. Dominik
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9789004099722
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 228
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Book Description
This critical study of Statius' "Thebaid" focuses on the central theme of power how it is exercised on the supernatural and human levels, the consequences of its pursuit and abuse in terms of the human condition, and the question of its contemporary relevance.
Author: Karla Pollmann
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Epic poetry, Latin
Languages : de
Pages : 320
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Book Description
Der hier vorgelegte Band stellt den ersten ausführlichen Kommentar zum 12. Buch von Statius' epischer Dichtung Thebais (1. Jh. n. Chr.) dar, welche davor nur von Caspar von Barth (1664) und Abraham John Valpy (1824) lateinisch annotiert worden war. Dieses lange von der Forschung vernachlässigte Werk hat jüngst wegen seiner literarischen Qualität wieder vermehrt Aufmerksamkeit erregt.
Author: Elina Pyy
Publisher: Language of Classical Lite
ISBN: 9789004434905
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 330
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Book Description
"In Women and War in Roman Epic, Elina Pyy discusses the narrative and ideological functions of gender in the works of Virgil, Lucan, Statius, Silius Italicus and Valerius Flaccus. By examining the themes of violence, death, guilt, grief, and anger in their epics, she offers an account of the intertextual tradition of the genre and its socio-political background. Through a combination of classical narratology and Julia Kristeva's subjectivity theory, Pyy scrutinises how gendered marginality is constructed in the genre and how it contributes to the fashioning of Roman imperial identity. Focusing on the ambiguous elements of epic, the study looks beyond the binary oppositions between the Self and the Other, male and female, and Roman and barbarian"--
Author: Publius Papinius Statius
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780199655335
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Composed at the end of the first century CE, Statius' Thebaid recounts the civil war in Thebes between the two sons of Oedipus, Polynices and Eteocles, and the horrific events that take place on the battlefield. Its author, the Roman poet Statius, employed a wide variety of Greco-Roman sourcesin order to narrate the Argive expedition against Thebes and the fratricidal war. Book 8 opens with the descent of the Argive seer Amphiaraus to the Underworld through a chasm of the earth; the soldiers mourn their seer's loss and elect a successor, Thiodamas, who placates Earth (Tellus) through aprayer, before the opening of the second day of hostilities. The book reaches its climax when fierce Tydeus is mortally wounded and dies having committed an act of cannibalism by eating his opponent's brains; Minerva leaves the battlefield in disgust, taking away from her protege the intended giftof immortality.In this volume, Augoustakis presents the first full-length edition of Thebaid 8, with text and apparatus criticus, and an English translation. A detailed introduction discusses the Argive/Theban myth in the Greek and Roman literary tradition and art, as well as the reception of the book insubsequent centuries, especially in Dante's Divine Comedy. The accompanying commentary provides useful notes which explore questions of interpretation and Statius' language and literary craft, with particular emphasis on the exploitation of various Greek and Latin intertexts in Statius'poetry.
Author: Johannes Jacobus Louis Smolenaars
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9789004100299
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 522
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Book Description
This commentary examines in close detail Statius' mannered style and analyses the text as a system of intertextual references. Passages from Homer to Valerius Flaccus were exploited by Statius for his challenging adaptations of 'typical' scenes. The identification of these sources offers the key to interpret the poet's artistic intentions.
