Family in Flavian Epic

Family in Flavian Epic
Author: Nikoletta Manioti
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2016-08-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004324666

Family in Flavian Epic examines the treatment of family bonds in Valerius Flaccus’ Argonautica, Statius’ Thebaid and Achilleid, and Silius Italicus’ Punica. The eleven contributions consider the representation of epic parents, children, siblings, and spouses, and their interaction with each other, demonstrating the Flavian poets’ engagement with their epic, and more generally literary, tradition. At the same time, Roman attitudes towards the family and Flavian concerns especially related to dynastic harmony and civil war also characterise both historical and mythological members of Flavian epic families.

In the Image of the Ancestors

In the Image of the Ancestors
Author: Neil Bernstein
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2008-08-09
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1442693037

Only four Roman epic poems survive from the Flavian period (69-96 AD): Valerius Flaccus's Argonautica, Statius's Thebaid and Achilleid, and Silius Italicus's Punica. Neil W. Bernstein argues that these poems contain depictions of kinship that are significantly different from earlier epic and examines these representations in the context of the social, political, and aesthetic changes of the early Imperial period. The author analyses various kinds of kinship, including biological relationships, elective relationships such as marriage and adoption, and the symbolic bonds of social and political allegiances, to illuminate the complex ways in which the Roman upper class asserted their status with or without noble lineage. A fresh and fascinating look at not only Roman poetry, but the epic tradition itself, In the Image of the Ancestors is essential reading for classicists and literary historians.

Lucan and Flavian Epic

Lucan and Flavian Epic
Author: Kyle Gervais
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 131
Release: 2023-12-11
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9004690700

Roman imperial epic is enjoying a moment in the sun in the twenty-first century, as Lucan, Valerius Flaccus, Statius, and Silius Italicus have all been the subject of a remarkable increase in scholarly attention and appreciation. Lucan and Flavian epic characterizes and historicizes that moment, showing how the qualities of the poems and the histories of their receptions have brought about the kind of analysis and attention they are now receiving. Serving both experienced scholars of the poems and students interested in them for the first time, this book offers a new perspective on current and future directions in scholarship.

Reading Fear in Flavian Epic

Reading Fear in Flavian Epic
Author: Dalida Agri
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2022-06-02
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0192675419

This book examines the textual representations of emotions, fear in particular, through the lens of Stoic thought and their impact on depictions of power, gender, and agency. It first draws attention to the role and significance of fear, and cognate emotions, in the tyrant's psyche, and then goes on to explore how these emotions, in turn, shape the wider narratives. The focus is on the lengthy epics of Valerius Flaccus' Argonautica, Statius' Thebaid, and Silius Italicus' Punica. All three poems are obsessed with men in power with no power over themselves, a marked concern that carries a strong Senecan fingerprint. Seneca's influence on post-Neronian epic can be felt beyond his plays. His Epistles and other prose works prove particularly illuminating for each of the poet's gendered treatment of the relationship between power and emotion. By adopting a Roman Stoic perspective, both philosophical and cultural, this study brings together a cluster of major ideas to draw meaningful connections and unlock new readings.

Flavian Epic Interactions

Flavian Epic Interactions
Author: Gesine Manuwald
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 460
Release: 2013-08-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 3110314304

This volume on the three Flavian epic poets (Valerius Flaccus, Statius and Silius Italicus) for the first time critically engages with a unique set-up in Roman literary history: the survival of four epic poems from the same period (Argonautica; Thebaid, Achilleid; Punica). The interactions of these poems with each other and their contemporary context are explored by over 20 experts and emerging scholars. Topics studied include the political dimension of the epics, their use of epic themes and techniques and their intertextual relationship among each other and to predecessors. The recent upsurge of interest in Flavian epic has been focussed on the analysis of individual works. Looking at these poems together now allows the appreciation of their similarities and nuanced differences in the light of their shared position in literary and political history and gives insights into the literary culture of the period. The different approaches and backgrounds of the contributors ensure the presentation of a range of viewpoints. Together they offer new perspectives to the still increasing readership of Flavian epic poetry but also to anyone interested in the epic genre within Roman literature or other cultures more generally.

Flavian Epic

Flavian Epic
Author: Antony Augoustakis
Publisher: Oxford Readings in Classical S
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780199650668

The epics of the three Flavian poets--Silius Italicus, Statius, and Valerius Flaccus--have, in recent times, attracted the attention of scholars, who have re-evaluated the particular merits of Flavian poetry as far more than imitation of the traditional norms and patterns. Drawn from sixty years of scholarship, this edited collection is the first volume to collate the most influential modern academic writings on Flavian epic poetry, revised and updated to provide both scholars and students alike with a broad yet comprehensive overview of the field. A wide range of topics receive coverage, and analysis and interpretation of individual poems are integrated throughout. The plurality of the critical voices included in the volume presents a much-needed variety of approaches, which are used to tackle questions of intertextuality, gender, poetics, and the social and political context of the period. In doing so, the volume demonstrates that by engaging in a complex and challenging intertextual dialogue with their literary predecessors, the innovative epics of the Flavian poets respond to contemporary needs, expressing overt praise, or covert anxiety, towards imperial rule and the empire.

Elements of Tragedy in Flavian Epic

Elements of Tragedy in Flavian Epic
Author: Sophia Papaioannou
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2021-01-18
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 311070997X

In the light of recent scholarly work on tragic patterns and allusions in Flavian epic, the publication of a volume exclusively dedicated to the relationship between Flavian epic and tragedy is timely. The volume, concentrating on the poetic works of Silius Italicus, Statius and Valerius Flaccus, consists of eight original contributions, two by the editors themselves and a further six by experts on Flavian epic. The volume is preceded by an introduction by the editors and it concludes with an ‘Afterword’ by Carole E. Newlands. Among key themes analysed are narrative patterns, strategies or type-scenes that appear to derive from tragedy, the Aristotelian notions of hamartia and anagnorisis, human and divine causation, the ‘transfer’ of individual characters from tragedy to epic, as well as instances of tragic language and imagery. The volume at hand showcases an array of methodological approaches to the question of the presence of tragic elements in epic. Hence, it will be of interest to scholars and students in the area of Classics or Literary Studies focusing on such intergeneric and intertextual connections; it will be also of interest to scholars working on Flavian epic or on the ancient reception of Greek and Roman tragedy.

Statius and Ovid

Statius and Ovid
Author: Tommaso Spinelli
Publisher:
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2024-05-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 1009282247

This is the first in-depth exploration of the extent and significance of Ovidian intertexts in Statius' Thebaid, with particular emphasis on the interplay between poetics, politics, and material culture. Introducing New Historicist, Cultural Materialistic, and Intermedial approaches to Latin literature, it suggests that, despite their Virgilian patina, Statius' depictions of landscapes, heroes, and gods are pervaded by verbal and semantic allusions to Ovid's mythical narratives. This multi-layered allusivity not only prompts alternative readings of the Augustan classics, but also challenges the reader's perceptions of the Augustanising worldview that the urban landscape of Flavian Rome was arguably meant to convey. The poetic and political significance of Statius' Theban saga thereby moves from critically rewriting the Aeneid to reflecting on the new socio-political issues of Flavian Rome. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.

Narratives in Silius Italicus’ Punica

Narratives in Silius Italicus’ Punica
Author: Pieter Van Den Broek
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2023-11-13
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9004685839

This study investigates the role of embedded narratives in Silius Italicus’ Punica, an epic from the late first century AD on the Second Punic War (218–202 BC). At first sight, these narratives seem to be loosely ‘embedded’ in the epic, having their own plot and being situated in a different time or place than the main narrative. A closer look reveals, however, that they foreshadow or recall elements that are found elsewhere in the epic. In this way, they serve as ‘mirrors’ of the main narrative. The larger part of this book consists of four detailed case studies.

Anticipation and Anachrony in Statius’ Thebaid

Anticipation and Anachrony in Statius’ Thebaid
Author: Robert Simms
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2019-10-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 1350082597

Applying the latest narratological theory and focusing on the use of anachrony (or 'chronological deviation'), this book explores how Statius competes – successfully – for a place within an established literary canon. Given the tremendous pressure on poets to render familiar stories in unfamiliar and novel ways, how did he achieve this? When Statius elected to sing of the quarrelsome sons of Oedipus he was acutely aware that this was a well-trod road, one frequently reproduced in a variety of genres – epic, drama and lyric poetry. Despite this highly varied corpus against which he sought to contend, he boasts that his epic has novelty and proudly declares that he is now counted among the 'prisca nomina', or ancient names, that sang of Thebes. And indeed precisely the fact that there were so many story-versions (a greater number survive for comparison than for any other work from antiquity, rivaling even the popularity of the Trojan legend) means that the story is conveniently positioned to offer a unique exploration into how Statius creates a compelling story despite working within a saturated and overly familiar mythic tradition. This book argues that it is chiefly through the use of narrative anachrony, or non-chronological modes of narration, that Statius manipulates states of anticipation, suspense, and even surprise in his audience.