Brill’s Companion to Statius is the first companion volume to be published on arguably the most important Roman poet of the Flavian period. Thirty-four newly commissioned chapters from international experts provide a comprehensive overview of recent approaches to Statius, discuss the fundamental issues and themes of his poetry, and suggest new fruitful areas for research. All of his works are considered: the
Thebaid, his longest extant epic; the
Achilleid, his unfinished epic; and the
Silvae, his collected short poetry. Particular themes explored include the social, cultural, and political issues surrounding his poetry; his controversial aesthetic; the influence of his predecessors upon his poetry; and the scholarly and literary reception of his poetry in subsequent ages to the present.
W. J. Dominik, Ph.D. (1989) in Classics, Monash University, Australia, is Professor of Classics at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He has published extensively on Roman literature and rhetoric, especially of the Flavian era, the classical tradition, and lexicography.
C. E. Newlands, Ph.D. (1984) in Comparative Literature and Medieval Studies, University of California, Berkeley, is Professor of Classics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, USA. She recently published
Silvae: Book II (2011) and
Statius: Between Rome and Naples (2012).
K. Gervais, Ph.D. (2013) in Classics at the University of Otago, New Zealand, is Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. He is preparing a commentary on Statius’
Thebaid 2, and has published on Horace, textual criticism, and the films of Quentin Tarantino.
Contributors: Frederick Ahl, Rhiannon Ash, Antony Augoustakis, Valéry Berlincourt, Neil W. Bernstein, Susanna Braund, Pramit Chaudhuri, Christopher Chinn, Neil Coffee, Cecilia Criado, Peter J. Davis, Jessica S. Dietrich, William J. Dominik, Robert R. Edwards, Randall T. Ganiban, Kyle Gervais, Bruce Gibson, Peter Heslin, Helen Kaufmann, Helen Lovatt, Agis Marinis, Charles McNelis, Dustin Mengelkoch, Laura Micozzi, K. Sara Myers, Carole E. Newlands, Victoria E. Pagán, Ruth Parkes, François Ripoll, Paul Roche, Luke Roman, Gianpiero Rosati, Meike Rühl.
"
In the ‘Introduction’ the editors state that they “have attempted to provide for our readers both an overview of present trends in research and a stimulus to future exploration of Statius, his times, and his reception’ (pp. 13–14). These goals are easily met in the volume and everywhere contributors point to fertile avenues for future research. Students and scholars alike will find much value here." Andrew M. McClellan,
Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2016.03.43. ''William Dominik, Carole Newlands, and Kyle Gervais present a monumental volume devoted to Statius’ poetry, offering a very wide range of perspectives in more than thirty chapters amounting to seven hundred pages. It will certainly become a standard reference publication not just in Statian, but also in Flavian studies. The brilliant array of scholars who have contributed to the volume ensures its high quality.'' Ana Lóio,
Euphrosyne 2017.45
Preface
Texts and Abbreviations
Notes on Contributors
part 1 – Introduction 1 Reading Statius
Carole E. Newlands, Kyle Gervais, and William J. Dominik
part 2 - Beginnings 2 Statius on Invocation and Inspiration
K. Sara Myers 3 The Silvae: Poetics of Impromptu and Cultural Consumption
Gianpiero Rosati 4 The Beginnings of the
Achilleid Randall T. Ganiban
part 3 - Social and Cultural Matters 5 Creating the Distinguished Addressee: Literary Patronage in the Works of Statius
Meike Rühl 6 Gift and Society in the Works of Statius
Neil Coffee 7 Negative Stereotypes of Wealth in the Works of Statius
Bruce Gibson 8 Family and Kinship in the Works of Statius
Neil W. Bernstein
part 4 - Transgressive Poetics: The Achilleid 9 Statius’
Achilleid: The Paradoxical Epic
Peter J. Davis 10 Intertext, Metapoetry, and Visuality in the
Achilleid Christopher Chinn 11 Similes and Gender in the
Achilleid Charles McNelis
part 5 - Conflict, Power, and Death in the Thebaid 12 “War Came in Disarray . . .” (
Thebaid 7.616): Statius and the Depiction of Battle
Rhiannon Ash 13 Parent-Child Conflict in the
Thebaid Kyle Gervais 14 Transgressing Boundaries of the Unthinkable: Sophocles, Ovid, Vergil, Seneca, and Homer Refracted in Statius’
Thebaid Frederick Ahl 15 Similes and Their Programmatic Role in the
Thebaid William J. Dominik 16 The Constitutional Status of Euripidean and Statian Theseus: Some Aspects of the Criticism of Absolute Power in the
Thebaid Cecilia Criado 17 Dead Woman Walking: Jocasta in the
Thebaid Jessica S. Dietrich
part 6 - Predecessors and Contemporaries 18 Statius’ Epic Poetry: A Challenge to the Literary Past
Laura Micozzi 19 Statius’
Thebaid and Greek Tragedy: The Legacy of Thebes
Agis Marinis 20
Georgics 2.497 and
Thebaid 1.19–20: Allusion and Inspiration
Victoria E. Pagán 21 Statius and Senecan Drama
Antony Augoustakis 22 Lucan’s
De Bello Civili in the
Thebaid Paul Roche 23 Following after Valerius: Argonautic Imagery in the
Thebaid Helen Lovatt 24 Statius and Silius Italicus
François Ripoll 25 Statius and Martial: Post-vatic Self-fashioning in Flavian Rome
Luke Roman
part 7 - Reception 26 Reading Statius Through a Biographical Lens
Ruth Parkes 27 Papinius Noster: Statius in Roman Late Antiquity
Helen Kaufmann 28 Medieval Statius: Belatedness and Authority
Robert R. Edwards 29 Statius in Dante’s Commedia
Peter Heslin 30 The
Thebaid in Italian Renaissance Epic: The Case of Capaneus
Pramit Chaudhuri 31 Early Modern
Thebaid: The Latin Commentary Tradition
Valéry Berlincourt 32 Statian
Recusatio: Angelo Poliziano and John Dryden
Dustin Mengelkoch 33 Naturalizing Statius
Susanna Braund 34 Statius in an Ideological Climate
Carole E. Newlands
Bibliography
Index Locorum
General Index
All interested in Classics in general and Roman literature in particular, and scholars of medieval, Renaissance, and early modern literature, for whom Statius is a major Latin poet.