Acknowledgements
This book is a result of a long process that started when I began my doctoral studies in the University of Helsinki. After receiving my PhD in 2014, my plan was to turn my dissertation into an academic monograph as quickly as possible. However, things did not go according to plan: other projects and opportunities presented themselves, and I put my doctoral thesis on the shelf, nevertheless repeatedly returning to its themes in the articles and the conference papers that I wrote. During these years, I matured as a scholar, and my research interests and emphases shifted. As a result, I began to see how my own earlier work could be improved upon by applying the new theoretical frameworks that I had acquired to the study of Roman epic. Hence began the rewriting of my doctoral thesis, the result of which this monograph is. While many parts of the book are based on my dissertation, it is however a completely new and independent study—and in my opinion, a better one.
Because it has been such a long and winding road, I have during the past years become indebted in various ways to many different people and institutions. I wish to thank The Kone Foundation, The Ella and Georg Ehrnrooth Foundation, and the Foundation Institutum Romanum Finlandiae for their financial support—it was because of the research grants that I received from these funding bodies that I was able to take some time off from other projects and focus on the writing of this book. I also want to extend my gratitude to the University of Helsinki, the University of St Andrews, and to my current employer, the Finnish Institute in Rome, for providing me with an inspiring research environment and the resources necessary for my study.
This book would not have been possible without the assistance of numerous friends and colleagues. I wish to thank everyone whose help and support had an impact on my work during my PhD journey—especially Björn Forsén, Katariina Mustakallio, Marja-Leena Hänninen, Maijastina Kahlos, Christopher Smith and Helène Whittaker—as well as the many colleagues who have left their mark on my research and my career during my postdoctoral years. In particular, I want to mention the conferences Homer and the Good Ruler (University of Ghent, 2015), Singles and the Single Life in Roman and Later Roman World (Academia Belgica, Rome, 2015), Revisiting Virgil and Roman Religion (Symposium Cumanum, 2015), Flavian Campania (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, 2015), Growing Up Motherless in Antiquity (University of Basel, 2016), and (De)constructing Masculinity (King’s College London, 2018) as well as the St Andrews School of Classics’ research workshop. Discussions with colleagues on these occassions, and the feedback that I received, had an indispensable impact on this project. My particular gratitude goes to Professor Irene de Jong, who took interest in my work and encouraged me to approach Brill and The Language of Classical Literature with my manuscript. I am also grateful to my editors at Brill, to the anonymous referee for their most helpful and insightful comments, and of course to Brian McNeil for patiently proofreading and correcting my English.
Last but not least, I want to thank my nearest and dearest—my partner Tim, my family, and my friends—for their endless encourangement and interest in my work, and for their love and support during this project.