Statius and Virgil: The Thebaid and the Reinterpretation of the Aeneid

270 Pages·2007·2.03 MB·English

by  Randall T. Ganiban

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STATIUS AND VIRGIL
At the end of the Thebaid, Statius enjoins his epic “not to compete
withthedivineAeneidbutrathertofollowatadistanceandalways
revere its footprints.” The nature of the Thebaid’s interaction with
theAeneid is,however,amatterofgreatdebate.Thisbookarguesthat
theThebaid reworksthemes,scenes,andideasfromVirgilinorderto
showthattheAeneid’srepresentationofmonarchyisinadequate.It
alsodemonstrateshowtheThebaid’sfascinationwithhorror,specta-
cle,andunspeakableviolenceistiedtoStatius’critiqueofthemoral
and political virtues at the heart of the Aeneid. Professor Ganiban
offersbothanewwaytointerprettheThebaidandalargelysequen-
tialreadingofthepoem.
randall ganibanisAssociateProfessorofClassicsatMiddlebury
College,Vermont.

STATIUS AND VIRGIL
The Thebaid and the Reinterpretation of the Aeneid
RANDALL T. GANIBAN
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
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©RandallTothGaniban2007
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Firstpublishedinprintformat 2007
ISBN-13 978-0-511-27359-9 eBook(EBL)
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Contents
Preface pageviii
Listofabbreviations x
1 Introduction 1
2 Oedipus’curse 24
3 Horror, prophecy, and the gods 44
4 Hypsipyle’snarrativeofnefas 71
5 Bacchusandtheoutbreakofwar 96
6 Disandthedominationofhell 117
7 DelayandtheroutofPietas 152
8 Spectacle,crime,andmonarchyatThebes 176
9 Pietas,burial,andclementiainaworldofnefas 207
Workscited 233
Generalindex 243
Indexlocorum 249
vii
Preface
ThisbookbeganasadissertationonnefasintheThebaidandhasevolved
intoamonographthatinterpretsStatius’epicasapoliticalcritiqueofthe
Aeneid. Along the way a number of institutions and individuals provided
invaluable help. My dissertation work benefited from the support of the
PrincetonClassicsDepartment,anassistantmastership(underBobHollan-
der and Ted Champlin) at Princeton’s Butler College, a Ford Foundation
dissertation fellowship, and the helpful counsel of those who at various
times served on my dissertation committee: Elaine Fantham (director),
DenisFeeney,GeorgiaNugent,andAlessandroSchiesaro.
More recently, Jim O’Hara offered helpful suggestions as I was recon-
ceptualizing the project. Generous support from Middlebury College in
theformofacademicleavesandfundingforconferencetravelgavemethe
timetotransformthedissertationintothepresentwork.EveAdler,Antony
Augoustakis,NeilBernstein,CharlesMcNelis,KarlaPollmann,andMarc
Witkin read various chapters and gave me many helpful and insight-
ful comments, as did the readers for Cambridge University Press. Tony
Woodman offered wonderful advice at an important moment. Rebecca
Scholtz and Sarah Miller, my research assistants at Middlebury, helped
track down articles through interlibrary loan, and my advanced Latin
class on the Thebaid in the Fall of 2004 carefully considered a number
ofmyinterpretivearguments.ThehospitalityoftheHarvardDepartment
of the Classics, where I was a visiting scholar during the academic year
2005–6,enabledmetofinalizethismanuscriptefficientlyandcomfortably.
Michael Sharp of Cambridge University Press has been unfailingly kind,
helpful, and supportive throughout the entire process. Jane Chaplin, my
colleagueatMiddlebury,andElaineFantham,mygraduateschooladvisor,
have both been unstinting with their time and advice. Finally, Elizabeth
viii