The Transvestite Achilles: Gender and Genre in Statius' Achilleid

370 Pages·2005·4.01 MB·English

by  P. J. Heslin

the transvestite achilles
Statius’ Achilleid is a playful, witty, and allusive epic in the manner of
Ovid. As we follow Achilles’ metamorphosis from wild boy to demure
girltopassionatelovertofiercehero,thepoetbrilliantlyillustratesaseries
ofcontrastingcodesofbehavior:maleandfemale,epicandelegiac.This
firstfull-lengthstudyofthepoemaddressesnotonlythenarrativeitself,
butalsosetsthemythofAchillesonScyroswithinabroadinterpretive
framework. This exploration ranges from the reception of the Achilleid
inBaroqueoperatotheanthropologicalparallelsthathavebeenadduced
toexplainthemythofAchilles’transvestism.Theexpansiveapproachof
this study, which contributes to discussions of Latin intertextuality, the
earlyreceptionofOvid,psychoanalyticperspectivesonancientliterature,
and theorizations of gender in antiquity, makes it essential reading not
onlyforstudentsofStatius,butalsoforstudentsofLatinliteratureand
ofgenderinantiquity.
p.j.heslin is a lecturer in the Department of Classics and Ancient
HistoryattheUniversityofDurham.

(cid:1)
The Transve ite Achilles
Gender and Genre in Statius’ Achilleid
p j heslin
. .
(cid:1)
cambridge university press
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©P.J.Heslin2005
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without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
Firstpublishedinprintformat 2005
isbn-13 978-0-511-13043-4 eBook (NetLibrary)
isbn-10 0-511-13043-0
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forexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,anddoesnot
guaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
What Song the Syrens ſang, or what name Achilles a(cid:2)umed
when he hid himſelf among women, though puzling Queſ-
tionsarenotbeyondallconje(cid:3)ure.
ThomasBrowne,Hydriotaphia,orUrne-Buriall
For Aideen

Contents
Acknowledgments · ix
Introduction · xi
1. OpeningNightsattheOpera1641–1744 · 1
2. TheDesignoftheAchilleid · 57
3. Womanhood,Rhetoric,andPerformance · 105
4. Semivir,Semifer,Semideus · 157
5. TransvestisminMythandRitual · 193
6. Rape,Repetition,andRomance · 237
7. Conclusion · 277
WorksCited · 301
IndexLocorum · 331
GeneralIndex · 343
vii

Acknowledgments
It was KathleenColemanwhofirstsuggestedthatIshouldgooffandread
Statius,andeversincethenshehasbeenunfailinginhersupportformywork.
At Trinity College, Dublin, she supervised from beginning to end the Ph.D.
thesisfromwhichthisbookhasdeveloped,providingconstantencouragement
andmeticulouscriticism.WhenshemovedtoHarvard,Kathyarrangedforme
tospendayearthereasavisitinggraduatestudent,anditwasthenthatmuch
ofthepresentworkwaswrittenorrewritten.IthankGregoryNagy,Richard
Tarrant,RichardThomas,andtheentireDepartmentoftheClassicsfortheir
hospitality, and Dean Christoph Wolff of the Graduate School of Arts and
SciencesatHarvardforprovidingthegenerousfinancialsupportthatenabled
metostay.IwouldalsoliketothankGloriaFerrariandAlbertHenrichs,who
readportionsofthisworkandmadevaluablesuggestions.
IwasfortunatetohavehadStephenHindsandDamienNelisasexaminers
ofmythesis;theygavemeagreatdealofencouragementanddetailedsugges-
tionsforrevision.IwasalsoveryluckyinthefeedbackIgotfromthereaders
forthepress:AlessandroBarchiesibroughttomyattentionverymanyimpor-
tantitemsofbibliographyofwhichIwouldotherwisehavebeenignorant,and
ElaineFantham’sskepticaleyehelpedtoimprovetheargumentinanumberof
places. My editor, Michael Sharp, and my superb copy-editor, Angela Black-
burn, generously put up with the idiosyncrasies of an author who insisted on
designinghisownbook.
Forvariouskindsofhelpalongtheway,Iwouldliketothank:HaraldAn-
derson,JanBremmer,JonathanBurgess,LeslieCahoon,JohnDillon,Andrew
Erskine,EdithHall,ChristineMorris,PeterRhodes,ChristopherRowe,and
BenTipping.IamgratefultomycolleaguesatDurhamforallowingmeaterm
ofleavein2002,whichenabledmetofinishtheresearchforthisbook.
Mygreatestdebtistomywife,Aideen,forherpatienceandsupport.
ix