Editing Statius (section)

==Works==
As a poet, Statius was versatile in his abilities and contrived to represent his work as ''[[otium]]''. Taught by his educated father, Statius was familiar with the breadth of classical literature and displayed his learning in his poetry which is densely allusive and has been described as elaborate and mannerist. He was able to compose in [[hexameter]], [[hendecasyllable]], [[Alcaic]], and [[Sapphic stanza|Sapphic]] meters, to produce deeply researched and highly refined epic and polished impromptu pieces, and to treat a variety of themes with the dazzling rhetorical and poetic skill that inspired the support of his patrons and the emperor. Some of Statius's works, such as his poems for his competitions, have been lost; he is recorded as having written an ''Agave'' mime, and a four line fragment remains of his poem on Domitian's military campaigns, the ''De Bello Germanico'' composed for the Alban Games in the scholia to Juvenal 4.94.<ref>''lumina; Nestorei mitis prudentia Crispi/et Fabius Veiento (potentem signat utrumque/purpura, ter memores implerunt nomine fastos)/et prope Caesareae confinis Acilius aulae'') ("lights/eyes; the gentle wisdom of Nestor-like Crispinus, and Fabius Veiento, the purple marks each as eminent, three times have they filled the recording annals with their names--and Acilius, near neighbour of Caesar's palace." trans. [[Susanna Braund|Braund, S. M.]] ''Juvenal Satires Book 1'' (Cambridge, 1996) pg. 251</ref>

===The ''Thebaid''===
{{main| Thebaid (Latin poem)}}

Based on Statius's own testimony, the ''Thebaid'' was written between c. 80 and 92, beginning when the poet was around 35, and the work is thought to have been published in 91 or 92.<ref>Feeney, Dennis ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'' (Oxford, 1996) pg.1439</ref> The poem is divided into twelve books in imitation of [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'' and is composed in dactylic hexameter.<ref>Shackleton Bailey, D.R. ''Statius' Thebaid 1–7'' (Cambridge, 2003) pg.3</ref> In the ''Silvae'', Statius speaks of his extensive work in polishing and revising the ''Thebaid'' and his public recitations of the poem.<ref>''Silv.'' 5.2.161</ref> From the epilogue it seems clear that Statius considered the ''Thebaid'' to be his ''magnum opus'' and believed that it would secure him fame for the future. In the poem, Statius follows Virgil closely as a model (in the epilogue<ref>Theb. 12.810-19.</ref> he acknowledges his debt to Virgil), but he also refers to a wide range of sources in his handling of meter and episodes.
[[Image:Hoplites fight Louvre E735.jpg|thumb|right|400px|The ''Thebaid'' describes the siege of Thebes by the seven Argive champions]]

The poem's theme is the myth of the [[Seven against Thebes]], the story of the battle between the sons of [[Oedipus]] for the throne of [[Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)|Thebes]]. The poem opens (Book 1) with the disgraced Oedipus' curse on his two sons, [[Eteocles]] and [[Polyneices]], who have decided to hold the throne of Thebes in alternate years, one ruling, the other in exile. Jupiter plans a war between Thebes and [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], although Juno begs him not to incite it. Polyneices in exile fights with [[Tydeus]], another exile at [[Adrastus]]' palace; the two are entertained and marry Adrastus' daughters. In Book 2, Tydeus goes to Eteocles to ask him to lay down the throne and yield power, but he refuses and tries to kill Tydeus with an ambush. Tydeus slaughters the Thebans and escapes to Argos, causing Adrastus and Polyneices to declare war on Thebes (Book 3). In the fourth book the Argive forces gather, commanded by the seven champions Adrastus, Polyneices, [[Amphiaraus]], [[Capaneus]], [[Parthenopaeus]], [[Hippomedon]], and Tydeus, and march to Thebes, but at [[Nemea]], Bacchus causes a drought. The army meets [[Hypsipyle]] who shows them a spring then tells them the story of the Women of [[Lemnos]] (Book 5). While she is speaking, her ward, [[Opheltes]], is killed by a snake; in Book 6, the Argives perform games for the dead child, instituting the [[Nemean Games]]. In 7, Jupiter urges the Argives to march on Thebes where battle breaks out during which Amphiaraus is swallowed in the earth. In 8, Tydeus, wounded and dying, kills Melanippus and eats his head; a battle over his body leads to the death of Hippomedon and Parthenopaeus (Book 9). In 10, Juno causes sleep to overcome the Thebans and the Argives slaughter many in the camp; [[Menoeceus]] sacrifices himself to save Thebes and Jupiter kills the wicked Capaneus with a thunderbolt. In 11, Polyneices and Eteocles join in single combat and kill each other; [[Jocasta]] kills herself and [[Creon of Thebes|Creon]] assumes power, forbidding burial of the Argive dead. In the final book, the Argive widows go to [[Athens]] to ask [[Theseus]] to force Creon to allow their husbands' burial while [[Antigone]], Polyneices's sister, and [[Argia]], Polyneices's wife, burns him illicitly. Theseus musters an army and kills Creon. The ''Thebaid'' ends with an epilogue in which the poet prays that his poem will be successful, cautions it not to rival the ''[[Aeneid]]'', and hopes that his fame will outlive him.

Modern critics of the ''Thebaid'' have been divided over interpretations of the epic's tone. Earlier critics in the 19th and 20th century considered the poem a piece of elaborate flattery that vindicated the regime of Domitian; however, more recent scholars have viewed the poem as a subversive work that criticizes the [[authoritarianism]] and violence of the Flavians by focusing on extreme violence and social chaos.<ref>Hardie, P. ''The Epic Successors of Virgil: A Study in the Dynamics of a Tradition'' (Cambridge, 1993).</ref> Statius' use of [[allegory]] in the ''Thebaid'' and his abstract treatment of the gods has been seen as an important innovation in the tradition of classical poetry which ushered in Medieval conventions.<ref>Lewis, C. S. ''[[The Allegory of Love]]'' (1936) pp.48–56</ref> Finally, although earlier scholars criticized the style of the poem as episodic, current scholars have noted the subtlety and skill with which Statius organizes and controls his narrative and description.<ref>Coleman in Bailey, pg.13–18</ref> Other topics discussed in the scholarship on the Thebaid are the pervasive role of madness (furor), time, or the family.<ref>Venini 1964; Hershkowitz 1994; Hershkowitz 1995; Simms 2020; e.g. Bernstein 2003.</ref>

===The ''Silvae''===
{{main|Silvae}}

The ''Silvae'' were probably composed by Statius between 89 and 96. The first three books seem to have been published together after 93, Book 4 was probably released in 95, and Book 5 is thought to have been released posthumously in c. 96.<ref>Shackleton Bailey, D. R. ''Statius Silvae'' (Cambridge, 2003) pg.5</ref> The title of the collection (''silvae'' meaning "forest" or "raw material") was used to describe the draft of a poet's work which was composed impromptu in a moment of strong inspiration and which was then revised into a polished, metrical poem.<ref>Quintilian 10.3.17</ref> This suggests that the ''Silvae'' are revised, impromptu pieces of occasional poetry which were composed in the space of a few days' time. There are thirty-two poems in the collection (almost all with a dedicatee), divided into five books, each with a dedicatory epistle. Of nearly four thousand lines which the books contain, more than five-sixths are [[hexameter]]s. Four of the pieces are written in the hendecasyllabic metre, and there is one [[Alcaic]] and one [[Sapphic stanza|Sapphic]] ode.
 
Subjects of the ''Silvae'' vary widely. Five poems are devoted to the emperor and his favorites, including a description of [[Domitian]]'s equestrian statue in the Forum (1.1), praise for his construction of the [[Via Domiziana|Via Domitiana]] (4.3), and a poem on the dedication of the hair of Earinus, a eunuch favorite of Domitian's, to a shrine of Aesculapius (3.4). Six are lamentations for deaths or consolations to survivors, including the highly personal poems on the death of Statius's father and his foster-son (5.3,5). The poems on loss are particularly notable in the collection and range from consolations on the death of wives (3.3) to pieces on the death of a favorite parrot (2.4) and a lion in the arena (2.5). Another group of the ''Silvae'' give picturesque descriptions of the villas, gardens, and artworks of the poet's friends. In these we have a more vivid representation than elsewhere of the surroundings Roman aristocrats of the empire lived in the country. Important examples include a piece on Pollius's temple to [[Hercules]] (3.1), the aetiology of the tree at Atedius' villa (2.3), an antique statue of [[Lysippus]]'s [[Heracles]] (4.6) and a description of Pollius' villa at [[Surrentum]] (2.2). The rest of the ''Silvae'' consist of congratulatory addresses to friends, and poems for special occasions such as the wedding poem for Stella and Violentilla (2.2), the poem commemorating the poet [[Lucan]]'s birthday (2.7), and a joking piece to Plotius Grypus on a Saturnalia gift (4.9).

As with the ''Thebaid'', Statius's relationship to Domitian and his court caused him to fall out of favor with critics and readers, but in recent times, the ''Silvae'' have been rehabilitated by scholars.<ref>Coleman in Bailey, pp.11–17</ref> Domitian is an important presence in the ''Silvae'', and many of the poems appear to flatter the emperor and court. The content of the ''Silvae'' is primarily dictated by the needs of Statius's [[Patronage in ancient Rome|patrons]], and many of the addressees come from the wealthy, privileged class of landowners and politicians.<ref>{{cite journal |author-last=Cannizzaro |author-first=Francesco |date=July 2021 |title=Statius' ''Silvae'' 4.8 and 4.9: The Poet's Anger and Patronage |editor-last=Nooter |editor-first=Sarah |journal=[[Classical Philology (journal)|Classical Philology]] |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] for the Department of Classics, Division of the Humanities, [[University of Chicago]] |volume=116 |issue=3 |pages=445–455 |doi=10.1086/714432 |s2cid=235598972 |eissn=1546-072X |issn=0009-837X}}</ref> Statius's flattery of these elites has been interpreted in two ways by scholars; some maintain that the collection is highly subversive and is a subtle criticism of Domitian and the Roman aristocracy.<ref>Newlands, C. E. ''Statius' Silvae and the Poetics of Empire'' (Cambridge, 2002)</ref> Others urge a reading of the ''Silvae'' as individual pieces that respond to specific circumstances with their own unique viewpoints.<ref>Nauta, R. R. ''Poetry for Patrons: Literary Communication in the Age of Domitian'' (Leiden, 2002)</ref>

===The ''Achilleid''===
{{main|Achilleid}}

A fragment of his epic poem on the life of [[Achilles]]—the ''[[Achilleid]]''—is also extant, consisting of one book and a few hundred lines of a second.<ref>The best text for both epics is provided by the ninth-century ''Codex Puteaneus'', from the [[Abbey of Corbie]], a manuscript in the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France|Bibliothèque Nationale]] (BN 8051) that was once the property of the humanist [[Claude Dupuy (jurist)|Claude Dupuy]]. The best recent edition is O.A.W. Dilke, (Cambridge 1954), which has more recently been reprinted with a new introduction (Bristol 2005). A new translation in the [[Loeb Classical Library]] is by D. R. Shackleton Bailey.</ref> What was completed of this poem was composed between 94 and 95 based on ''Silvae'' 4.7.21ff.  Statius records that there were recitations of the poem.<ref>''Silv.'' 5.2.161ff.</ref> It is thought that Statius' death in 95 is the reason that the poem remains unfinished. In the first book, Thetis, having foreknowledge of her son's death in the [[Trojan War]], attempts to hide Achilles on the island of Scyros by dressing him up as a girl. On the island, Achilles falls in love with [[Deidamia (mythology)|Deidamia]] and forces her to have sex with him. [[Odysseus|Ulysses]] arrives to recruit Achilles for the war effort and reveals his identity. In the second book, Ulysses and Achilles depart and Achilles gives an account of his early life and tutelage by the centaur [[Chiron]]. The poem breaks off at the end of his speech. In general, scholars have remarked on the markedly different tone of the ''Achilleid'' in comparison with the ''Thebaid'', equating it more to the style of Ovid than Virgil.<ref>[[Elaine Fantham]] in "Statius' Achilles and His Trojan Model" ''The Classical Quarterly'' New Series, '''29'''.2 (1979, pp. 457–462) p 457 describes it as "a more varied and charming work than readers of the ''Thebaid'' could ever have imagined and is perhaps the most attractive approach to the imitative and professional poet.".</ref> Some have also noted the predominance of feminine themes and feminine power in the fragment and focus on the poem's perspectives on gender relations.<ref>Shackleton Bailey, D. R. ''Statius' Thebaid 1–7'' (Cambridge, 2003) pg.7, 26–8</ref>