Fall '98. Class meets W: 4-6

The goal of this seminar is to introduce students to Statius and Flavian Culture through the Silvae and the Thebaid, to read secondary literature on literary and social historical issues related to the author and his time, and to explore new directions of research. Particular attention will be given to Statius' place in Flavian performative culture, to the formation of a literary canon, to the place of Virgil and Homer in Statius' poetry and to his contribution as a poet of artificial and mythological landscapes. The students will enlarge their Latin reading skills by becoming conversant with features of language and style that differ from the practices of the Augustan poets.

Among the issues that we shall explore are the nature of aristocratic and imperial patronage, the context of Flavian agonistic culture and cultural eclecticism, the problems that the Silvae present as a source for the archaeologist and the art historian. The course will also address a set of broader questions such as: what is a classic and how it is socially determined both in art and in literature, what is the relation of author and audience in ancient Rome, what themes has Statius in common with contemporary art. Students interested in philology as well as archaeology and art history may discover directions of inquiry that they can pursue in the their future careers.

Requirements: Students are asked to read a book of the Thebaid in translation before the class starts. Grades will be based on reading/translation, participation in discussion, a midterm translation exam, a final translation and essay exam, a report, and a research paper.

A typical session will consist of translation/discussion of the Latin followed by discussion of pre-assigned issues and/or student report. Students are encouraged to develop their own areas of interest and add to the list of discussion topics.

Paper topics (to be selected by Nov. 7) will ideally relate to the sudent's existing interests, may address a literary, cultural or art historical problem that arises from the poems, or may solve a problem of the interpretation of a given poem.

Texts and commentaries:

Silvae

E. Courtney, Statius Silvae (OCT 1990).
A. Klotz, P. Papini Statii Silvae, Leipzig 1899.
J. W. Geyssen, Imperial Panegyric in Statius: A Literary Commentary on Silvae 1.1., Peter Lang, 1997.
H.-J. Van Dam, Silvae II: A Commentary, Leiden, 1984. (=Mnemosyne 82).
G. Laguna, Silvae III: A Commentary.
K. M. Coleman, Statius, Silvae IV, Oxford, 1988.
St. Newmyer, Statius Silvae, a Bryn Mawr Commentary.
F. P. Vollmer,. (text and commentary) Papini Statii Silvarum Libri. Leipzig, 1898.
D.A. Slater, The Silvae of Statius Translated, with Introduction and Notes (Oxford, 1908, repr. 1968).

Thebaid

Garrod, H. W. (ed.) P. Papini Stati Thebais et Achilleis. Oxford, 1906.
Jahnke, R. (ed.) Lactantii Placidi qui dicitur commentarium in Statii Thebaida et commentarium in Achilleida. Leipzig, 1908.
Heuvel, H. (text and commentary) Publii Papinii Statii Thebaidos Liber Primus. Zutphen,1932.
Hill, D. E. P. (ed.) Papini Stati Thebaidos Libri XII. Leiden, 1983 (= Mnemosyne Suppl. 79).
Klotz, A. (ed.) P. Papinius Statius Thebais, Leipzig, 1908. (corr. T. C. Klinnert, 1973).
Mozley, J. H. (transl.) Statius: Silvae, Thebaid. vv. 1-2. Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., 1967.
Muelder, H. M. (text and commentary) Publii Papini Statii Thebaidos Liber Secundus. Diss. Groningen, 1954.
Smolenaars, J. J. L. (text and commentary) Statius' Thebaid VII: A Commentary. Leiden, 1994 (= Mnemosyne Suppl. 134).
Snijder, H. (text and commentary) Statius, P. Papinius. Thebaid: A Commentary on Book III. Amsterdam, 1968.
Venini, P. P. (text and commentary) Papini Statii Thebaidos Liber XI. Florence, 1970.
Williams, R. D. (text and commentary) P. Papini Stati Thebaidos Liber Decimus. Leiden, 1972 (= Mnemosyne Suppl. 20a.).

Translation: Melville, A. Statius : Thebaid, Oxford, 1992.

DETAILED SYLLABUS
Abbreviations: (I - topic of informational value; D- discussion topic).

Week 1: Sept. 23: Introduction to Statius and Statian studies.

1. A general overview of the status of Statian studies and the prospects for future research. Where does Statius fit into modern studies on Roman Literature ? How typical and how atypical is he ?

W. Dominik, "Statius' Thebaid in the 20th century" in: R. Faber & B. Seidensticker (edds.) Festschrift B. Kytzler, Berlin, 1996.
K.M. Coleman, "The Emperor Domitian and Literature." ANRW 32.5., 1986: 3087-3115.

2. How was Statius evaluated throughout the centuries? What is this evaluation based on ?

Vessey, D. (1996) "Honoring Statius," in: Delarue-Georgacopoulou-Laurens-Taisne, edds., Epicedion: Hommage à P. Papinius Statius 96-1996, La Licorne.

3. What are the recent trends in the evaluation of Statius?

Vessey, D. W. T. "Pierius menti calor incidit: Statius' Epic Style." ANRW II.32.5 . Berlin and New York, 1986: 2965- 3019.
-------- Introduction to Statius' Thebaid, transl. A. D. Melleville, Oxford and New York, 1982.
-------- "Flavian Epic," in: P. E. Easterling, E. J. Kenney (eds.) Cambridge History of Classical Literature v. II. Cambridge, New York, 1982: 558-80.
------- Statius and the Thebaid. Cambridge, 1973.

Ahl, F. "Statius' Thebaid: A Reconsideration." ANRW 2. 32.5. Berlin and New York, 1986: 2803-2912.
------- "Politics and Power in Roman Poetry." ANRW 2.32.1. Berlin and New York, 1984: 40-124.

4. What does mannerism mean and how is this term used in the evaluation of literature?

H. Cancik, Untersuchungen zur lyrischen Kunst des P. Papinius Statius, Hildesheim, 1965, pp. 38-43.
D. Vessey, "Transience Preserved: Style and Theme in Statius' Silvae," ANRW II.32.5 (1986), 2757 ff.
H. Cancik, Statius, "Silvae". Forschungsbericht seit 1898, ANRW II.32.5 (1986)2702.

5. What can the concept of mannerism (= the disease of classicism) tell us about the modern concept of classicism itself ? What are the basic mechanisms of canonization today?

T. Eagleton, Literary Theory: an Introduction, Minneapolis, 1996, pp. 1-47.
E.R. Curtius, European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages, Princeton,
T.S Eliot, What is a Classic?: an address delivered before the Virgil Society on the 16th of Ocotber, 1944.P. Stallybrass and A. White, The Politics and Poetics of Transgression, Ithaca, 1986, pp.1-26.
A. Fowler, Kinds of Literature: an Introduction to the Theory of Genres and Modes, Harvard, 1982., pp. 213- 234.
J. K. Huysmans, A Rebours, ch. 3.

6. What were the mechanisms of canonization in the first century? The role of education in imperial policy. The Syllabus of Statius' father.

Herzog, R. (1935) "Urkunden zur Hochschulpolitik der roemischen Kaiser," Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 32, 967-1019.
D'Arms, "Puteoli in the second century of the Roman Empire. A social and economic study," JRS 64 (1974) 104-24.
Kaster, The Guardians of Language
W. M. Bloomer, Latinity and Literary Society in Rome, Philadelphia, 1998.
Woodside, M.St.A. "Vespasian's pataronage of education and the arts," TAPA 73 (1942) 123-39.
Dionisotti, A.C. "From Ausonius' Schooldays ? A schoolbook and its relatives," JRS 72 (1982) 100.
Curtius, E. R. European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages, Princeton, 48ff.
Mayer, R. "Neronian Classicism," AJPh 103 (1982) 305-18.

Week 2: Sept. 30. Agonistic culture in the Flavian period. The performing and the writing poet. The poet's status and the nature of patronage.

Translation assignment: Silv. V.iii. Look in detail at lines 104-161; 209- 37; V.ii. 160-180. Silv. I.vi.51-100.

Discussion topics:

I-1. The genre of "silvae." The role of improvisation.
Tanner, R.G. "Epic Tradition and Epigram in Statius," in ANRW II.32.5, 3041ff.
S.T. Newmyer, The Silvae of Statius: Structure and Theme, Leiden, 1979, pp.3-9.
D, F. Bright, Elaborate Disarray. The Nature of Statius' Silvae, Meisenheim am Glan, 1980, 20-49.

I-2.The genre of "epicedia" in Roman literature and Statius' place within the tradition.

J. Esteve-Forriol, Die Trauer - und Trosgedichte in der roemischen Literatur. Diss. Muenchen,
R. Kassel, Untersuchungen zur griechischen und roemischen Konsolationsliteratur, Muenchen, 1958.
M. E. Fern, The Latin Consolatio as a Literary Type, diss. Missouri, 1941, 138-156.
S.T. Newmyer, The Silvae of Statius: Structure and Theme, Leiden, 1979.

I-3. The figure of the professional poet in Greece and Rome.

A. Hardie, Statius and the Silvae, 1983.

D-4. The specific features of patronage under the Flavians in contrast with the Augustan period.

E.G. Sihler, "The Collegium Poetrarum at Rome," AJPh 26, 1-21.
R. P. Saller, Personal Patronage in the Early Empire, Cambridge, 1988.
P. White, Promised Verse: Poets and Society in Augustan Rome. 1993, 47-63.
--------- "Amicitia and the Profession of Poetry in Early Imperial Rome." JRS 68 (1978): 74-92.
---------- "The Friends of Martial, Statius, and Pliny, and the Dispersal of Patronage." HSPh 79 (1975):265-300.
--------- "The Presentation and Dedication of the Silvae and the Epigrams." JRS (1974): 40-61.
B. Gold, "Openings in Horace's Satires and Odes: poet, patron and audience," YCS 29 (19922): 161-185.
J. Griffin, "Augustus and the poets: 'Caesar qui cogere posset,' in F. Millar and E. Segal, eds. Caesar Augustus: Seven Aspects, Oxford, 199?.

Week 3, Oct. 7: The poet and his patrons. I. Statius and the emperor. Topoi of praise.

Translation: Silv. 1.1. Equus Maximus Domitiani Imperatoris; Preface to book IV; Silv. IV.2 Eucharisticon and Silv. 4.3. Via Domitiana.

I-1. The textual tradition of the Silvae.

I-2. What is the current status of the evaluation of Domitian's reign and how does it affect the judgement on Statius: boot-licker vs. clever and sophisticated dissimulator ?

Jones, B. W. The Emperor Domitian. London and New York, 1993.

I-3. What is the symbolic and artistic force of Equus Domitiani in the tradition of Roman state art?

N. Hannestad, Roman Art and Imperial Policy, 139ff.
R.H. Darwall-Smith, Emperors and Architecture: a Study of Flavian Rome, Latomus, 1996.
F. Ahl, The Rider and the Horse: Politics and Power in Roman Poetry, ANRW, 1984, II.32.1, 4--124.

D-3. What features of Flavian aesthetics does the statue reflect?

S. Newmyer, "The Triumph of Art over Nature: Martial and Statius on Flavian Aesthetics," Helios 11(1984) 1-9.
Cancic, 89 ff. (the role of pondus in imperial ideology).
Bright, 43: the emperor and the natural order.

D-4. How does the poem manipulate the language of imperial cult ?

J. Rufus Fears, The Cult of Jupiter and Roman Imperial Ideology, ANRW, II.17.1, Berlin-New York, 1981.
F. Sauter, Der Roemische Kaiserkult bei Martial und Statius, 1934.
K. Scott, The Imperial Cult under the Flavians

I-5. How to read the prose prefaces ?

T. Janson, Latin Prose Prefaces: Studies in Literary Conventions, Stockholm, 1964.

I-6. What was the importance of Via Domitiana ?

A. Maiuri, "Cuma: nuovi tratti messi in luce della Via Domitiana", NSc 1928, 181-5.
K.M. Coleman, (commentary) 102 ff.

D-3. Nature and imperial cult in Statius' panegyric.

Cancik, 108 ff.

Week 4, Oct. 14: The poet and his patrons. Statius and his aristocratic patrons. The new aristocratic ideal. The function of landscape and the role of Greek and Roman mythology.

Goal: to read Silv. I.iii, Villa Tiburtina Manili Vopisci; II.ii, Villa Surrentina Pollii Felicis; II.iii Arbor Atedi Melioris.

I-1 Statius' landscapes in the tradition of ekphrasis and description.

Bright, 12ff.

I-2. What was the economic and cultural importance of the Bay of Naples in the 1st century?

D'Arms, Romans on the Bay of Naples: A Social and Cultural Study of the Villas and Their Owners from 150 B.C. to A.D. 400, Cambridge, Mass. 1970, 73 ff, esp. 99ff.
A.G. McKay, Ancient Campania, Hamilton, ON, 1972, p. 60ff.

D-3 What do we need to consider when attempting to exploit literary sources as references to the material world ?

B. Bergman, "Painted Perspectives of a Villa Visit: Landscape as Status and Metaphor," in: E. Gazda, Roman Art in the Private Sphere, Ann Arbor, 1991, 49-69.
Z. Pavlovskis, Man in an Artificial Landscape: The Marvels of Civilization in Imperial Roman Literature, Mnemosyne Suppl. 25, Leiden, 1973.

I-4 The parallels between the style of the Silvae and Campanian painting. The main components of Statian aesthetics.

H. Cancik, Untersuchungen zur lyrischen Kunst des P. Papinius Statius, Hildesheim, 1965, 78ff.

I-5. What is the role of mythology in the description of landscapes and the praise of individuals in the Silvae?

Bright, Elaborate Disaarray, 7: "Statius innovates by introducing epic machinery and setting for real and contemporary figures. The experiment had a remarkable impact on later epithalamia, for the older style virtually disappears and subsequent poets follow Statius' lead. The climax of this tradition is Claudian's epithalamium for Honorius."
D. Vessey, "Transience Preserved: Style and Theme in Statius' Silvae," ANRW II.32.5 (1986).
H. Szelest, "Mythologie und ihre Rolle in den Silvae des Statius," Eos 60 (1972), 309-17.

Week 5, Oct. 21: Statius and his epic program: establishing poetic authority against political and canonical authority. The contrast with Horace.

Reading: II.vii Genethliacon Lucani ad Pollam; III.v Ecloga ad Uxorem; Thebaid, I. 1-45, Thebaid, XII. 810-19; Achilleid, I. 1-19. Horace, Ep. 1.19 & 2.1.

I-1 The textual tradition of the Thebaid and its place in the medieval curriculum.

D-2 Statius' attitude to Virgil and Lucan and his concept of a canon.

M. Malamud, "Happy birthday, dead Lucan," Ramus essays in Roman Literature 24 no.1 (1995) 1-31.
Ahl, F. "Statius' Thebaid: A Reconsideration." ANRW 2. 32.5., 1986: 2803-2912.
------ "Politics and Power in Roman Poetry." ANRW 2.32.1.,1984: 40-124.

D-3 The emperor and the canon: Capitolia nostrae infitiata lyrae.

D.F. Kennedy, 'Augustan' and 'Anti-Augustan': Reflections on Terms of Reference, in: A. Powell, ed. Roman Poetry and Propaganda in the Age of Augustus, London, 1997, 26-59.

I-3. Features of Statius' recusatio and its place in the tradition of Hellenistic and Augustan recusationes.

A. Cameron, Callimachus and his Critics, Princeton, 1995.
W, Clausen, "Callimachus and Latin Poetry," GRBS 5 (1964) 181-196.
R. Thomas, "Callimachus back in Rome," in Harder-Regtuit-Wakker, eds. Callimachus, Groningen, 1993.
W. Wimmel, Kallimachos in Rom (Hermes Einzelschriften 16), Wiesbaden 1960.

I-4. The gesture of proskynesis (sometimes called supplicatio) in Rome.

A. Alfoeldi, Die monarchische Repraesentation im roemischen Kaiserreiche, Darmstadt, 1970, 51ff.

Week 6, Oct. 28, MIDTERM EXAMINATION:

1. Discussion about Statius' poetry often centers on whether his praise-poetry is lip service, wrought with contradictions that undermine the praise, or whether it is a more or less "sincere" manifestation of deference. Who are the representatives of these different schools of thought? What additional considerations could we take into account to enrich our interpretation? Translate one of the following passages and give your own comments that elucidate and contextualize its complexities.

2. Translate one of the following unseen passages from the Silvae and comment on the way in which their theme and style compares to themes and stylistic features in familiar poems.

3. Praise necessarily stretches language and always pushes its limits not in the least due to the tension between maintaining authorial dignity and sliding into outright flattery. Translate one of the following passages (Lucan, BC, 53-72 and Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica, 1-21. ) and comment on the ways in which this tension manifests itself in the given author. Relate your observations to the way in which Statius handles this kind of tension.

Week 7, Nov. 4th. Theodicy in the Thebaid. Statius and Vergil. Statius' influence on Tacitus.

Reading Theb. I. 46-282; 389-481; 557-720.

G. B. Conte, The Rhetoric of Imitation: Genre and Poetic Memory in Vergil and Other Latin Poets. Ithaca, NY, 1986.

D.C. Feeney, The Gods in Epic: Poets and Critics of the Classical Tradition. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993.

Hardie, P. The Epic Successors of Vergil: a Study in the Dynamics of a Tradition., 1993, ch. 3.
Hill, D. E. "Statius' Thebaid: A Glimmer of Light in a Sea of Darkness," in: A.J. Boyle (ed.) Ramus Critical Studies in Greek and Roman Literature 18 nos. 1&2 (1989) (= Imperial Roman Literature II.1): 98-119.

Burck, E. "Die Vorbereitung des Taciteischen Menschen- und Herrscherbildes in der Dichtung der frühen römischen Kaiserzeit," in: E. Lefèvre (ed.) Vom Menschenbild in der römischen Literatur. Ausgewählte Schriften. Heidelberg, 1981, Teil II: 251-277.
--------- Das Römische Epos. Darmstadt, 1979.
---------- "Die Schicksalsauffassung des Tacitus und Statius," in: E. Lefèvre (ed.) Vom Menschenbild in der römischen Literatur. Ausgewählte Schriften. Heidelberg, 1966, Teil I: 305-314.

Nov. 11: Veteran's Day.

Week 8: Nov. 18. The worrior-youth and the meaning of heroism: Parthenopaeus, Atys, Menoecues and Achilles. Transvestitism, sex, war and drama in Flavian literature and art.

Reading: IX. 570- 907 ; VIII.597-654; Achilleid, 318-348; 592-673; Background: Vergil, Aeneid 10 (the deaths of Pallas and Lausus); Aeneid 11 (the death of Camilla); Aeneid 12 (the death of Turnus).

W. Schetter, Untersuchungen zur epischen Kunst des Statius, Wiesbaden, 1960, p. 43ff.

B. Conte, The Rhetoric of Imitation, pp. 176ff. on "mors immatura" with parallels from Hellenistic epigrams.

Petrini, M. The Child and the Hero: Coming of Age in Catullus and Vergil, Ann Arbor, 1997.

E. Block, "Failure to thrive: the Theme of Parents and Children in the Aeneid and its Iliadic models," Ramus 9 no 2 (1980) 128-149.

Croisille, J.-M. Poésie et art figuré de Néron aux Flaviens: Recherches sur l'iconographie et la correspondance des arts a l'époque impériale. Bruxelles, 1982 (= Collections Latomus 179). See review by A. Wallace-Hadrill, "Ut pictura poesis?" JRS 73 (1983) 180-3.

Week 9: Nov. 25. New codes of heroism: defiant warriors in the Thebaid. The new aristocratic ideal and the philosophy of suicide. The figure of Theseus and the language of imperial cult.

Reading: X, 346- 448; III. 53-113, X. 827-939; XI.1-20; XI. 457-579.

Plass, P. The Game of Death in Ancient Rome: Arena Sport and Political Suicide. Madison, Wis., 1995.

McGuire, D. T. "Textual Strategies and Political Suicide in Flavian Epic," in: A. J. Boyle (ed.) Ramus: Critical Studies in Greek and Roman Literature 18 nos 1 & 2 (1989) 4-31.

T. G. Rosenmyer, Senecan Drama and Stoic Cosmology, Berkeley, 1989.

E. Fantham, "Statius' Thebaid and the genesis of hatered," in: S.M. Braund & Ch. Gill, edds., The Passions in Roman Thought and Literature, Cambridge, 1997.

Week 10, Dec. 2nd: Women in the Thebaid and in Flavian art. Laments and consolations.

Reading: 12.410-481; 783-819 in Latin and the rest of book 12 in translation.

Hillard, T. W. "On the Stage, Behind the Curtain: Images of Politically Active Women in the Late Roman Republic," in: B. Garlick, S. Dixon, P. Allen (eds.) Stereotypes of Women in Power. New York: Greenwood Press (1992): 37-64.

"Materna auctoritas: The political influence of Roman Matronae." Classicum 22 (1983): 10-28.

Holst-Warhaft, G. Dangerous Voices: Women's Laments and Greek Literature. London and New York, 1992.

D'Ambra, E. Private Lives, Imperial Virtues: The Frieze of the Forum Transitorium in Rome. Princeton, 1993.