The Poetry of Statius (Stace)

Johannes J.L. Smolenaars, Harm-Jan van Dam, and Ruurd R. Nauta, The Poetry of Statius, Leiden,  Brill, coll. "Mnemosyne, Supplements" n° 306, 2008

ISBN-13 :    978 90 04 17134 3
 95€

Présentation de l'éditeur:

The Roman poet P. Papinius Statius (ca. 45-96) is the author of two epics (the Thebaid and the unfinished Achilleid) and a large corpus of occasional verse (Silvae). This poetry, long seen as derivative or decadent, is increasingly appreciated for the daring and originality of its responses both to the Greek and Latin literary tradition and to the contemporary Roman world. This volume offers the papers delivered at a symposium on Statius (Amsterdam 2005) by leading scholars in the field from Europe and North America. These papers demonstrate the fascination of Statius' poetry on account of the poet's vast knowledge of Greek and Latin tragedy,  his rapid narrative, psychological acumen, brilliant eulogies, and pessimistic views on gods and men. The focus of the collection is on literary technique in the Thebaid, on socio-historical aspects of the Silvae, and on the reception of Statius in European literature and scholarship.

Johannes J.L. Smolenaars was Associate Professor of Latin at the University of Amsterdam. He is the author of Statius Thebaid VII, A Commentary (Brill, 1994) and has published several articles on Virgil, Ovid, Seneca tragicus and Statius.
Harm-Jan van Dam is Associate Professor of Latin at VU University Amsterdam. He is the author of Statius Silvae II, A Commentary (Brill, 1984) and Hugo Grotius De imperio summarum potestatum circa sacra (Brill, 2001).
Ruurd R. Nauta is Professor of Latin at the University of Groningen. He is the author of Poetry for Patrons, Literary Communication in the Age of Domitian (Brill, 2002), and co-editor of Catullus' Poem on Attis (Brill, 2005).

The three editors have earlier collaborated in editing Flavian Poetry (Brill, 2006).

Contributors include: Valéry Berlincourt, Kathleen M. Coleman, Harm-Jan van Dam, Michael Dewar, Bruce Gibson, Peter J. Heslin, Donald E. Hill, Ruurd R. Nauta, Gianpiero Rosati, Lorenzo Sanna and Johannes J.L. Smolenaars.