Aspects of Statius' Epithalamion
1972; Brill; Volume: 25; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1163/156852572x00612
ISSN1568-525X
Autores Tópico(s)Linguistics and language evolution
ResumoTempus edax has by no means been kind to P. Papinius Statius; although his poems have achieved the eternity which he, by convention, hoped and promised for them1), critical opinion has fluctuated regarding their merits 2). In recent years there has been a limited revival of interest but he is still commonly neglected3). Statius has suffered from a tendency to generalise about his work. As a contrast, in this paper, I intend to give detailed attention to some aspects of a single poem, the epithalamion for Stella and Violentilla (Silvae I 2) 4). When Latin epithalamia are mentioned it is only natural to think first of the two exquisite poems of Catullus (61 and 62), just as in English of Edmund Spenser's Epithalamion and Prothalamion. There are parallels in technique between Catullus and Statius, as we should expect, for both are parts of an organic literary tradition. Both were highly conscious craftsmen-poets, seeking by means of a contrived artistry to achieve refined aesthetic effects in language, metre, imagery. Both were members of a poetic coterie: indeed the coterie is the natural habitat of poets and Maternus, in Tacitus' Dialogus, was right to mention Mud felix contubernium as one of the advantages enjoyed by a poet 5). There are, however, obvious and radical differences between the neoteric groups and the groups
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