‘Book-Ends’: Statius Silvae 2.1 and 2.7

Abstract

My purpose in this article is straightforward, to counter some misconceptions about two of Statius' poems,Silu.2.1, his consolatory poem for the death of the twelve-year old Glaucias, andSilu.2.7, his consolatory poem for the death of the poet Lucan. These are the first and last poems of Book 2. Poems of lament and consolation constitute the majority of the poems of Statius'Siluae. Yet these poems have been generally dismissed as wearisomely rhetorical and have been largely overlooked in the critical literature aboutconsolationesas they endorse lamentation, elaborate upon it, and thus run counter to philosophical strictures against overt grief. Issues of class also surely play a role in their dismissal as trivial poems. Unlike Augustan poems of lament—for instance Ovid's poem on the death of Tibullus—two of the poems in Book 2 mourn a child of low birth and a young slave (Silu.2.1 andSilu.2.6). A proper understanding of the social occasions and circumstances in whichSilu.2.1 andSilu.2.7 are embedded, however, will show that they can offer valuable insight into contemporary Flavian society. Such an understanding moreover can point the way to a freshliteraryappreciation of these poems, although that is not the chief aim of this article.