Greek Author, Greek Past: Statius, Athens, and the Tragic Self

Abstract

This chapter attempts to pull together several strands of Statius' poetic identity. In particular it focuses on certain aspects of his relationship as a poet to classical Greek literature. The chapter deals with Statius' intertextual relationships with Greek literature are refracted through a first century Roman lens. Those texts closest to Statius' poetry in the chronological sense tend to shout loudest when one read that poetry. Moreover, his Latin poetry inevitably tends to privilege intertextual readings of other Latin texts. Statius was a Latin poet writing at the forefront of a Roman cultural renaissance. The chapter looks at one extreme possibility for reading Greek texts in Statian poetry, before moving on to sketch ways in which Statius invokes Greek tragic texts in his poem while maintaining his sense of dominance over Greek culture. Keywords: Greek tragic texts; Latin; Roman; Statian poetry; Statius