Statius

• 1. Family And Early Life

  ›

  Publius Papinius Statius grew up in the Bay of Naples during the early years of the first century. His father, a native of Velia, moved to Rome and taught with marked success before returning to Naples. The elder Statius competed in poetic contests at the Augustalia and the Nemean, Pythian, and Isthmian games throughout his life. Young Publius won several poetic contests at his native Naples from boyhood to adulthood. He received the golden crown from the hand of Emperor Domitian at the Alban Festival three times. The poet's father was a Roman eques who may have lost his status due to money troubles. At Naples, he taught Greek and Roman literature to many pupils destined for religious offices in Rome. He died in 79 AD, leaving his son to navigate the literary world alone. From Pliny the Younger's Letters, scholars deduce that Statius also wrote under the pseudonym of Propertius.

• 2. Career And Patronage

  ›

  Statius is thought to have moved to Rome after his father's death in 79. There he published his acclaimed epic poem the Thebaid between 80 and 92. In the capital, Statius made many connections among the Roman aristocracy and court. He was probably supported through their patronage. Statius produced the first three books of occasional poetry, his Silvae, which were published in 93. These works sketch his patrons and acquaintances of this period. They mention his attendance at one of Domitian's Saturnalia banquets. He competed in the great Capitoline competition, though it is not known in what year, although 94 has been suggested. Statius failed to win the coveted prize, a loss he took very hard. The disappointment may have prompted his return to Naples, the home of his youth. There survives a poem he addressed on this occasion to his wife, Claudia. She was the widow of a famous singer who had a musically talented daughter by her first husband.

  4

• 3. The Thebaid Epic

  ›

  Based on Statius's own testimony, the Thebaid was written between c. 80 and 92, beginning when the poet was around 35. The work is thought to have been published in 91 or 92. The poem is divided into twelve books in imitation of Virgil's Aeneid and is composed in dactylic hexameter. In the epilogue, Statius acknowledges his debt to Virgil while considering the Thebaid his magnum opus. The poem opens with the disgraced Oedipus' curse on his two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices. Jupiter plans a war between Thebes and Argos, although Juno begs him not to incite it. Polyneices in exile fights with Tydeus at Adrastus' palace. The two are entertained and marry Adrastus' daughters. In Book 6, the Argives perform games for the dead child, instituting the Nemean Games. In Book 7, Amphiaraus is swallowed in the earth during battle. Tydeus kills Melanippus and eats his head before dying himself. Menoeceus sacrifices himself to save Thebes while Jupiter kills Capaneus with a thunderbolt. Polyneices and Eteocles join in single combat and kill each other. Jocasta kills herself and Creon assumes power. Theseus musters an army and kills Creon. Modern critics have been divided over interpretations of the epic's tone since the nineteenth century.

  2

• 4. The Silvae Collection

  ›

  The Silvae were probably composed by Statius between 89 and 96. The first three books seem to have been published together after 93, Book 4 was probably released in 95, and Book 5 is thought to have been released posthumously in c. 96. There are thirty-two poems in the collection, almost all with a dedicatee, divided into five books. Of nearly four thousand lines which the books contain, more than five-sixths are hexameters. Five poems are devoted to the emperor and his favorites, including a description of Domitian's equestrian statue in the Forum. Six are lamentations for deaths or consolations to survivors, including highly personal poems on the death of Statius's father and his foster-son. The poems on loss range from consolations on the death of wives to pieces on the death of a favorite parrot and a lion in the arena. Another group gives picturesque descriptions of villas, gardens, and artworks of the poet's friends. Important examples include a piece on Pollius's temple to Hercules and an antique statue of Lysippus's Heracles. The rest consist of congratulatory addresses to friends and poems for special occasions such as the wedding poem for Stella and Violentilla. Domitian is an important presence in the Silvae, and many poems appear to flatter the emperor and court.

  4

• 5. Achilleid Fragment

  ›

  A fragment of his epic poem on the life of Achilles, the Achilleid, is also extant, consisting of one book and a few hundred lines of a second. What was completed of this poem was composed between 94 and 95 based on Silvae 4.7.21ff. It is thought that Statius' death in 95 is the reason that the poem remains unfinished. In the first book, Thetis attempts to hide Achilles on the island of Scyros by dressing him up as a girl. On the island, Achilles falls in love with Deidamia and forces her to have sex with him. Ulysses arrives to recruit Achilles for the war effort and reveals his identity. In the second book, Ulysses and Achilles depart and Achilles gives an account of his early life and tutelage by the centaur Chiron. The poem breaks off at the end of his speech. Scholars have remarked on the markedly different tone of the Achilleid in comparison with the Thebaid. They equate it more to the style of Ovid than Virgil. Some have noted the predominance of feminine themes and feminine power in the fragment. Elaine Fantham describes it as a more varied and charming work than readers of the Thebaid could ever have imagined.

• 6. Dante's Divine Comedy

  ›

  In the Divine Comedy, Dante and Virgil meet Statius as they leave the fifth terrace in Purgatorio and enter the sixth terrace reserved for the gluttonous. Statius's redemption is heard when the mountain of Purgatory trembles and penitent souls cry out the hymn Gloria in excelsis Deo. Statius joins Dante and Virgil, staying with Dante in the Earthly Paradise after Virgil has returned to Limbo. Statius ascends Mount Purgatory with Dante and Virgil, and he stays with Dante until the rivers of Lethe and Eunoe. Although Statius plays a small role after the disappearance of Virgil, his presence underscores Statius's significant difference from Virgil. In particular, Statius was saved from the vice of prodigality by reading Virgil's condemnation of this particular vice in a passage of the Aeneid. He found reason for converting to Christianity while reading a passage from Virgil's Eclogues. Statius recounts to Virgil that through him he was a poet and through him a Christian. Though Statius converted to Christianity, he states that he kept his Christianity a secret as he lived at a time when Christians were persecuted.

  5

• 7. Literary Legacy

  ›

  Statius's poetry was very popular in his lifetime, although he was not without his critics who apparently had problems with his ex tempore style. Juvenal is thought to extensively lampoon Statius's type of court poetry in his fourth satire on the turbot of Domitian. However, he also mentions the immense popularity of Statius's recitations in Satire 7.82ff. In late antiquity, the Thebaid received a commentary by a Lactantius Placidus. Throughout the Middle Ages, the Thebaid remained a popular text, inspiring a twelfth-century French romance as well as works by Boccaccio and Chaucer. Statius's development of allegory helped establish the importance of that technique in medieval poetry. In the Renaissance, the Silvae helped inspire an entire genre of collections of miscellaneous occasional poetry called Sylvae which remained popular throughout the period. This inspired works by Hugo Grotius and John Dryden. Dante mentions Statius in De vulgari eloquentia along with Ovid, Virgil and Lucan as one of the four regulati poetae. Characters drawn from his works are also found in the Divine Comedy. Argia, wife of Polynices, is referred to in Purgatorio 22. Capaneus, at the center of the Thebaids tragic theme, is placed in the third ring of the seventh circle of Dis.