Statius: Thebaid IX

Statius
Edited with an English translation and commentary by Michael Dewar

Statius: Thebaid IX

Statius
Edited with an English translation and commentary by Michael Dewar

Description

The epic poem Thebaid was composed by Statius around 80-92 A.D. in twelve books and concerns the expedition of the Seven against Thebes in support of the attempt by Oedipus's son Polyneices to recover the throne from his brother Eteocles. Book IX is set in the midst of the fighting before the eventual death of the two brothers. This new edition includes apparatus criticus, a translation, commentary, and an extensive introduction--which contains sections of Statius's life and works; a summary of the epic, themes, characters, and poetry; and an explanation of the poem's great popularity in the Middle Ages.

Statius: Thebaid IX

Statius
Edited with an English translation and commentary by Michael Dewar

A Clarendon Press Publication

Oxford Classical Monographs

Reviews and Awards

"The most ambitious commentary on any part of the Thebaid to appear in almost ten years....As a guide to Statius' language and manner of expression, his engagement with the previous literary tradition, and other such matters, this commentary seems to me excellent."--Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"This volume should be both a guide to future readers and stimulus for other critics to emulate."--Classical Journal

"The best commentary on a book of the Thebaid in any language....His enthusiasm shines through in the commentary itself, which lacks nothing in philological and encyclopedic learning. Dewar is alert to almost every stylistic and linguistic twist of his ultra-sophisticated poet."--Ploutarchos

"Its introduction and commentary offer students of Roman Imperial literature a wealth of information about Statius' own poetic techniques and about his poem's relationship to other literature of his period....A valuable contribution to Statian scholarship."--New England Classical Newsletter & Journal

"One hopes that future volumes explicating the other books of Statius' epic will appear in the same series."--The Classical World