It has been a very long time since Statius was thought to be neglected by scholars. It is still the case that not many, outside of specialist circles, read Statius; nevertheless, the Statian bibliography over the past four decades or so has grown almost exponentially. I beg an indulgence of my readers for adding to this already large mass of work. I hope to have filled a gap in the scholarship by addressing the visual aspects of all of Statius’ work together.
This book has been long in the making. It stems from a 2002 University of Washington dissertation of which hardly a single phrase remains: the present book has been rethought and recast several times over the intervening years. The basic methodology of the book is to engage in intertextual analysis of “visual” passages in Statius. Augmenting this basic approach are several theoretical concepts, some modern (e.g., the “gaze,” visuality) and some ancient (e.g., “haptic” optics, ekphrasis). The resultant argument is based on this eclectic aggregation of critical methods.
I should note that, because of the chronological uncertainties, I have not followed the recent trend of including the other Flavian epic poets (Silius and Valerius) among Statius’ intertextual interlocutors. I have limited myself to examining intertexts in which it is certain that Statius engages with the past. I beg a second indulgence of those readers expecting to see the later writers.
For the text of Statius I have used the “conservative” editions of Hill (1996) for the Thebaid, of Courtney (1990) for the Silvae, and of Dilke (1954) for the Achilleid. A word on the translations of the ancient authors: I have found that published translations, through no fault of their own, sometimes do not convey those aspects of the text that I am trying to foreground. Consequently, I have made my own translations which are frequently free and often verge on paraphrase. They are intended to give the Latinless reader a sense for visual aspects of the passages under consideration. I beg a third indulgence of readers on their behalf.
In writing this book I have of course incurred many scholarly debts over the years; here I name but a few. I would like to thank my colleagues at Pomona College for their patience and the College’s administration for its sabbatical support. I would like to thank my students for the uncountable opportunities for learning that they have afforded me. In addition, I owe great thanks to Carole Newlands for her encouragement and support over the years. I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude to Stephen Hinds, who oversaw the original dissertation and read and commented on many drafts of the present book. Finally, I would like to thank my family without whose love and support this book would never have been completed.