Publius Papinius Statius (Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος, Poplios Papinios Statios; ; ; – ) was a Latin poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the Thebaid; a collection of occasional poetry, the Silvae; and an unfinished epic, the Achilleid. He is also known for his appearance as a guide in the Purgatory section of Dante's epic poem, the Divine Comedy.
Life Family background The poet's father (whose name is unknown) was a native of Velia but later moved to Naples and spent time in Rome where he taught with marked success. From boyhood to adulthood, Statius's father proved himself a champion in the poetic contests at Naples in the Augustalia and in the Nemean, Pythian, and Isthmian games, which served as important events to display poetic skill during the early empire. Statius declares in his lament for his father (Silv. 5.3) that his father was in his time equal to any literary task, whether in prose or verse. He mentioned Mevania, and may have spent time there, or been impressed by the confrontation of Vitellius and Vespasian in 69. Statius's father was a Roman eques, but may have lost his status because of money troubles. At Naples, he was a teacher of Greek and Roman literature who attracted many pupils who were destined for religious offices in Rome. He died in 79 AD. From Pliny the Younger's Letters, it has recently been deduced that Statius also wrote under the pseudonym of Propertius.
Birth and career Less is known of the biography of Statius. Born 45 CE, he grew up in the Greek cultural milieu of the Bay of Naples, and his Greek literary education lends a sophisticated veneer to his ornamental verse. From his boyhood he won several poetic contests at his native Naples and three times at the Alban Festival, where he received the golden crown from the hand of the emperor Domitian, who had instituted the contest. For the Alban Festival, Statius composed a poem on the German and Dacian campaigns of Domitian - which Juvenal lampoons in his seventh satire. Statius is thought to have moved to Rome after his father's death in 79; there he published his acclaimed epic poem the Thebaid (). In the capital, Statius seems to have made many connections among the Roman aristocracy and court, and he was probably supported through their patronage. Statius produced the first three books of occasional poetry, his Silvae, which were published in 93, and which sketch his patrons and acquaintances of this period and mention his attendance at one of Domitian's Saturnalia banquets. He competed in the great Capitoline competition - 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 (the widow of a famous singer) who had a musically talented daughter by her first husband, (Silv. 3.5).
Later years at Naples Statius's first three books of the Silvae seem to have received some criticism, and in response he composed a fourth book' at Naples, which was published in 95. During this period at Naples, Statius maintained his relations with the court and his patrons, earning himself another invitation to a palace banquet (Silv. 4.2). He seems to have taken an interest in the marriage and career of his stepdaughter and, being childless, he also took under his wing a young slave boy, who died c. 95. In that same year Statius embarked on a new epic, the Achilleid, giving popular recitations of his work (Juv. 7.83) only to complete a book and a half before dying in 95, leaving the poem unfinished. His fifth book of Silvae were published after his death c. 96.
Works
As a poet, Statius was versatile in his abilities and contrived to represent his work as otium. Taught by his educated father, Statius was familiar with the breadth of classical literature and displayed his learning in his poetry which is densely allusive and has been described as elaborate and mannerist. He was able to compose in hexameter, hendecasyllable, Alcaic, and Sapphic meters, to produce deeply researched and highly refined epic and polished impromptu pieces, and to treat a variety of themes with the dazzling rhetorical and poetic skill that inspired the support of his patrons and the emperor. Some of Statius's works, such as his poems for his competitions, have been lost; he is recorded as having written an Agave mime, and a four line fragment remains of his poem on Domitian's military campaigns, the De Bello Germanico composed for the Alban Games in the scholia to Juvenal 4.94.lumina; Nestorei mitis prudentia Crispi/et Fabius Veiento (potentem signat utrumque/purpura, ter memores implerunt nomine fastos)/et prope Caesareae confinis Acilius aulae) ("lights/eyes; the gentle wisdom of Nestor-like Crispinus, and Fabius Veiento, the purple marks each as eminent, three times have they filled the recording annals with their names--and Acilius, near neighbour of Caesar's palace." trans. Braund, S. M. Juvenal Satires Book 1 (Cambridge, 1996) pg. 251
The Thebaid
Based on Statius's own testimony, the Thebaid was written between c. 80 and 92, beginning when the poet was around 35, and the work is thought to have been published in 91 or 92.Feeney, Dennis The Oxford Classical Dictionary (Oxford, 1996) pg.1439 The poem is divided into twelve books in imitation of Virgil's Aeneid and is composed in dactylic hexameter.Shackleton Bailey, D.R. Statius' Thebaid 1–7 (Cambridge, 2003) pg.3 In the Silvae, Statius speaks of his extensive work in polishing and revising the Thebaid and his public recitations of the poem.Silv. 5.2.161 From the epilogue it seems clear that Statius considered the Thebaid to be his magnum opus and believed that it would secure him fame for the future. In the poem, Statius follows Virgil closely as a model (in the epilogueTheb. 12.810-19. he acknowledges his debt to Virgil), but he also refers to a wide range of sources in his handling of meter and episodes.
The poem's theme is the myth of the Seven against Thebes, the story of the battle between the sons of Oedipus for the throne of Thebes. The poem opens (Book 1) with the disgraced Oedipus' curse on his two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, who have decided to hold the throne of Thebes in alternate years, one ruling, the other in exile. Jupiter plans a war between Thebes and Argos, although Juno begs him not to incite it. Polyneices in exile fights with Tydeus, another exile at Adrastus' palace; the two are entertained and marry Adrastus' daughters. In Book 2, Tydeus goes to Eteocles to ask him to lay down the throne and yield power, but he refuses and tries to kill Tydeus with an ambush. Tydeus slaughters the Thebans and escapes to Argos, causing Adrastus and Polyneices to declare war on Thebes (Book 3). In the fourth book the Argive forces gather, commanded by the seven champions Adrastus, Polyneices, Amphiaraus, Capaneus, Parthenopaeus, Hippomedon, and Tydeus, and march to Thebes, but at Nemea, Bacchus causes a drought. The army meets Hypsipyle who shows them a spring then tells them the story of the Women of Lemnos (Book 5). While she is speaking, her ward, Opheltes, is killed by a snake; in Book 6, the Argives perform games for the dead child, instituting the Nemean Games. In 7, Jupiter urges the Argives to march on Thebes where battle breaks out during which Amphiaraus is swallowed in the earth. In 8, Tydeus, wounded and dying, kills Melanippus and eats his head; a battle over his body leads to the death of Hippomedon and Parthenopaeus (Book 9). In 10, Juno causes sleep to overcome the Thebans and the Argives slaughter many in the camp; Menoeceus sacrifices himself to save Thebes and Jupiter kills the wicked Capaneus with a thunderbolt. In 11, Polyneices and Eteocles join in single combat and kill each other; Jocasta kills herself and Creon assumes power, forbidding burial of the Argive dead. In the final book, the Argive widows go to Athens to ask Theseus to force Creon to allow their husbands' burial while Antigone, Polyneices's sister, and Argia, Polyneices's wife, burns him illicitly. Theseus musters an army and kills Creon. The Thebaid ends with an epilogue in which the poet prays that his poem will be successful, cautions it not to rival the Aeneid, and hopes that his fame will outlive him.
Modern critics of the Thebaid have been divided over interpretations of the epic's tone. Earlier critics in the 19th and 20th century considered the poem a piece of elaborate flattery that vindicated the regime of Domitian; however, more recent scholars have viewed the poem as a subversive work that criticizes the authoritarianism and violence of the Flavians by focusing on extreme violence and social chaos.Hardie, P. The Epic Successors of Virgil: A Study in the Dynamics of a Tradition (Cambridge, 1993). Statius' use of allegory in the Thebaid and his abstract treatment of the gods has been seen as an important innovation in the tradition of classical poetry which ushered in Medieval conventions.Lewis, C. S. The Allegory of Love (1936) pp.48–56 Finally, although earlier scholars criticized the style of the poem as episodic, current scholars have noted the subtlety and skill with which Statius organizes and controls his narrative and description.Coleman in Bailey, pg.13–18 Other topics discussed in the scholarship on the Thebaid are the pervasive role of madness (furor), time, or the family.Venini 1964; Hershkowitz 1994; Hershkowitz 1995; Simms 2020; e.g. Bernstein 2003.
The Silvae
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.Shackleton Bailey, D. R. Statius Silvae (Cambridge, 2003) pg.5 The title of the collection (silvae meaning "forest" or "raw material") was used to describe the draft of a poet's work which was composed impromptu in a moment of strong inspiration and which was then revised into a polished, metrical poem.Quintilian 10.3.17 This suggests that the Silvae are revised, impromptu pieces of occasional poetry which were composed in the space of a few days' time. There are thirty-two poems in the collection (almost all with a dedicatee), divided into five books, each with a dedicatory epistle. Of nearly four thousand lines which the books contain, more than five-sixths are hexameters. Four of the pieces are written in the hendecasyllabic metre, and there is one Alcaic and one Sapphic ode.