Litora Persona Ludo: Greco-Roman New Comedy amid Other Dramatic Genres in Statius’s Achilleid

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Abstract

This paper analyzes in-depth a statement frequently made in passing, namely that Statius’s Achilleid alludes to Greek and Roman New Comedy. I argue that Statius sets the island of Scyros apart from the rest of the poem as a world reminiscent of the stage. Here, the experiences of the young Achilles echo tragedy, pantomime, satyr play, and especially the plays of Menander, Plautus, and Terence. The protagonist plays the part of the adulescens amans, Deidamia is the virgo he rapes, Lycomedes the senex he dupes, and Ulysses appears as the servus callidus who brings about a conclusion in marriage.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)463-505
Number of pages43
JournalTAPA
Volume152
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2022

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Language and Linguistics
  • Classics
  • Literature and Literary Theory
  • Linguistics and Language

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