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The Father's Tragedy: Assessing Paternity in Statius, Silvae 2.1

Publication ,  Journal Article
Janan, M
Published in: TAPA: Transactions of the American Philological Association
June 1, 2020

Silvae 2.1 mourns Glaucias, libertus-foster child of Atedius Melior. Statius’s allusions to Vergil’s Aeneid examine fatherhood as a model for understanding other hierarchical relationships. Statius probes Vergil’s implied justification of Augustus’s rule as patria potestas via the princeps’ mythical descent from Rome’s founding father, Aeneas. Writing under Domitian—no Julio-Claudian—Statius scrutinizes an imperial authority still conceptualized as patriarchy. By substituting a freed slave-child, a bereaved old man and possibly an assassin’s victim for Vergil’s heroic vessels of Rome’s future, Aeneas and Anchises, Silvae 2.1 traces how the Aeneid’s logic of patrilineal superiority infantilizes and imperils even élite imperial subjects.

Duke Scholars

Published In

TAPA: Transactions of the American Philological Association

DOI

EISSN

1533-0699

ISSN

0360-5949

Publication Date

June 1, 2020

Volume

150

Issue

1

Start / End Page

181 / 230

Publisher

Johns Hopkins University Press

Related Subject Headings

  • Classics
  • 2103 Historical Studies
  • 2005 Literary Studies
  • 2004 Linguistics
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Janan, M. (2020). The Father's Tragedy: Assessing Paternity in Statius, Silvae 2.1. TAPA: Transactions of the American Philological Association, 150(1), 181–230. https://doi.org/10.1353/apa.2020.0002
Janan, Micaela. “The Father's Tragedy: Assessing Paternity in Statius, Silvae 2.1.” TAPA: Transactions of the American Philological Association 150, no. 1 (June 1, 2020): 181–230. https://doi.org/10.1353/apa.2020.0002.
Janan M. The Father's Tragedy: Assessing Paternity in Statius, Silvae 2.1. TAPA: Transactions of the American Philological Association. 2020 Jun 1;150(1):181–230.
Janan, Micaela. “The Father's Tragedy: Assessing Paternity in Statius, Silvae 2.1.” TAPA: Transactions of the American Philological Association, vol. 150, no. 1, Johns Hopkins University Press, June 2020, pp. 181–230. Manual, doi:10.1353/apa.2020.0002.
Janan M. The Father's Tragedy: Assessing Paternity in Statius, Silvae 2.1. TAPA: Transactions of the American Philological Association. Johns Hopkins University Press; 2020 Jun 1;150(1):181–230.

Published In

TAPA: Transactions of the American Philological Association

DOI

EISSN

1533-0699

ISSN

0360-5949

Publication Date

June 1, 2020

Volume

150

Issue

1

Start / End Page

181 / 230

Publisher

Johns Hopkins University Press

Related Subject Headings

  • Classics
  • 2103 Historical Studies
  • 2005 Literary Studies
  • 2004 Linguistics