Abused Bodies in Roman Epic

The first full study of corpse mistreatment and funeral violation in Greco-Roman epic poetry, illuminating many major texts.

Andrew M. McClellan (Author)

9781108482622, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 11 July 2019

318 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 2.2 cm, 0.62 kg

'… energetic and creative … an excellent review of the poets' historical circumstances, which may account for some of the differences in their approach to corpse abuse.' Neil Bernstein, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Greco-Roman martial epic poetry, from Homer and Virgil to Neronian and Flavian epic, is obsessed with the treatment of dead bodies. Sometimes corpses take centre-stage in grand funerals; sometimes, disturbingly, they are objects of physical violence or malign neglect. In this book - the first full-length examination of corpse mistreatment in epic - Andrew M. McClellan explores the motif of post mortem abuse in Greco-Roman epic, especially the Latin poems of early imperial Rome: Lucan's Bellum ciuile, Valerius Flaccus' Argonautica, Statius' Thebaid, and Silius' Punica. He counters the pervasive tendency to view epic violence from the perspective of the abuser by shifting the focus to the object of abuse. In signalling the corpse as a critical 'character' and not simply a by-product of war, he offers a fundamental re-evaluation of violence and warfare in Latin epic, and through close study of intertextualities indicates the distinctive features of each author's treatment of the dead.

Preface
Notes on texts and abbreviations
Introduction
1. Setting the stage: corpse abuse in Homer and Virgil
2. Decapitation in Lucan, Statius, and Silius Italicus
3. Unburied past: Lucan's Bellum ciuile
4. Argonautic abuses: Valerius Flaccus' (and Apollonius') Argonautica
5. Funeral 'rights': Statius' Thebaid
6. Grave encounters: Silius Italicus' Punica
Epilogue: a post mortem
Bibliography
Index locorum
General index.

Subject Areas: Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]