Publius Papinius Statius, Thebaid

Neil Bernstein (Ohio University)

Ed. by Sophia Papaioannou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Dates

c.080- c.092

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Epic

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Recommended Reading

The best known work of the poet Publius Papinius Statius (c. 45-96 CE), the

Thebaid

is an epic poem written in twelve books of Latin hexameter verse (9741 lines). The subject is the mythical war between the brothers Polynices and Eteocles for the throne of the Greek city of Thebes. In book 1, Oedipus curses his sons Eteocles and Polynices and condemns them to fight for his throne. The brothers agree to alternate yearly rule of the city. Polynices leaves Thebes for Argos, whose king Adrastus welcomes him and engages him to his daughter Argia. The couple are married in book 2, along with Polynices’ new-found friend Tydeus who marries Adrastus’ other daughter Deipyle. Tydeus then proceeds to Thebes to demand the throne from Eteocles, who refuses and sends fifty ambushers in an…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

2035 words

Citation: Bernstein, Neil. "Thebaid". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 February 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=34879, accessed 21 November 2024.]

View recommended reading for this article

Publius Papinius Statius, Thebaid

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Resources

Save this article

Leave Feedback