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Thebaid: A Song of Thebes (Masters of Latin Literature) by Publius Papinius Statius is a nonfiction available to read on EtoBox.

What is Thebaid: A Song of Thebes (Masters of Latin Literature) about?

Annotation The Thebaid, a Latin epic in twelve books by Statius (c. 4596 C. E.) reexamines events following the abdication of Oedipus, focusing on the civil war between the brothers Eteocles, King of Thebes, and Polynices, who comes at the head of an army from Argos to claim his share of royal power. The poem is longeach of the twelve books comprises over eight hundred linesand complex, and it exploits a broad range of literary works, both Greek and Latin. Severely curtailed though he was by the emperor Domitian and his Reign of Terror, Statius nevertheless created a meditation on autocratic rule that is still of political interest today. Popular in its own time and much admired in the Middle Ages and the Renaissancemost notably by Dante and Chaucerthe poem fell into obscurity and has, for readers of English, been poorly served by translators. Statius composed his poem in dactylic hexameters, the supreme verse form in antiquity. In his hands, this venerable line is flexible, capable of subtle emphases and dramatic shifts in tempo; it is an expressive, responsive medium. In this new and long-awaited translation the poet Jane Wilson Joyce employs a loose, six-beat line in her English

Who reads Thebaid: A Song of Thebes (Masters of Latin Literature)?

Author

Publius Papinius Statius

Publisher

Cornell University Press

Published

2008

Language

EN

ISBN

9780801431845

Category

nonfiction

Subjects

Literary Fiction, Poetry, Humanities

Rating

5 / 5 (1 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-24