The Transvestite Achilles: Gender and Genre in Statius' Achilleid

Description

Statius' Achilleid is a playful, witty, and open-ended epic in the manner of Ovid. As we follow Achilles' metamorphosis from wild boy to demure girl to lover to hero, the poet brilliantly illustrates a series of contrasting codes of behaviour: male and female, epic and elegiac. This first full-length study of the poem addresses not only the narrative itself, but also sets the myth of Achilles on Scyros within a broad interpretive framework. The exploration ranges from the reception of the Achilleid in Baroque opera to the anthropological parallels that have been adduced to explain Achilles' transvestism. The study's expansive approach, which includes Ovid and Ovidian reception, psychoanalytic perspectives and theorizations of gender in antiquity, makes it essential reading not only for students of Statius, but for students of Latin literature, and of gender in antiquity.

P. J. Heslin is a lecturer in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Durham.

'... a welcome addition to the ever-increasing number of scholarly works devoted to elucidating the subtle politics and sophisticated poetics of imperial Latin epic ... animated throughout ... a significant contribution to Latin literary studies in this stimulating volume.' A. M. Keith, Victoria College '[The author's] profound familiarity with classical literature enables him to approach the issue from a wide perspective and pay attention to versatile conventions and details. Through structural and linguistic analysis the author is able to expose Statius' subtle and humoristic treatment of classical literature. ... Heslin's profound orientation on the subject enables the reader to consider the Achilleid not only as a successful epic narrative, but also as a reflection of the whole range of classical literature preceding the imperial era - a respectful nod to the great classical authors, and a witty parody of genre-related cliches. ... All in all, Heslin's survey is an admirable pursuit to fill the void concerning the study of the Achilleid by classical scholars.' De novis libris iudicia