As is evident from the epilogue to the Thebaid (12.812-15) and Juvenal’s fourth Satire (4.82-7), Statius was a popular epic poet in his own lifetime and was already being read in the schools. During the second century ce it appears that archaizing influences contributed to a decline in his popularity. The appearance of the Thebaid and Achilleid in late fourth-century glosses and commentaries suggests that he had regained his popularity as an epic poet by this time. Statius greatly influenced the style and language of Ausonius, Prudentius, Paulinus of Nola, and especially Claudian, who modeled aspects of his incomplete epic Rape of Prosperina on the Achilleid (see Chapters 39 and 40, by Barnes and Trout). During the fifth century this popularity was maintained, as is evident in the figure of Sidonius Apollinaris, who preferred Statius to Virgil, and in the important commentary of Lactantius Placidus on the Thebaid. After the fifth century the popularity of Statius seems to have waned until the late eighth century, when during the Carolingian renaissance his epics were frequently copied. Although a small number of manuscripts of the Thebaid and Achilleid survive from the eighth to eleventh centuries, which indicate that they were almost certainly read in the schools during this time, it was not until the twelfth century that his epics became extremely popular as standard school texts alongside the works of Virgil, Ovid, and Juvenal. Thus the survival of the Thebaid and Achilleid, which have been copied and commented upon in some 112 and 95 manuscripts respectively, was assured.
There were two different general approaches (moral and historiographical) to the epics of Statius in the Middle Ages, which reflected to some extent their different audiences in the schoolroom and scholarly circles. Throughout this period Statius was regarded as a poeta doctus (‘‘learned poet’’), the standard epithet for a poet who was thought capable of imparting wisdom in his verse. The Achilleid was more popular than the Thebaid in the classroom and featured as one of the six elementary texts in the Liber Catonianus. One of the reasons for the popularity of the Achilleid had to do with its moral didacticism. Statius, who had written about the education of Achilles at the end of the Achilleid (2.96-167), was regarded in medieval accessus as a poeta doctor (“poet-teacher”) not only of stories but also on the education of children; the Achilleid was considered to provide examples to Romans of how to rear their children and to behave toward their mothers and teachers. This didactic element to the Achilleid is also evident in accessus to the Thebaid. As a poeta doctor Statius was thought to provide many lessons in the Thebaid, including the need for children to avoid anger.
Statius was also regarded in medieval accessus as a poeta historiographus (“historiographical poet’’), which reflected the prevailing view of the Thebaid as a history with moral overtones. The Thebaid especially encouraged a scholarly approach and sociopolitical interpretations because of the issues it raised; accordingly, the epic was viewed as a lesson to teach emperors to avoid fraternal war. Although the poem was regarded as having an application to the imperial era, it was not specific enough to teach its readers about the period. Notwithstanding any possible allegorical meaning that may be ascribed to the poem, scholarly interpretation of the poem in the Middle Ages did not seem to involve allegory, perhaps because of the anthropomorphic corporeality of supernatural powers such as Mars and Venus and abstract forces such as furor (‘‘Madness’’) and pietas (‘‘Piety’’) (cf. Dominik 1994a: 3, 18-19, 39, 74).
The influences of the fragmentary Achilleid and intact Thebaid upon European literature have been widespread and enduring, especially during the Middle Ages, when they were adapted by various writers. The Middle Irish Togail na Tebe (Destruction of Thebes) perhaps originated around the turn of the millennium, while there are Middle Irish versions of the Achilleid. The Super Thebaiden of pseudo-Fulgentius, which may be from the twelfth or thirteenth century, offers an allegorical version of the Thebaid. The Achilleid was influential upon European writers such as Dante, who accompanies Statius in the Purgatorio (21-33). Until the sixteenth century Statius’ Thebaid served as the main inspiration for various adaptations of the Oedipus myth, including the twelfth-century versions known as Roman de Thebes, which relate the fratricide of Eteocles and Polynices. Giovanni Boccaccio was similarly inspired by the Thebaid in the composition of his Teseide.
Among English poets Chaucer uses the Thebaid in Troilus and Criseyde, especially in 2.82-112 and 5.1478-1519, while his depiction of Troilus recalls Statius’ Oedipus. Chaucer also mentions Statius by name in The Knight’s Tale (1.2294), in House of Fame (2.1460), and in Troilus and Criseyde at the end of an apostrophe (5.1786-92, esp. 5.1791-2), which is reminiscent of the epilogue to the Thebaid (12.810-19, esp. 811-12). In Anelida and Arcite Chaucer depicts the superficially positive attributes of Statius’ Theseus. John Lydgate draws on the theme of the Thebaid for his Siege of Thebes. After the Middle Ages the Achilleid and Thebaid continued to play an important role in European literature, scholarship, and in the schools. English poets and scholars of the neoclassical period, notably Alexander Pope and Thomas Gray, translated parts of the Thebaid into English verse. Although the popularity of the Thebaid and Achilleid declined after the eighteenth century, they have remained a subject of interest among scholars. At the beginning of the twenty-first century the epics have regained some of the popularity they held in eighteenth-century scholarship.
World History
