Achilleid

The Achilleid (Latin: Achilleïs) is an unfinished epic poem by Publius Papinius Statius that was intended to present the life of Achilles from his youth through his death at Troy. Only about one and a half books (1,127 dactylic hexameters) were completed before the poet's death. What remains is an account of the hero's early life with Chiron the centaur, and an episode in which his mother Thetis disguised him as a girl on the island of Scyros before he joined the Greek expedition against Troy.

An ancient fresco of Chiron and Achilles.

Composition

Based upon three references to the poem in the Silvae, the Achilleid seems to have been composed between 94 and 96 CE. At Silvae 4.7.21–24, Statius complains that he lacks the motivation to make progress upon his "Achilles" without the company of his friend C. Vibius Maximus who was travelling in Dalmatia (and to whom poem is addressed). Statius apparently overcame this self-described writer's block, for in a poem from the posthumously published fifth book of the Silvae he refers to an upcoming recitation of a section from the Achilleid. This reference is believed to date from the summer of 95, and Statius presumably died later that year or early in the next, leaving the Achilleid unfinished.

Poetic models

Statius' primary models are Homer and the poems of the epic cycle which touch on the life of Achilles. In the opening of the Achilleid, Statius asks that his poem not stop with the death of Hector (nec in Hectore tracto sistere 1.6) as the Iliad does but that it continue through the whole Trojan cycle, invoking these two important models. His style in the Achilleid has been seen as far more reminiscent of Ovid than Virgil, his major influence in the composition of the Thebaid.

Contents

Book 1

The Achilleid opens with a traditional epic invocation of the Muses and Apollo, requesting inspiration for the poet's work and outlining the content of the poem to follow. The Muses are the first to be addressed (Ach. 1.1–7):

Magnanimum Aeaciden formidatamque Tonanti progeniem et patrio vetitam succedere caelo, diva, refer. quamquam acta viri multum inclita cantu Maeonio (sed plura vacant), nos ire per omnem— sic amor est—heroa velis Scyroque latentem Dulichia proferre tuba nec in Hectore tracto sistere, sed tota iuvenem deducere Troia.

Of great-hearted Aeacides, the Thunderer's offspring fearsome and forbidden to succeed to his father's heaven, do sing, goddess. Although the man's deeds are much famed in Maeonian song (but more remain), that we traverse the whole— so I crave—hero may you wish, and that hidden in Scyrus we lead him forth with Dulichian trump and do not with Hector's drag cease, but lead the warrior down through Troy's whole story.

As in Vergil's Aeneid and Statius' own Thebaid, the very first words present the poem's primary topic, expanded with a clause joined by the Latin enclitic conjunction -que. While the structure of the first line puts the Achilleid within the Vergilian tradition of martial epic, Philip Hardie sees the last line quoted above as an indication of Statius' debt to Ovid. Specifically, the choice of the verb deducere, "to lead down", evokes the invocation in the Metamorphoses in which Ovid asks the gods to lead down (deducite) to his own time a "perpetual song" (perpetuum carmen), with which Hardie also compares Statius' "Troy's whole story" (tota Troia, literally: "all of Troy").

The poem continues by praising Domitian. Thetis knowing that her son will die asks Neptune if he will sink the Trojan fleet which carries Paris and Helen, but Neptune tells her that the war is fated, so she goes to Chiron, eats in his cave, and takes Achilles with her to hide him. Thetis hides Achilles on Scyros and dresses him as a girl; Achilles is presented to king Lycomedes, joins in the dances at the festival of Minerva, and falls in love with Deidamia. The Argives, meanwhile, muster their forces but notice that Achilles is missing. The prophet, Thestor, in a trance sees that Achilles is on Scyros, and Ulysses departs to fetch him. Achilles forces Deidamia to have sex with him in a sacred grove. Ulysses arrives at Scyros, is entertained by Lycomedes, and sets out cosmetics and weapons as gifts. When Achilles is attracted by the weapons and not the cosmetics, his identity is revealed; Deidamia sees the future and recites a speech of despair.

Book 2

Achilles embarks with Ulysses, praying to Thetis. Ulysses tells him the story of Paris' abduction of Helen, and then Achilles tells him of his youth, his hunting exploits, and the teachings of Chiron. The poem ends with the closure of Achilles' narrative.

Influence and Critical Responses to the Achilleid

The Achilleid has generally received far more positive criticism than the Thebaid. One branch of this focuses on comparisons between the two poems; many scholars see a drastic difference between the "serious" and "Iliadic" Thebaid and the playful "Ovidian" Achilleid. Some have seen the Achilleid as Statius' attempt to write an entirely new mult-generic type of epic as a challenge to the Virgilian model. Others have noted the importance of female emotions and feminine characteristics in the poem. Finally, some have interpreted the character of Achilles as a subversive foil for Domitian.

Bibliography

• Coleman, K.M. (1988) Statius: Silvae IV (Oxford) ISBN 978-0198140313
• Coleman, K.M. (2003) "Recent Scholarship on the Epics" in: Shackleton Bailey (2003a) 9–37.
• Cowan, R. (2005) Introduction to the Bristol reprint of Dilke, Statius: Achilleid (Exeter) ISBN 1-904675-11-5
• Davis, P.J. (2006) "Allusion to Ovid and others in Statius' Achilleid", Ramus 35: 129–43
• Dilke, O.A.W. (1954) Statius: Achilleid (Cambridge)
• Fantham, E. (1979) "Statius' Achilles and his Trojan model", Classical Quarterly 29: 457–62.
• Feeney, D. (2004) "Tenui ... Latens Discrimine: Spotting the Differences in Statius' Achilleid", Materiali e discussioni per l'analisi dei testi classici 52: 85–105.
• Hardie, P. (1993) The Epic Successors of Virgil: A Study in the Dynamics of a Tradition (Cambridge) ISBN 978-0521425629
• Heslin, P.J. (2005) The Transvestite Achilles: Gender and Genre in Statius' Achilleid (Cambridge) ISBN 978-0521851459
• McNelis, C. (2009) "In the Wake of Latona: Thetis at Statius, Achilleid 1.198–216", "Classical Quarterly" 59: 238–46.
• Mendelsohn, D. (1990) "Empty Nest, Abandoned Cave: Maternal Anxiety in Achilleid 1", Classical Antiquity 9: 295–308.
• Newlands, C. (2004) "Statius and Ovid: Transforming the Landscape", TAPA 134: 133–55.
• Parkes, R. (2008) "The Return of the Seven: Allusion to the Thebaid in Statius' Achilleid", American Journal of Philology 129: 381–402.
• Sanna, S. (2007) "Achilles, the Wise Lover and His Seductive Strategies (Statius, Achilleid 1.560–92)", Classical Quarterly 57: 207–15.
• Shackleton Bailey, D.R. (2003a) Statius II. Thebaid, Books 1–7. Achilleid, Loeb Classical Library no. 207 (Cambridge, MA) ISBN 0-674-01208-9
• Shackleton Bailey, D.R. (2003b) Statius III. Thebaid, Books 8–12. Achilleid, Loeb Classical Library no. 495 (Cambridge, MA) ISBN 0-674-01209-7
• Slavitt, David (1997) Broken Columns: Two Roman Epic Fragments (Philadelphia) ISBN 978-0812234244
• Vessey, D.W.T.C. (1982) "Flavian Epic", in: E.J. Kenney & W.V. Claussen (eds.) The Cambridge History of Classical Literature, II: Latin Literature (Cambridge) at 558–96. ISBN 978-0521210430