The cause of Idmon’s Death at Seneca, Medea 652–3, and at Valerius Flaccus 5.2–3
‘The tale of the Argonauts was among the most popular myths in Greek and Roman literature of all periods.’ There was, however, not inconsiderable variation in certain aspects of the narrative: in the inclusion or exclusion of entire episodes; in (un)expected divergences from more authoritative versi...
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Format: | Journal article |
Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2020
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author | Franklinos, T |
author_facet | Franklinos, T |
author_sort | Franklinos, T |
collection | OXFORD |
description | ‘The tale of the Argonauts was among the most popular myths in Greek and Roman literature of all periods.’ There was, however, not inconsiderable variation in certain aspects of the narrative: in the inclusion or exclusion of entire episodes; in (un)expected divergences from more authoritative versions of the story; and in the details of minutiae. In the Argonautic choral odes of Seneca's Medea (301–79 and 579–669), and in Valerius Flaccus’ incomplete epic, there is a conspicuous, learned engagement with much of the earlier tradition that hints at versions of the myth which are divergent from those that the two poets privilege in their respective narratives. Such moments serve to assert the playwright's and the epicist's status as docti poetae, and to engage the learned reader in a (re)negotiation of the tradition; at times, an awareness of a literary past seems to be given to particular characters too so as to heighten the reader's experience of the narrative—by a sort of prolepsis—as it unfolds. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-07T02:33:17Z |
format | Journal article |
id | oxford-uuid:a7f2618c-8656-4fda-a310-d266b88ac226 |
institution | University of Oxford |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-07T02:33:17Z |
publishDate | 2020 |
publisher | Cambridge University Press |
record_format | dspace |
spelling | oxford-uuid:a7f2618c-8656-4fda-a310-d266b88ac2262022-03-27T02:58:00ZThe cause of Idmon’s Death at Seneca, Medea 652–3, and at Valerius Flaccus 5.2–3Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:a7f2618c-8656-4fda-a310-d266b88ac226EnglishSymplectic ElementsCambridge University Press2020Franklinos, T‘The tale of the Argonauts was among the most popular myths in Greek and Roman literature of all periods.’ There was, however, not inconsiderable variation in certain aspects of the narrative: in the inclusion or exclusion of entire episodes; in (un)expected divergences from more authoritative versions of the story; and in the details of minutiae. In the Argonautic choral odes of Seneca's Medea (301–79 and 579–669), and in Valerius Flaccus’ incomplete epic, there is a conspicuous, learned engagement with much of the earlier tradition that hints at versions of the myth which are divergent from those that the two poets privilege in their respective narratives. Such moments serve to assert the playwright's and the epicist's status as docti poetae, and to engage the learned reader in a (re)negotiation of the tradition; at times, an awareness of a literary past seems to be given to particular characters too so as to heighten the reader's experience of the narrative—by a sort of prolepsis—as it unfolds. |
spellingShingle | Franklinos, T The cause of Idmon’s Death at Seneca, Medea 652–3, and at Valerius Flaccus 5.2–3 |
title | The cause of Idmon’s Death at Seneca, Medea 652–3, and at Valerius Flaccus 5.2–3 |
title_full | The cause of Idmon’s Death at Seneca, Medea 652–3, and at Valerius Flaccus 5.2–3 |
title_fullStr | The cause of Idmon’s Death at Seneca, Medea 652–3, and at Valerius Flaccus 5.2–3 |
title_full_unstemmed | The cause of Idmon’s Death at Seneca, Medea 652–3, and at Valerius Flaccus 5.2–3 |
title_short | The cause of Idmon’s Death at Seneca, Medea 652–3, and at Valerius Flaccus 5.2–3 |
title_sort | cause of idmon s death at seneca medea 652 3 and at valerius flaccus 5 2 3 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT franklinost thecauseofidmonsdeathatsenecamedea6523andatvaleriusflaccus523 AT franklinost causeofidmonsdeathatsenecamedea6523andatvaleriusflaccus523 |