Ire per omnes heroas: Statius’ Cyclic OEuvre

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Abstract

Statius’ Achilleid is meant to “go through the entire hero” (1.4–5 ire per omnem / … heroa). This plan consists of re-singing a considerable portion of the poems from the archaic Greek Epic Cycle narrating the Trojan saga. It thus ensures a direct continuation of Statius’ first mythological epic poem, the Thebaid, whose subject engages in close dialogue with the part of the archaic Greek Epic Cycle dedicated to the Theban saga. This paper argues that Statius’ poetic engagement with both the Theban and the Trojan sagas amounts to an ambitious endeavour to create a new, distinctly Latin Epic Cycle re-singing the two wars that destroyed the race of heroes and, therefore, heralding the dawn of a new golden age under the banner of the Flavian dynasty.