Statius and Epic Games

Epic games are more than just an interlude; they reflect the realities of epic: heroism, power and war. This first major study of the athletic games in Statius'' Thebaid Book 6 uses them to produce a new reading of the poem as a whole. It explores each event in Statius'' games, discussing intertextual manoeuvres, historical context and poetic positioning, developing a theme from each: audience po...