Transvestite Achilles

Statius'' Achilleid is a playful, witty, and open-ended epic in the manner of Ovid. As we follow Achilles'' metamorphosis from wild boy to demure girl to lover to hero, the poet brilliantly illustrates a series of contrasting codes of behaviour: male and female, epic and elegiac. This first full-length study of the poem addresses not only the narrative itself, but also sets the myth of Achilles on...