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Subtitle: two Roman epic fragments
By: translated by David R. Slavitt ; afterword by David Konstan.
Contributors: Slavitt, David R., 1935-; Statius, P. Papinius; Claudianus, Claudius.
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Philadelphia, PA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 98
Subjects: Epic poetry, Latin -- Translations into English.; Achilles (Greek mythology) -- Poetry.; Proserpina (Roman deity) -- Poetry.; Mythology, Classical -- Poetry.; Trojan War -- Poetry.
Description: There is more to classical literature than just the classics. Here David Slavitt expands the canon by presenting vivid, graceful, and amusing translations of two neglected fragmentary works of Latin literature. The first is Publius Papinius Statius's first-century epic Achilleid, an extraordinary fusion of epic and New Comedy sentiments and humor that may represent the earliest literary imagining of the charm of adolescence.

It relates the story of the education of Achilles under the centaur Chiron, his adopting the disguise of a girl during his sojourn at the court of Lycomedes in Scyros, his love affair with Deidamia, his detection by Ulysses and Diomedes, and his departure for Troy. The second work is Claudius Claudianus's unfinished fourth-century epic version of the rape of Proserpine. The two works together make a delightful pair.

The afterword by David Konstan explores the traditions in which - and against which - Statius and Claudian composed their versions of these well-known stories.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-98).
Table of contents: title: The achilleid of Publius Papinius Statius; title: The rape of Proserpine of Claudius Claudianus.