Analysis of Thebaid
Plot
Statius’s Thebaid, is an epic poem that tells the story of an unsuccessful campaign against the city of Thebes known as the “Seven against Thebes.” Thebaid centers on the conflict between the two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, sons of Oedipus and heirs to the throne Thebes. In this war, Eteocles calls upon Tiresias for wisdom and guidance.
The Authority of Tiresias
Tiresias is introduced in book II of Thebaid, and in this introduction, Statius establishes the authority that Tiresias has over the characters in the poem. His name alone has weight, but through his actions, he serves as a messenger for the will of the gods of Olympus. The shade of Laius, father of Oedipus and former king of Thebes, is tasked with convincing Eteocles to declare war on Polynices, and to do so he adopts the guise of Tiresias, “lest he seem a false night-fancy.”[1] The specific choice of Tiresias shows that the words of the ancient prophet hold more weight than the words of a king. Thebaid demonstrates that Tiresias’s powers are not limited to clairvoyance, as his knowledge gives him a certain command over the inhabitants of the underworld through necromancy. He states that ordering the ghosts Hades to rise is an example of the gods’ will and then summons the shade of Laius back from the grave to give Eteocles a prophecy.
Tiresias Draws from the Past (Statius’s Inspiration from Ovid)
The location in which Statius chooses to have Tiresias perform his necromantic arts is inspired by the landscapes of Thebes described by Ovid. In Thebaid book IV, Statius launches into an ekphrasis describing a forest that has had “no leaf in its lifetime cut off or sunbeam let in” and “Mavortian plains, fields Cadmus reaped.”[2] These descriptions relate the site of the ritual to the forest where Narcissus drowns himself and the cave where Cadmus slays the god of war’s dragon, respectively. Statius also states that the goddess of the area is Diana which can be used to connect the space to the myth of Acteon and Diana.[3 ] In the Roman mythological tradition, these three tales are all contained in the third book of Ovid’s Metamorphoses which also contains the origin of Tiresias’ power of sight. The choice of this location is an act of foreshadowing on the part of both Tiresias and the poet himself, as the message that they are sending to both the young ruler and the audience is that the tragedies of Eteocles’ ancestors extend to the current generation of Cadmus’ descendants.
The divine focus on Theban history in Statius' Thebaid finds a complement on the human level in the figure of Tiresias, who repeatedly returns to the literary past in search of the future, as Statius builds on Ovid's association of the seer with the House of Cadmus.[4]
Statius’s Thebaid, is an epic poem that tells the story of an unsuccessful campaign against the city of Thebes known as the “Seven against Thebes.” Thebaid centers on the conflict between the two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, sons of Oedipus and heirs to the throne Thebes. In this war, Eteocles calls upon Tiresias for wisdom and guidance.
The Authority of Tiresias
Tiresias is introduced in book II of Thebaid, and in this introduction, Statius establishes the authority that Tiresias has over the characters in the poem. His name alone has weight, but through his actions, he serves as a messenger for the will of the gods of Olympus. The shade of Laius, father of Oedipus and former king of Thebes, is tasked with convincing Eteocles to declare war on Polynices, and to do so he adopts the guise of Tiresias, “lest he seem a false night-fancy.”[1] The specific choice of Tiresias shows that the words of the ancient prophet hold more weight than the words of a king. Thebaid demonstrates that Tiresias’s powers are not limited to clairvoyance, as his knowledge gives him a certain command over the inhabitants of the underworld through necromancy. He states that ordering the ghosts Hades to rise is an example of the gods’ will and then summons the shade of Laius back from the grave to give Eteocles a prophecy.
Tiresias Draws from the Past (Statius’s Inspiration from Ovid)
The location in which Statius chooses to have Tiresias perform his necromantic arts is inspired by the landscapes of Thebes described by Ovid. In Thebaid book IV, Statius launches into an ekphrasis describing a forest that has had “no leaf in its lifetime cut off or sunbeam let in” and “Mavortian plains, fields Cadmus reaped.”[2] These descriptions relate the site of the ritual to the forest where Narcissus drowns himself and the cave where Cadmus slays the god of war’s dragon, respectively. Statius also states that the goddess of the area is Diana which can be used to connect the space to the myth of Acteon and Diana.[3 ] In the Roman mythological tradition, these three tales are all contained in the third book of Ovid’s Metamorphoses which also contains the origin of Tiresias’ power of sight. The choice of this location is an act of foreshadowing on the part of both Tiresias and the poet himself, as the message that they are sending to both the young ruler and the audience is that the tragedies of Eteocles’ ancestors extend to the current generation of Cadmus’ descendants.
The divine focus on Theban history in Statius' Thebaid finds a complement on the human level in the figure of Tiresias, who repeatedly returns to the literary past in search of the future, as Statius builds on Ovid's association of the seer with the House of Cadmus.[4]
[1] Statius, P. Papinius, and Jane Wilson. Joyce. Thebaid: A Song of Thebes. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 2008. Print. book II line 85
[2] Ibid. book IV lines 420, 435-6
[3] Keith, Alison. "Ovid's Theban Narrative in Statius' "Thebaid"" Hermathena No. 177/178.Aetas Ovidiana? (2004): 181-207. JSTOR. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. 199
[4] Ibid. 189
[2] Ibid. book IV lines 420, 435-6
[3] Keith, Alison. "Ovid's Theban Narrative in Statius' "Thebaid"" Hermathena No. 177/178.Aetas Ovidiana? (2004): 181-207. JSTOR. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. 199
[4] Ibid. 189