Women and War in Roman Epic
Published on 12. November 2020
Book
Hardback
342 pages
978-90-04-43490-5 (ISBN)
Description
In Women and War in Roman Epic, Elina Pyy discusses the narrative and ideological functions of gender in the works of Virgil, Lucan, Statius, Silius Italicus and Valerius Flaccus. By examining the themes of violence, death, guilt, grief, and anger in their epics, she offers an account of the intertextual tradition of the genre and its socio-political background.
Through a combination of classical narratology and Julia Kristeva's subjectivity theory, Pyy scrutinises how gendered marginality is constructed in the genre and how it contributes to the fashioning of Roman imperial identity. Focusing on the ambiguous elements of epic, the study looks beyond the binary oppositions between the Self and the Other, male and female, and Roman and barbarian.
Through a combination of classical narratology and Julia Kristeva's subjectivity theory, Pyy scrutinises how gendered marginality is constructed in the genre and how it contributes to the fashioning of Roman imperial identity. Focusing on the ambiguous elements of epic, the study looks beyond the binary oppositions between the Self and the Other, male and female, and Roman and barbarian.
Reviews / Votes
''This is a strong book that will be essential reading for scholars and students of Roman epic, particularly the ever-growing coterie of Flavian epic devotees.'' Andrew McClellan, in Rhea Classical Review (02.2022)More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Leiden
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
692 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-04-43490-5 (9789004434905)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Elina Pyy, Ph.D. (2014, University of Helsinki) is the vice director of the Finnish Institute in Rome. She has published several articles on gender and identity in Roman literature, as well as the monograph The Semiotics of Caesar Augustus (Bloomsbury, 2018).
Content
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction
?1?Subjects, Abjects and Others: The Narrative Construction of Subject Positions in War Epic
2 Origins of War
?1?Casus belli: War-Bringing Marriages and Ill-Omened Brides
?2?Warmongering Furies and Active Agitators
?3?Divine Interventions and Semiotic furor: Virgil's Amata and Turnus
3 Victims of War: Gendered Dynamics of Suffering
?1?The Victimised Female Body and the Construction of Roman Identity
?2?The Victim's Viewpoint: Female Gaze and Epic Subjectivity
?3?Marginal Mothers? The Threatening Overtones of Maternal Fear
?4?Grief, Lament and the Dissolution of Differences
4 'Playing Supermen': The Manly Matrons of Roman Epic
?1?Mentem aequare viros et laudis poscere partem: Female Groups in Defense of Their Cities
?2?Fida coniunx: comes ultima fati?
?3?Da mihi castra sequi: The Female Intrusion in the World of War
5 Means of Production or Weapons of Destruction? Gender and Violence in Roman War Epic
?1?Manly Men versus Effeminate Others: Armed Violence in the Construction of Romanitas
?2?Women in Arms: The Absolute Other?
?3?Bellatrix virgo: An Outsider or an Insider?
?4?Fragile Warriors and the Questioning of the Male Subject Position
6 Sabine Successors? The Failure of Female Mediation
?1?The Futility of mora, the Failure of Mediation: Mixing and Juxtaposing Epic with Historiography
?2?Functional Failures: Epic Women Tangled Up with War
7 Dynamics of Death
?1?Death, Power and Narrative Control: Creusa, Dido, and Cleopatra
?2?Getting Rid of the Queen: The Archetype of regina moritura
8 Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
1 Introduction
?1?Subjects, Abjects and Others: The Narrative Construction of Subject Positions in War Epic
2 Origins of War
?1?Casus belli: War-Bringing Marriages and Ill-Omened Brides
?2?Warmongering Furies and Active Agitators
?3?Divine Interventions and Semiotic furor: Virgil's Amata and Turnus
3 Victims of War: Gendered Dynamics of Suffering
?1?The Victimised Female Body and the Construction of Roman Identity
?2?The Victim's Viewpoint: Female Gaze and Epic Subjectivity
?3?Marginal Mothers? The Threatening Overtones of Maternal Fear
?4?Grief, Lament and the Dissolution of Differences
4 'Playing Supermen': The Manly Matrons of Roman Epic
?1?Mentem aequare viros et laudis poscere partem: Female Groups in Defense of Their Cities
?2?Fida coniunx: comes ultima fati?
?3?Da mihi castra sequi: The Female Intrusion in the World of War
5 Means of Production or Weapons of Destruction? Gender and Violence in Roman War Epic
?1?Manly Men versus Effeminate Others: Armed Violence in the Construction of Romanitas
?2?Women in Arms: The Absolute Other?
?3?Bellatrix virgo: An Outsider or an Insider?
?4?Fragile Warriors and the Questioning of the Male Subject Position
6 Sabine Successors? The Failure of Female Mediation
?1?The Futility of mora, the Failure of Mediation: Mixing and Juxtaposing Epic with Historiography
?2?Functional Failures: Epic Women Tangled Up with War
7 Dynamics of Death
?1?Death, Power and Narrative Control: Creusa, Dido, and Cleopatra
?2?Getting Rid of the Queen: The Archetype of regina moritura
8 Conclusion
Bibliography
Index