{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/107894"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/107894","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Transgressive figures: Monsters and monstrosity in Flavian epic","abstract":"This dissertation argues that the monsters in Statius’ Thebaid and Silius’ Punica both embody and reproduce dynamics of Flavian culture. These poems are taken together as exemplars of the culture during the reign of Domitian specifically. I conduct close, sustained, textual analysis of instances wherein monsters adjoin the dynamics of otherness, literary tradition, mytho-historical past and imperial ideology. I begin with a discussion of Statius’ potential clustering of Epicurean elements around representations of Hippomedon as a Centaur. As with other discernments of Epicurean hints in mythological epic I assess this as an exploration of the consequences of placing these elements in the text. By using a Centaur for this examination, Statius reveals how monsters are often good spaces for exploration in Flavian epic. I then show that Statius’ depictions of hybrid monsters (Centaurs, the Minotaur and Arachne) reveal and reinforce tension around ‘otherness’ in this time period. At the same time, Flavian giants (both in the Thebaid and Punica) embody the conscious self-positioning of Flavian epicists relative to past models. Statius and Silius use Flavian giants to explore Augustan models of gigantomachy in their own era. Finally, monstrosity can be gleaned in the varied representations of Domitian himself both within and outside of the literary record. Domitian is represented as both bald and long-haired, a feature that exhibits the transgressive monstrosity of depictions of the emperor himself. Flavian monsters both embody these cultural dynamics and reproduce them.","abstract_html":"This dissertation argues that the monsters in Statius’ Thebaid and Silius’ Punica both embody and reproduce dynamics of Flavian culture. These poems are taken together as exemplars of the culture during the reign of Domitian specifically. I conduct close, sustained, textual analysis of instances wherein monsters adjoin the dynamics of otherness, literary tradition, mytho-historical past and imperial ideology. I begin with a discussion of Statius’ potential clustering of Epicurean elements around representations of Hippomedon as a Centaur. As with other discernments of Epicurean hints in mythological epic I assess this as an exploration of the consequences of placing these elements in the text. By using a Centaur for this examination, Statius reveals how monsters are often good spaces for exploration in Flavian epic. I then show that Statius’ depictions of hybrid monsters (Centaurs, the Minotaur and Arachne) reveal and reinforce tension around ‘otherness’ in this time period. At the same time, Flavian giants (both in the Thebaid and Punica) embody the conscious self-positioning of Flavian epicists relative to past models. Statius and Silius use Flavian giants to explore Augustan models of gigantomachy in their own era. Finally, monstrosity can be gleaned in the varied representations of Domitian himself both within and outside of the literary record. Domitian is represented as both bald and long-haired, a feature that exhibits the transgressive monstrosity of depictions of the emperor himself. Flavian monsters both embody these cultural dynamics and reproduce them.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Froedge, Stephen Este-Paul"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Classical Philology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Augoustakis, Antony","Williams, Craig","Bernstein, Neil","Bosak-Schroeder, Clara","Walters, Brian"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-08-26T21:54:22Z","date_published":"2020-08-26T21:54:22Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:47Z","subjects":["Latin epic, monsters"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2020 Stephen Froedge"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/107894","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Augoustakis, Antony","Williams, Craig","Bernstein, Neil","Bosak-Schroeder, Clara","Walters, Brian"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Froedge, Stephen Este-Paul"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2020-08-26T21:54:22Z","2020-04-20","2020-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Classical Philology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Latin epic, monsters"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2020 Stephen Froedge"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/107894"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["This dissertation argues that the monsters in Statius’ Thebaid and Silius’ Punica both embody and reproduce dynamics of Flavian culture. These poems are taken together as exemplars of the culture during the reign of Domitian specifically. I conduct close, sustained, textual analysis of instances wherein monsters adjoin the dynamics of otherness, literary tradition, mytho-historical past and imperial ideology. I begin with a discussion of Statius’ potential clustering of Epicurean elements around representations of Hippomedon as a Centaur. As with other discernments of Epicurean hints in mythological epic I assess this as an exploration of the consequences of placing these elements in the text. By using a Centaur for this examination, Statius reveals how monsters are often good spaces for exploration in Flavian epic. I then show that Statius’ depictions of hybrid monsters (Centaurs, the Minotaur and Arachne) reveal and reinforce tension around ‘otherness’ in this time period. At the same time, Flavian giants (both in the Thebaid and Punica) embody the conscious self-positioning of Flavian epicists relative to past models. Statius and Silius use Flavian giants to explore Augustan models of gigantomachy in their own era. Finally, monstrosity can be gleaned in the varied representations of Domitian himself both within and outside of the literary record. Domitian is represented as both bald and long-haired, a feature that exhibits the transgressive monstrosity of depictions of the emperor himself. Flavian monsters both embody these cultural dynamics and reproduce them.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. 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I conduct close, sustained, textual analysis of instances wherein monsters adjoin the dynamics of otherness, literary tradition, mytho-historical past and imperial ideology. I begin with a discussion of Statius’ potential clustering of Epicurean elements around representations of Hippomedon as a Centaur. As with other discernments of Epicurean hints in mythological epic I assess this as an exploration of the consequences of placing these elements in the text. By using a Centaur for this examination, Statius reveals how monsters are often good spaces for exploration in Flavian epic. I then show that Statius’ depictions of hybrid monsters (Centaurs, the Minotaur and Arachne) reveal and reinforce tension around ‘otherness’ in this time period. At the same time, Flavian giants (both in the Thebaid and Punica) embody the conscious self-positioning of Flavian epicists relative to past models. Statius and Silius use Flavian giants to explore Augustan models of gigantomachy in their own era. Finally, monstrosity can be gleaned in the varied representations of Domitian himself both within and outside of the literary record. Domitian is represented as both bald and long-haired, a feature that exhibits the transgressive monstrosity of depictions of the emperor himself. Flavian monsters both embody these cultural dynamics and reproduce them.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2020-08-25 without embargo terms","The student, Stephen Froedge, accepted the attached license on 2020-04-20 at 09:30.","The student, Stephen Froedge, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2020-04-20 at 09:31.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2020-04-20 at 13:29.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #14996 on 2020-08-25 at 17:07:14","Made available in DSpace on 2020-08-26T21:54:22Z (GMT). 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