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This article deals with Calchas’ prophecy and Diomedes’ and Ulysses’ interventions during the mustering of the Greeks at Aulis in Statius’ Achilleid (1.514–52). It will be argued that Calchas and Ulysses embody two different approaches to the generic tensions of the new epic which Statius’ poem represents. Calchas, the old uates of the Homeric tradition, seems unable to fully understand the ‘poetics of illusion’ enacted by Thetis and Achilles in disguise, as is clear from his vision. His point of view is skilfully complemented by Ulysses, who turns out to be the true uates, as well as the perfect leader for Achilles’ rescue. As the only figure who can face the fluid and ambiguous reality of the poem and its literary dynamics as well, Ulysses also stands as a poetic voice himself; through his speech, Statius reflects upon the tensions of his epic and the poetic effort needed to channel the narrative from the peaceful setting of Scyros to the martial horizon of Troy.
This article deals with Calchas’ prophecy and Diomedes’ and Ulysses’ interventions during the mustering of the Greeks at Aulis in Statius’ Achilleid (1.514–52). It will be argued that Calchas and Ulysses embody two different approaches to the generic tensions of the new epic which Statius’ poem represents. Calchas, the old uates of the Homeric tradition, seems unable to fully understand the ‘poetics of illusion’ enacted by Thetis and Achilles in disguise, as is clear from his vision. His point of view is skilfully complemented by Ulysses, who turns out to be the true uates, as well as the perfect leader for Achilles’ rescue. As the only figure who can face the fluid and ambiguous reality of the poem and its literary dynamics as well, Ulysses also stands as a poetic voice himself; through his speech, Statius reflects upon the tensions of his epic and the poetic effort needed to channel the narrative from the peaceful setting of Scyros to the martial horizon of Troy.
In this paper, I propose a reading of a simile in Statius’ Achilleid (1.178–181), inside the Achilles’ first appearance on the scene. In a few lines, Statius condenses an athletic–heroic image, prefiguring the future epic hero of the Trojan war, but paradoxically expressed with an allusive erotic–elegiac language, inspired on the Challimacus’, Theocritus’ and elegiac also style. In particular, the Propertian model, recalled here and in other places of the Achilleid with certain references to elegy 3.14, reveals itself not only as a simple lexical repertoire todraw from, but also a wise exemplum for the metapoetic reflection, particularly supported within the first book of Achilleid , and focused on the ‘curve’ of the cultivated literary genre. In questo contributo propongo alcune riflessioni su una similitudine nell’Achilleide di Stazio (1.178–181), contenuta nella prima apparizione di Achille sulla scena. In pochi versi Stazio condensa un’immagine atletico–eroica, prefigurazione del futuro eroe epico della guerratroiana, ma paradossalmente espressa con un linguaggio formulare allusivamente erotico– elegiaco, di stampo callimacheo, teocriteo ed anche elegiaco. In particolare, il modello properziano, richiamato qui e in altri luoghi dell’Achilleide con sicuri riferimenti all’elegia 3.14, si rivela non solamente un mero repertorio lessicale al quale attingere, ma anche un sapiente exemplum per la riflessione metapoetica, particolarmente sostenuta all’interno del primo libro dell’Achilleide , ed incentrata sulla ‘curvatura’ del genere letterario coltivato.
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