Statius' Capaneus and Virgil’s Laocoon

TY - JOUR

T1 - Statius' Capaneus and Virgil’s Laocoon

AU - Frisby, Danielle Marianne

PY - 2017/6/6

Y1 - 2017/6/6

N2 - This paper argues for a strong connection between the disparaging words of the notoriously anti-divine Capaneus at Thebaid 3.604-05 and those of the ill-fated priest Laocoon at Aeneid 2.42-49. The elements of the intertextual connection are found to be multiple, and embrace intermediaries such as Statius’ Tydeus and Virgil’s Tarchon. Tarchon and Tydeus’ more obviously martial context acts to overlay the home-front with the immediacy of the battlefield, allusively capturing the duality of that contested space occupied at Troy. Internal spaces, namely the chthonic space Capaneus describes and the internal workings of the Horse are also examined, with the ramifications of a shift in tenor from the model’s attitude to these explored. The paradoxical alignment of a strident theomach with a priest is argued to feed into the Thebaid’s wider interest in breaking down boundaries between identities, as well as its darker take on impending war, and the way it ‘reads’ the Aeneid. Indeed, Capaneus’ taking on of a prophetic voice also encompasses Helenus, and his future-facing turn to the chthonic is therefore set in dialogue with Aeneas’ own immediate descent into the Underworld.

AB - This paper argues for a strong connection between the disparaging words of the notoriously anti-divine Capaneus at Thebaid 3.604-05 and those of the ill-fated priest Laocoon at Aeneid 2.42-49. The elements of the intertextual connection are found to be multiple, and embrace intermediaries such as Statius’ Tydeus and Virgil’s Tarchon. Tarchon and Tydeus’ more obviously martial context acts to overlay the home-front with the immediacy of the battlefield, allusively capturing the duality of that contested space occupied at Troy. Internal spaces, namely the chthonic space Capaneus describes and the internal workings of the Horse are also examined, with the ramifications of a shift in tenor from the model’s attitude to these explored. The paradoxical alignment of a strident theomach with a priest is argued to feed into the Thebaid’s wider interest in breaking down boundaries between identities, as well as its darker take on impending war, and the way it ‘reads’ the Aeneid. Indeed, Capaneus’ taking on of a prophetic voice also encompasses Helenus, and his future-facing turn to the chthonic is therefore set in dialogue with Aeneas’ own immediate descent into the Underworld.

KW - Virgil

KW - Statius

KW - Aeneid

KW - Thebaid

KW - Capaneus

KW - Laocoon

KW - Wooden Horse

KW - Prophecy

KW - Amphiaraus

M3 - Article

SN - 0968-2112

JO - PROCEEDINGS OF THE VIRGIL SOCIETY

JF - PROCEEDINGS OF THE VIRGIL SOCIETY

ER -