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Medieval accessus to Statius

Anderson, Harald Jens

Abstract Details

1997, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Greek and Latin.
The Latin poet Statius, though popular in the Middle Ages, was known then only through two epic poems, the Thebaid and Achilleid. Without his partially autobiographical Silvae, medieval scholars knew little of the poet's life. Since the interpretation of literature then was largely rooted in biographical criticism, scholars had to create a fictional life for him, Through an edition with commentary of twenty-five medieval introductions to manuscripts of his works (termed "accessus"), the methods, sources, and quality of this fictional biography are discussed. The earliest accessus to Statius, which dates to the ninth century, demonstrates that the medieval scholars worked extremely cautiously and conservatively, refraining from interpretations that could not be rooted in the text. In the succeeding accessus, which are all based on the original one, scholars show very little desire to change previous results and hypotheses, but shared its careful approach, avoiding allegorical interpretations. Unlike the case of accessus to other authors, accessus to Statius are all very traditional and vary from one another according to external circumstances, such as the changing role of the poems' readership or advancements in the genre of accessus in general. However, without any new information about the poet, the scholarship on Statius begins to stagnate in an age where other authors' accessus reach their fullest and most elaborate form. The rediscovery of Statius' Silvae in the beginning of the fifteenth century provided a wealth of new information to scholars. At first, they tried to adapt the new correct data to the old incorrect ones. When they finally realized the importance of this new data, they chose not just to change the biographical tradition, but to change the form of its presentation as well.
Frank T. Coulson, Dr. (Advisor)

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Anderson, H. J. (1997). Medieval accessus to Statius [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1371645234

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Anderson, Harald. Medieval accessus to Statius. 1997. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1371645234.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Anderson, Harald. "Medieval accessus to Statius." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 1997. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1371645234

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)