Epic Ambition: Hercules and the Politics of Emulation in Valerius Flaccus' Argonautica

Valerius Flaccus wrote the Argonautica in the first century CE, arguing that the myths overplayed nature appealed to him, operating in and responding to a period of social and political upheaval. He explores how Valerius characters misinterpret exemplars of past achievement, or apply them to sad effect in changed circumstances, questioning Romes reliance on the past as a guide to the present. The tensions between genres raise and prohibit resolution of anxieties about how the new age will turn out, making the Argos voyage a perfect vehicle for Valerius exploration.

Format: Hardback
Length: 338 pages
Publication date: 12 December 2023
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press

By the time the Roman poet Valerius Flaccus penned his renowned Argonautica in the first century CE, the tale of Jason and his famous ship, the Argo, had been retold countless times, becoming a proverbial symbol of poetic banality. Yet, why did Valerius choose to construct his epic Argonautica? In this innovative analysis, Jessica Blum-Sorensen argues that it was precisely the overplayed nature of myths that appealed to Valerius, operating in and responding to a period of social and political upheaval. Seeking to comment obliquely on Roman reliance on mythic exempla to guide action and expected outcomes, there was no better vessel for his social and political message than the familiar Argo.

Focusing especially on Hercules, Blum-Sorensen explores how Valerius' characters, and by extension, their Roman audience, misinterpret exemplars of past achievement or apply them to sad effect in changed circumstances. By reading such models as normative guides to epic triumph, Valerius' Argonauts find themselves enacting tragic outcomes: effectively, the characters impose their nostalgic longing for epic triumph on the events before them, even as Valerius and his audience anticipate the tragedy awaiting his heroes. Valerius thus questions Rome's reliance on the past as a guide to the present, allowing for doubt about the empire's success under the new Flavian regime.

It is the literary tradition's exchange between triumphant epic and tragedy that makes the Argos voyage a perfect vehicle for Valerius' exploration: the tensions between genres both raise and prohibit resolution of anxieties about how the new age, whether mythical or real, will turn out.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780299344603