Navigating Power: Valerius Flaccus’ Argonautica

Abstract

A cursory examination suffices to grasp the extent to which Valerius Flaccus' Argonautica is embedded in a specific culture and historical moment. Despite the intrinsically Greek background of the myth and use of Apollonius Rhodius as principal narrative model, Valerius' poem manifests a preoccupation with Roman culture and history. Beyond the enumeration of such unambiguous manifestations of Romanitas , scholars have sought to identify political perspective of the poem. Literary texts inevitably reflect upon their historical moment and its ideological tensions and hence independently of overt authorial intention or ostensible political affiliation. Thus, while it is often difficult securely to identify allusions to specific historical figures and events, it is invariably profitable to interrogate the socio-cultural and political givens, as well as historical dynamic. This chapter explores how Valerius' construction of political structures and class relations in an assortment of narrative domains provides an ideologically charged reflection of contemporary Roman realities. Keywords: Argonautica ; narrative domains; political structures; Roman realities; Valerius Flaccus

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