Literature Stream Seminar: Francesca Econimo

Exploring the ‘ages’ of Thebes in Statius’ Thebaid through Ovid’s Metamorphoses: from decline to potential regeneration?

A seminar led by Francesca Econimo (University of Toronto)

This paper focuses on the notion of chaos and cosmos in Statius’ Thebaid in terms of moral decline and potential regeneration through the reception of the Myth of the Ages, particularly its treatment in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Exploring the idea that Thebes embodies a kind of modern Iron Age, in which there is no place for Pietas and Iustitia, this talk will draw attention to the potential transition from the decline of the Theban present, plagued by civil war and the withdrawal of the gods, to a future, hypothetical regeneration entrusted to humankind, in view of the poem’s problematic closure in Book 12.