From glory to barbarism: an analysis of the contrast between the Statian Tideus and the Iliadic Diomedes

• Grant number: 19/11056-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2019
• End date: August 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Classical Literatures
• Principal Investigator: Marcos Martinho dos Santos
• Grantee: André Vasconcellos do Nascimento Camargo
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project aims to study the characterization of the character Tydeus of Statius' Thebaid, presenting a comparison between his portrayal in the Statian epic with the portrayal of Diomedes, son of Tydeus, in Homer's Iliad. In order to fulfill this objective, we will make use of old rhetorical texts, the progymnásmata of Aelius Theon of Alexandria, Ps.-Hermogenes and Aphthonius, in which one of the exercises, the etopeia, teaches to students of rhetoric how to characterize a character through the narration of his actions and his own speech. We will also rely on the modern bibliography specialized in the Thebaid, in particular, the study of the its characters. In addition, the project intends to translate directly from Latin to Portuguese selected passages of the Thebaid that best serve the purpose of characterizing Tydeus. Once the research is carried out, we believe that its results will contribute to the formation of a wider repertoire on the study of post-virgilian Latin epic poetry in Brazil, which has received increasing attention in the country in recent years.