The Dr. Sally L.D. Katary Memorial Lecture | "Death and Ritual in Statius"

About the talk...

In this presentation, Professor Augoustakis examines the role of lament in Statius’s lyric poems, the Silvae (late 1st century CE). By emphasizing the role of the father, Statius weaves a narrative in the Silvae that is different from his epic poem, the Thebaid; there grief and lamentation become a vessel for letting out the darkest side of human predisposition towards despotism. Through a different portrayal of death and lament in the Silvae presents a more effective type of mourning, which, nevertheless, still pushes the limits and boundaries of decorum.

This lecture series commemorates Dr. Sally L.D. Katary, a U of T PhD and beloved Ancient Studies & Classics professor who taught at Thorneloe for 30 years. Thanks to the philanthropic generosity of the Katary family, including daughter, Shannon Katary Vic 0T3, this series is now offered annually at Victoria College.

About the speaker...

Antony Augoustakis is Professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Illinois. He specializes in Latin imperial epic, Roman drama and historiography, women in antiquity, and gender theory. His publications include Silius Italicus, Punica 3 (with Joy Littlewood, Oxford University Press, 2022), Valerius Flaccus’ Argonautica 8 (by Cristiano Castelletti, edited with Marco Fucecchi and Gesine Manuwald, Oxford University Press, 2022), Silius Italicus' Punica: Rome’s War with Hannibal (with Neil Bernstein, Routledge, 2021), Statius, Thebaid 8 (Oxford University Press, 2016), Motherhood and the Other: Fashioning Female Power in Flavian Epic (Oxford University Press, Oxford Readings in Classical Literature and Gender Theory, 2010) and Plautus’ Mercator (Bryn Mawr Latin Commentaries, 2009).

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