Amor, Arma and the Allusions of the Frightened Dove in Valerius Flaccus' "Argonautica"
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52340/atsu.2025.2.26.04Keywords:
Valerius Flaccus, epic, love, weaponsAbstract
In Valerius Flaccus' "Argonautica", the themes of love and the heroic code develop in parallel against the backdrop of the story of Medea and Jason. By focusing on certain allusions, the work determines how closely the issues of the epic genre are related to issues of gender, which, of course, is not unique to Valerius Flaccus. On the contrary, Valerius here uses a dynamic and sustainable epic practice. The woman, who is generally excluded from the definition of the ancient epic as a poetic form of weapons and men, is seen in the Roman epic, specifically in Flaccus's "Argonauts", as a person who poses a threat to the heroes of the genre as ideal fighting men by diminishing and undermining this masculinity. On the other hand, Medea's love is an additional motivation for Jason during battles. Valerius Flaccus tries to describe his heroes in a grand epic style and, at the same time, to emphasize the coexistence of erotic and martial elements (amor/arma) in the epic.
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