Animal Encounters in Valerius Flaccus’ Argonautica / / Anne Elyse Tuttle Mackay.

• Superior document: Mnemosyne, Supplements ; 460
• VerfasserIn: Mackay, Anne Elyse Tuttle,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, 2022.
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Mnemosyne, Supplements ; 460.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (290 pages)
• Notes: We reveal Latin epic poet Valerius’ empathetic portrayal of animals, and his challenge to assumptions about human dominion. The analysis ranges from animal experience and subjectivity, to the role of animals in Valerius’ poetics, to “what makes a monster”.

This first in-depth study of Valerius Flaccus’ animals reveals their role in his poetic programme and the manifold ways in which he establishes their subjectivity. In one encounter, a trapped bird becomes a tragic victim, while the trapper is dehumanized. Elsewhere there are touching portrayals of animal/human camaraderie and friendship. Furthermore, Valerius’ provocative consideration of the ‘monstrous’ challenges simplistic definitions of any being’s nature, or the nature of relationships across species. His challenge entails profound ethical implications for his Roman readership, which resonate with us as we assess our own relationship to animals and the natural world today.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- General Introduction -- 1 Background 1: Discussions in Valerian Scholarship -- 2 Background 2: The Literary & Cultural Contexts of Valerius’ Animals -- 3 Methodology -- 1 Empathy: Animal Experience in Simile -- 1 Bulls & Herds: Safety in Numbers -- 2 The Animal Mother: Gender & Generic Boundaries -- 3 Behaviour Patterns: Life Cycles & Phases-- Conclusion -- 2 Relating: Human/Animal Interactions -- 1 Human Dominion -- 2 Human & Animal Trans-Species Collaboration-- Conclusion -- 3 Identity: Human Appropriation of Animal Skins -- 1 Heroic Identification -- 2 (Re)emergence of the Animal-- Conclusion -- 4 Presence: Animal Emissaries & Cult Companions -- 1 Sight: Jupiter’s Birds -- 2 Sound: The Animal Voice-- Conclusion -- 5 Serpentine: Meditation on the Monstrous -- 1 Snaky Monsters & the New World Order -- 2 Snakes on Cyzicus, Arg. 3.456–458 -- 3 Medea & Her draco-- Conclusion -- General Conclusion -- Appendix: Indices of Animal & Related References in Valerius Flaccus. -- Bibliography -- Index.