Ambiguities of War: A Narratological Commentary on Silius Italicus’ Battle of Ticinus (Sil. 4.1-479) / / Elisabeth Schedel.

• Superior document: Mnemosyne, Supplements ; 463
• VerfasserIn: Schedel, Elisabeth,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, 2022.
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Mnemosyne, Supplements ; 463.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (426 pages)

The book lays bare the narrative form of Silius’ text. It focuses on the phenomenon of ambiguity due to the epic’s constant oscillation between fact and fiction, highlighting Roman triumph in defeat and defeat through triumph.

This Narratological Commentary on Silius’ Battle of Ticinus lays bare the narrative form of the text by addressing numerous narratological aspects, including plot-development, focalization, space, and intertextuality. The book also focuses on the phenomenon of ambiguity with its dynamic processes of (un-)strategic production, perception, and resolution. Ambiguity is a central feature of the Punica because of the epic’s constant oscillation between fact and fiction: it treats the changing fortunes of war and the tension between Rome and Carthage, which Silius translates into a moment of poetical equilibrium by his paradoxical problematization of triumph in defeat and defeat through triumph.

Table of Contents

Intro -- ‎Contents -- ‎Abbreviations -- ‎Introduction -- ‎Chapter 1. Premises, Objectives, Goals -- ‎Chapter 2. Approaches and Methods -- ‎Chapter 3. Ambiguity -- ‎Chapter 4. The Structure of Book 4 -- ‎Chapter 5. Conceptual Structure: How to Use this Commentary -- ‎Commentary -- ‎Chapter 1. Scene 1: 1-55 Ausonia before the Outbreak of the Battles -- ‎Chapter 2. Summary of 56-479: The Battle of Ticinus -- ‎Chapter 3. Scene 2: 56-142 The First Encounter of the Armies -- ‎Chapter 4. Scene 3: 143-188 The Attack of the Boians -- ‎Chapter 5. Scene 4: 189-247 The Roman Counterattack -- ‎Chapter 6. Scene 5: 248-310 Single Combat between the Consul and Crixus -- ‎Chapter 7. Scene 6: 311-354 The Attack of the Carthaginians -- ‎Chapter 8. Scene 7: 355-400 The Combat between Two Sets of Triplets -- ‎Chapter 9. Scene 8: 401-479 The Consul Scipio in Trouble and His Rescue -- ‎Glossary -- ‎Bibliography -- ‎General Index -- ‎Index Locorum.