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