This volume on the three Flavian epic poets (Valerius Flaccus, Statius, Silius Italicus) for the first time critically engages with a unique set-up in Roman literary history: the survival of four epic poems from the same period. The interactions of these poems with each other and their contemporary context are explored by over 20 experts and emerging scholars. Together they offer new perspectives to the still increasing readership of Flavian epic poetry.
He and his sidekick, Shih Te, are known as the laughing, ragged pair who left their poetry on stones, trees, farmhouses, and monastery walls, calling others to ‘the Cold Mountain way’ of simple, honest, joyful living. J. P. Seaton takes a fresh look at these poets, as well as at Wang Fan-chih, who followed in the outsider tradition a few centuries later. Forceful and wry, all three condemn the excesses of mind and matter that prevent people from attaining true enlightenment. With a comprehensive introduction and commentary throughout, this collection points to where, in a world that’s always moving and so full of suffering, stillness and clarity can be found.
