Editing Statius (section)

===The ''Achilleid''===
{{main|Achilleid}}

A fragment of his epic poem on the life of [[Achilles]]—the ''[[Achilleid]]''—is also extant, consisting of one book and a few hundred lines of a second.<ref>The best text for both epics is provided by the ninth-century ''Codex Puteaneus'', from the [[Abbey of Corbie]], a manuscript in the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France|Bibliothèque Nationale]] (BN 8051) that was once the property of the humanist [[Claude Dupuy (jurist)|Claude Dupuy]]. The best recent edition is O.A.W. Dilke, (Cambridge 1954), which has more recently been reprinted with a new introduction (Bristol 2005). A new translation in the [[Loeb Classical Library]] is by D. R. Shackleton Bailey.</ref> What was completed of this poem was composed between 94 and 95 based on ''Silvae'' 4.7.21ff.  Statius records that there were recitations of the poem.<ref>''Silv.'' 5.2.161ff.</ref> It is thought that Statius' death in 95 is the reason that the poem remains unfinished. In the first book, Thetis, having foreknowledge of her son's death in the [[Trojan War]], attempts to hide Achilles on the island of Scyros by dressing him up as a girl. On the island, Achilles falls in love with [[Deidamia (mythology)|Deidamia]] and forces her to have sex with him. [[Odysseus|Ulysses]] arrives to recruit Achilles for the war effort and reveals his identity. In the second book, Ulysses and Achilles depart and Achilles gives an account of his early life and tutelage by the centaur [[Chiron]]. The poem breaks off at the end of his speech. In general, scholars have remarked on the markedly different tone of the ''Achilleid'' in comparison with the ''Thebaid'', equating it more to the style of Ovid than Virgil.<ref>[[Elaine Fantham]] in "Statius' Achilles and His Trojan Model" ''The Classical Quarterly'' New Series, '''29'''.2 (1979, pp. 457–462) p 457 describes it as "a more varied and charming work than readers of the ''Thebaid'' could ever have imagined and is perhaps the most attractive approach to the imitative and professional poet.".</ref> Some have also noted the predominance of feminine themes and feminine power in the fragment and focus on the poem's perspectives on gender relations.<ref>Shackleton Bailey, D. R. ''Statius' Thebaid 1–7'' (Cambridge, 2003) pg.7, 26–8</ref>