Intertextual Foreclosure

2023.03.17.

ELTE Latin Department cordially invites to the public lecture by Andrew Zissos (University of California, Irvine). Title of the talk: "Intertextual Foreclosure: Some Thoughts on the Missing Conclusion to Valerius Flaccus’ Argonautica".

The Argonautica of Valerius Flaccus breaks off in tantalizing fashion after line 467 of its eighth book. The narrative situation is complex and shot through with tension: Jason and Medea are in the midst of an argument over the Argonauts’ proposal to surrender her to their Colchian pursuers – a misguided initiative by which the Greek heroes hope to save their own lives. Whether his poem was completed or not, this is evidently not where Valerius meant it to end. This paper will weigh in on the principal scholarly theories as to how the completed poem would have concluded (or perhaps did conclude). An attempt will be made to establish a set of analytical principles by which the different theories might be evaluated, with the goal of identifying the most plausible candidate.

Time: 23 March 2023, 16.00
Venue: ELTE BTK Building F, room 217.