The Madness of Epic. Reading Insanity from Homer to Statius.

Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1998. XIII,346p. Original blue cloth. Spine gilt titled. Name on free endpaper. 'The book is primarily about Roman epic. Homer?s inclusion in the title and his (subtle) placing in the third chapter serves to highlight the restricted rôle of madness in early Greek epic, in contrast to what we find in Virgil and his successors. H. sees the ?Aeneid? as the creative interface between Greek and Roman literary ideas of madness and as the focal point for the Roman transfer of Greek tragic paradigms of madness (Io, Orestes, and others) to a new, epic ?model?. Her account of this process (?) is persuasive. (?) H. Is good on the developing rôle of ?furor poeticus?. The delineation of madness of ?discordia? and (civil) war is articulated through the mad ?vates?, an ambiguous theme which H. draws out splendidly, and which is well reflected in the title. (?) H.?s central achievement is her articulation of the rich ambiguities of human emotion and motivation, as portrayed in Roman epic. She has made an important contribution to the breaking down of stereotypical characterisations, character contrasts, and their cosmic projections. (?) H.?s (?) book is full of insights: like the epics it describes, it will encourage her readers to think, and it will certainly inspire new thinking on this fascinating subject.? (ALEX HARDIE in The Classical Review (New Series), 2000, pp.109-111).