Studies in Colluthus' Abduction of Helen

Book excerpt: This first monograph in English on Colluthus situates this late antique author within his cultural context and offers a new appraisal of his hexameter poem The Abduction of Helen, the end-point of the pagan Greek epic tradition, which was composed in the Christianised Egyptian Thebaid. The book evaluates the poem’s connections with long-established and contemporary literary and artistic genres and with Neoplatonic philosophy, and analyzes the poet’s re-negotiation of traditional material to suit the expectations of a late fifth-century AD audience. It explores Colluthus' interpretation of the contemporary fascination with visuality, identifies new connections between Colluthus and Claudian, and shows how the author’s engagement with the poetry of Nonnus goes much further than previously shown.