Virgo to Virago

Book excerpt: The infamous and formidable mythological figure of Medea has deservedly held an enduring appeal throughout the ages. This has perhaps never been more true than in the Silver Age of Latin literature, when the taste for rhetorical excess and the macabre made the heroine, and especially her notorious acts of witchcraft and the slaughter of her own children in revenge for her husband’s infidelity, a particularly suitable and attractive topic for literary treatment. By examining the portrayal of this remarkable figure in the works of Ovid, Seneca and Valerius Flaccus, Virgo to Virago: Medea in the Silver Age offers a comprehensive study of the representation of the heroine, not only in this specific period, but in the entire Roman era, since these three authors provide the only substantial accounts of this figure to have survived in Classical Latin. Through close analysis of the texts, Virgo to Virago explores the characterisation of Medea, whose mythical life was inevitably overshadowed by her legendary behaviour, considering whether these accounts merely accord with the particular traits of the Silver Age, or whether this mighty female character has any claim to sympathy or admiration in these texts. The book simultaneously examines how the Latin authors compare with, and differ from, both one another and their extant Greek and Roman predecessors, concluding with a discussion of the significance of any comparisons to be drawn between these portrayals of the Roman Medea.