“Shagi / Steps” the Journal of the SASH

SHAGI/STEPS 6(2)

Keywords: Dracontius, epyllion, Troy, Medea, Late Antiquity, Latin poetry

Abstract: The paper deals with three mythological poems (epyllia) by the Carthaginian 5th century poet Dracontius: De Raptu He­lenae, Medea and Orestis Tragoedia. As a rule, researchers extract them from the corpus of the other texts by Dracontius and study them as a whole, because, to a large extent, they seem similar in terms of structure, motifs and plotlines.
Comparison of these poems with another work by Dracontius (Controversia de statua viri fortis, Satisfactio) leads to the conclusion that they can be examined not just as separate and similar pieces of fiction, but as a kind of trilogy. They have in common the representation of the Trojan war as a conflict between absolutely ‘good’ and absolutely ‘evil” forces, with the Trojans depicted as an object of the author’s sympathy, and the Greeks, their antagonists, paradoxically appearing as an incarnation of natural barbarity.
Analysis of the terms and symbols used by Dracontius in these texts allows us to suggest links between this plot and very specific political processes: on the one hand, the confrontation between Roman and Vandal political elites, on the other — the struggle for power among the Vandal nobles themselves. Thus, the Trojans appear as the predecessors of the Romans, and the ‘barbarian’ Greeks as a symbolic resurgence of the Vandals.

To cite this article: Nikolsky, I. M. (2020). Dracontius’ mythological poems and the conflict of political elites in Vandal Africa. Shagi/Steps, 6(2), 102–117. (In Russian). DOI: 10.22394/2412-9410-2020-6-2-102-117.