The suicide narratives of Silius Italicus

Lee, Felix E. V. (2025) The suicide narratives of Silius Italicus. MRes thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

In this dissertation, I examine the theme of suicide in Silius Italicus’ Punica through the following case studies: Saguntum (Punica 2), Capua (Punica 11, 13), Hannibal (Punica 2, 13, 17), Scipio (Punica 4), and Solimus (Punica 9). I analyse recurrent literary features and motifs –civil war, human/object/divine agency, bodily disfigurement, elemental imagery in loci horridi, exile, haunting memory, fides, and pietas– and their connections to Silius’ suicide ideology. I use frameworks provided by Narrative Exposure Therapy to connect these features with textual allusions to Silius’ contemporary Rome and other Latin epics. I observe that Silius portrays suicide as a powerful weapon and instrument for moral action, a form of internal civil war, a form of escape and exile, and a transformative boundary threshold. I conclude that Silius presents an epic ideology of suicide that enabled readers to contemplate the emotional experiences of suicide, and the effects of suicide on one’s physical/cultural identity and environment. These reveal a duality of Silian suicides as desperate acts amid uncontrollable and impossible situations, and as means of reclaiming personal power and control of one’s fate.

• Item Type: Thesis (MRes)
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Classics
• Supervisor's Name: Fox, Professor Matthew and Morrison, Professor Andrew
• Date of Award: 2025
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2025-85044
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 11 Apr 2025 11:39
• Last Modified: 11 Apr 2025 11:42
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.85044
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/85044