Consider the narrative structure of the Thebaid (Joyce provides helpful breakdowns at the start of each Book). What narrative devices does Statius use to delay the action? How does his pacing differ from Virgil’s and why?

Where does Statius step into the text of his own poem? Consider invocations to the Muses and other authorial insertion. Why do you think he does this?

The Thebaid does not shy away from familial dysfunction. Compare relationships between fathers and their children to relationships between mothers and their children in the Thebaid. Do mothers generally behave differently from fathers? Are these distinctions hard and fast, or do some characters defy them?