The papers collected in this volume were originally presented at an international conference sponsored by the Department of Philology of the University of Crete. They discuss issues in Pagan and Christian Imperial epic: Valerius Flaccus, Statius` `Thebaid` and `Achilleid`, Triphiodorus, Nonnus, Dracontius, and the `Orphic Argonautica`. They cover a variety of topics: the role of Juno as surrogate poet in Valerius` `Argonautica` (Meredith Monaghan), the unendurable excess of knowledge in the `Thebaid` (Ellen O`Gorman), the construction of masculinity in the Achilleid vis-a-vis Quintilian`s `Institutio oratoria` (Alessandro Barchiesi), Juvenal`s satire vs Imperial epic (Kirk Freudenburg), the relationship of Triphiodorus` `Capture of Troy` with Hesiod`s myth of Pandora (Michael Paschalis), metapoetic aspects of the conflict between Typhoeus and Zeus in Nonnus` `Dionysiaca` (Philip Hardie), the biblical re-writing of Virgilian epic (Francesco Stella), generic consciousness in the `Orphic Argonautica` (Richard Hunter), and the complex relationship of the `Orphic Argonautica` with its Greek and Latin intertexts (Damien Nelis).

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