Incohat Ismene: The Dream Narrative as a Mode of Female Discourse in Epic Poetry*

Abstract

This article examines Ismene's nightmare in book 8 of Statius's Thebaid by contextualizing it within the epic's narrative, comparing it with the dream narrations of other female characters in epic poetry, and aligning it with other typically female modes of subjective expression in epic, such as weaving, teichoscopy, and lamentation. My analysis shows that by exposing the difficulties inherent in retelling a dream, Statius demonstrates sympathy with the female perspective on the horrific war that constitutes the central action of his poem and foreshadows the subsequent inadequacy of words in reaction to such horror.