"Literary androgyny": Pindaric intertextuality and gender in Statius' Achilleid

The purpose of this article is to further investigate the (still under-explored) relationship between Statius' Achilleid and Greek lyric poetry, with a specific focus on Pindar. A deeper analysis of the introductory section of Statius' Achilleid 1, I argue, might reveal the implicit presence and interaction of Pindaric lyric subtexts, specifically identifiable in Pindar's Nemean 3 and Pythian 9. This intertextual operation would be configured as a metapoetic expedient, which, by establishing a dichotomy between two mythical young characters of both sexes (Achilles himself in Nemean 3, the young princess Cyrene in Pythian 9), is aimed at conceptualizing and bringing into emphasis the construction of Statius' puer as an 'intermediate' figure, thus setting up the conditions for introducing the fundamental narrative subject of the poem's first book: Achilles' temporary inclusion within a social and gender sphere (the group of Scyrian maidens) standing at the antipodes of the dimension of (male) epic heroism.