Pelea iam desiste queri thalamosque minores (Stat., Achil., 1.90) : le mariage en filigrane dans l’Achilléide de Stace

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The Achilleid, written by Statius after his Thebaid at the end of his life, is an epos in which the poet tests the boundaries of literary genres and gender. Since marriage is a recurring motif in every epos from Homer onwards, and, as such, is a privileged place to challenge the literary tradition, I study some passages dealing with this topic as a way to investigate the essence of the epic genre and issues of social normativity. Five sequences, in particular, have caught my attention : the opening of the narrative (1.20-91), the presentation to Lycomedes of the disguised Achilles, functioning almost as a manual to prepare the so-called uirgo to become a wife (1.350-359), the attitude of Achilles and Deidamia after the rape (1.650-669), the conclusion of a foedus, nine months later, between son-in-law and father-in-law, followed by the wedding ceremony (1.896-926), as well as the farewell of the spouses (1.956-960 and 2.27-30).