{"id":1353,"date":"2026-06-23T09:12:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/?page_id=1353"},"modified":"2026-08-19T08:18:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T08:18:48","slug":"stazio-le-selve","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/stazio-le-selve\/","title":{"rendered":"Stazio"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container has-pattern-background has-mask-background nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"max-width:1331.2px;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p class=\"translation-block\">Publius Papinius Statius (Naples, c. 45 AD \u2013 c. 96 AD) was a Roman poet and one of the leading exponents of\nFlavian epic poetry, together with Silius Italicus and Valerius Flaccus. He is also well known for his appearance\nin Dante Alighieri\u2019s Divine Comedy, where he serves as a guide in Purgatory.\nHe is generally remembered as the author of important epic poems, including the Thebaid, which recounts the\nwar of the Seven against Thebes and the fratricidal conflict between Eteocles and Polynices, and of a collection\nof 32 poetic prose compositions, the Silvae.\nConsidered Statius\u2019 masterpiece, the five books of the Silvae gather occasional poems addressed to friends for\nprivate events such as births and marriages, but also for the purchase of a villa or to celebrate a valuable work\nof art.\nThese spontaneous compositions offer a vivid portrait of Roman high society and the Flavian court, while at the\nsame time constituting a valuable historical source for understanding everyday life in that period.\nIn the second Silva of Book III, Statius composed a famous propempticon, that is, a farewell and good-wishes\npoem for a journey, entitled Propempticon Maecio Celeri.\nIt is dedicated to his friend Maecius Celer, a Roman patrician and officer, who was departing by sea for the\neastern Mediterranean on an assignment to Syria.\nIn the poem, the poet expresses the feelings that separation from a beloved friend arouses in him, in intensely\naffectionate and heartfelt tones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"translation-block\"><i>\u201cJustly do I complain: behold, the ship moves away, ceaselessly driven by the waves, ever smaller it escapes the\ngaze of those who watch it intently, gathering so many fears within so fragile a vessel: the ship above all that\ncarries you, O Celer, pledge of my affection. With what spirit shall I endure the coming days?\nWho will tell me, trembling at every danger, whether, with the waves calmed, the stormy Lucanian shores have\nallowed you to pass?\nWhether turbulent Charybdis and maiden Scylla are in turmoil? She who disturbs the deep Sicilian sea? What\nwelcome the impetuous Adriatic will offer to your course.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"translation-block\">The poem therefore arises from a concrete circumstance: the departure of a dear friend who must undertake\na long voyage across the eastern Mediterranean.\nHowever, as often happens in the Silvae, the real event becomes the starting point for a broader reflection on\nthe feelings of friendship and the anguish of separation.\nThe text opens with the image of the ship moving away from the shore and becoming smaller and smaller in the\neyes of the observer, visually representing the separation: the physical distance between the two friends increases,\nand with it grows the poet\u2019s anxiety.\nStatius emphasizes the fragility of the vessel, described as \u201cso fragile a vessel,\u201d in order to underline the precariousness\nof sea travel in antiquity, when storms and currents could easily endanger the lives of sailors.\nA large portion of the poem is occupied by a list of the dangers that Celer will have to face along his route.\nThe poet mentions the Lucanian coasts, the impetuous Adriatic, and above all the Sicilian sea.\nIt is here that Scylla and Charybdis appear, mythological figures made famous by ancient narratives.\nTheir presence is neither accidental nor merely ornamental: Scylla and Charybdis stand precisely at the gateway\nto the Strait of Messina, a stretch of sea that a vessel sailing eastward from the Tyrrhenian Sea would\nhave had to cross.\nThus, the reference is both realistic and mythological: they represent an actual point along the route to Syria.\nMoreover, invoking the \u201cmaiden Scylla\u201d and the \u201cturbulent Charybdis\u201d gives a monstrous and tangible face to\nthe fear of the unknown.\nFor a Roman of the period, the Strait of Messina represented the ultimate boundary between safety and the\nunknown, and crossing it meant challenging the limits of the protected natural world.\nBy evoking Scylla and describing her as a \u201cmaiden,\u201d the poet recalls her mythological origin, making the danger\nshe represents to his friend appear all the more striking and cruel.\nAt the same time, the mythological reference heightens the sense of peril: Scylla, the sea monster hidden among\nthe rocks, and Charybdis, the whirlpool capable of swallowing the waters, become symbols of the threats hanging\nover the journey.\nIn this way, Celer is almost compared to epic heroes such as Odysseus, who face difficult trials in order to reach\ntheir destination. The real journey thus acquires a more solemn and dramatic dimension.\nIn conclusion, the letter to Maecius Celer is a farewell poem that describes his departure for Syria, expresses\nthe anxiety and affection of the friend left behind, and emphasizes both the real and mythical dangers of the\nsea.\nThe mention of Scylla and Charybdis is justified both by their actual presence along the route and by their symbolic\nvalue, which intensifies the emotion of separation and elevates the tone of the composition.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-2\"><p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>Giuseppe Ribuffo<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-2 fusion-flex-container has-pattern-background has-mask-background nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"max-width:1331.2px;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-1 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div ><a class=\"fusion-button button-flat fusion-button-default-size button-custom fusion-button-default button-1 fusion-button-default-span\" style=\"--button_accent_color:#f20800;--button_border_color:#2038b2;--button_accent_hover_color:var(--awb-color1);--button_border_hover_color:var(--awb-color1);--button_gradient_top_color:var(--awb-color1);--button_gradient_bottom_color:var(--awb-color1);--button_gradient_top_color_hover:var(--awb-color4);--button_gradient_bottom_color_hover:var(--awb-color4);--button_text_transform:none;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/gaston-vuillier\/\"><i class=\"fa-angle-double-right fas awb-button__icon awb-button__icon--default button-icon-left\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><span class=\"fusion-button-text awb-button__text awb-button__text--default\">Next page: 71. Gaston Vuillier, Sicily, Impressions of the Present and the Past, 1896<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1879,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1353","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Stazio - Discover Scilla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/stazio-le-selve\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stazio - Discover Scilla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/stazio-le-selve\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Discover Scilla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-19T08:18:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/70-R.Boghel-1860-1024x517.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"517\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/stazio-le-selve\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/stazio-le-selve\\\/\",\"name\":\"Stazio - 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