Open AccessTacitus se uitbeelding van Agrippina Minor
Author(s) -
Marianne Dircksen
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
literator
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.126
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 2219-8237
pISSN - 0258-2279
DOI - 10.4102/lit.v20i1.455
Subject(s) - emperor , historiography , wife , narrative , interpretation (philosophy) , annals , literature , character (mathematics) , successor cardinal , minor (academic) , empire , history , art , philosophy , classics , humanities , ancient history , theology , linguistics , mathematical analysis , geometry , archaeology , mathematics
Tacitus’ portrayal of Agrippina Minor Ancient historiography has more in common with the historical novel than with modem historiography. The Annals of Tacitus should be seen as an artistic, narrative text which demands active participation by the reader in the process of interpretation. A narratological analysis of Tacitus' description of the life and death of Agrippina, mother of the emperor Nero, reveals a serious ethical reflection on the atrocities committed by the imperial family. Agrippina is characterised as an exceptionally strongwilled woman who had an immense influence on the Roman Empire while she was the wife of the emperor Claudius and mother of his successor, Nero. On the other hand, her typically female character traits are accentuated from which the reader has to infer that it was precisely the fact that she was a woman which made her authoritative position intolerable