Poetry by Statius

epic poem by Statius

The Achilleid (; ) is an unfinished epic poem by Publius Papinius Statius that was intended to present the life of Achilles from his youth to his death at Troy. Only about one and a half books (1,127 dactylic hexameters) were completed before the poet's death. What remains is an account of the hero's early life with the centaur Chiron, and an episode in which his mother, Thetis, disguised him as a girl on the island of Scyros, before he joined the Greek expedition against Troy.

thumb|right|390px|A Roman Art Lover (1868) by Lawrence Alma-Tadema showing the types of Roman art patrons who could have commissioned Statius' poetry