Casus and causa belli in the Lemnos of Valerius Flaccus
Keywords:
Epic Poetry, Flavian Epic, Myth, Valerius Flaccus, War JustificationAbstract
The second book of Valerius Flaccusʼ Argonautica presents the Lemnos-episode with an emphasis on the “prehistory” of the myth and the separation between the casus (triggering incident) and the cause (causa) that give rise to the central conflict. This article proposes an interpretation of this episode based on the notions of war justification and false flag operations; such a reading makes the problem of narrative causality visible from a legal perspective. The story becomes exemplary and allows for an original perspective on this passage from Valerius Flaccusʼ text. The conclusion is that a literary conflict can be judged not only by the dichotomy between the real cause of a conflict and the incident that incites it, but also by the repercussions it has on our typifications of war.
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