Unius Amissi Leonis : Taming the Lion and Caesar's Tears ( Silvae 2.5)

Silvae 2.5 addresses the problematic aspects of the domesticated, acculturated natural world and its impact. Sorrow for a lion's death is transformed into a discussion of the problematics of culture imposed contra naturam. The lion's unused skills and gentleness did not help at all when it was exposed to the merciless arena. And yet the lion opposes the artificiality of its own domesticity and fights back against its fleeing enemy. As the Romans transgress human and natural boundaries, the poet questions the advantage of such achievements while becoming involved in a continuous rewriting of the Thebaid.