The Epilogue briefly explores some of the ramifications of a provocative recent article on the aesthetic spectacle of violence in Statius’ Thebaid and modern action film. While acknowledging the central importance of aesthetics in literary depictions of violence, the Epilogue argues that allusions to contemporary historical violence that punctuate ‘fictionalized’ epics like Statius’ Thebaid ask us to think more critically about abuses in the real world, problematizing, perhaps, our role as detached audience.