Aurelius Prudentius Clemens
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801442223
- eISBN:
- 9780801463051
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801442223.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (348–c.406) is one of the great Christian Latin writers of late antiquity. He wrote poetry that was deeply influenced by classical writers and in the process he revived ...
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Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (348–c.406) is one of the great Christian Latin writers of late antiquity. He wrote poetry that was deeply influenced by classical writers and in the process he revived the ethical, historical, and political functions of poetry. This aspect of his work was especially valued in the Middle Ages by Christian writers who found themselves similarly drawn to the Classical tradition. Prudentius' Hamartigenia, consisting of a 63-line preface followed by 966 lines of dactylic hexameter verse, considers the origin of sin in the universe and its consequences, culminating with a vision of judgment day: the damned are condemned to torture, worms, and flames, while the saved return to a heaven filled with delights, one of which is the pleasure of watching the torments of the damned. This book, the first new English translation in more than forty years, shows that Hamartigenia is critical for understanding late antique ideas about sin, justice, gender, violence, and the afterlife. Its radical exploration of and experimentation with language have inspired generations of thinkers and poets since—most notably John Milton, whose Paradise Lost owes much of its conception of language and its strikingly visual imagery to Prudentius' poem.Less
Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (348–c.406) is one of the great Christian Latin writers of late antiquity. He wrote poetry that was deeply influenced by classical writers and in the process he revived the ethical, historical, and political functions of poetry. This aspect of his work was especially valued in the Middle Ages by Christian writers who found themselves similarly drawn to the Classical tradition. Prudentius' Hamartigenia, consisting of a 63-line preface followed by 966 lines of dactylic hexameter verse, considers the origin of sin in the universe and its consequences, culminating with a vision of judgment day: the damned are condemned to torture, worms, and flames, while the saved return to a heaven filled with delights, one of which is the pleasure of watching the torments of the damned. This book, the first new English translation in more than forty years, shows that Hamartigenia is critical for understanding late antique ideas about sin, justice, gender, violence, and the afterlife. Its radical exploration of and experimentation with language have inspired generations of thinkers and poets since—most notably John Milton, whose Paradise Lost owes much of its conception of language and its strikingly visual imagery to Prudentius' poem.
Prudentius
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801442223
- eISBN:
- 9780801463051
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801442223.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter explores new dimensions of Aurelius Prudentius Clemens' Hamartigenia through a focus on ornaments and figures—textual devices that delighted late antique readers but which tend to be ...
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This chapter explores new dimensions of Aurelius Prudentius Clemens' Hamartigenia through a focus on ornaments and figures—textual devices that delighted late antique readers but which tend to be opaque to modern readers. The Hamartigenia offers many instances of the image that deforms or changes how we can apprehend a text's meaning rather than conforming to habituated modes of understanding. The chapter discusses two key concepts that are essential in understanding how Prudentius and other late antique poets composed their poems through recognizing the importance of visualization in their conception of how audiences are affected by speech and writing: ekphrasis and enargeia. The pursuit of such thematic images and figures enhances the understanding of Prudentius' often dark and always intricate poetics, and further advances the study of the late antique poetic imagination.Less
This chapter explores new dimensions of Aurelius Prudentius Clemens' Hamartigenia through a focus on ornaments and figures—textual devices that delighted late antique readers but which tend to be opaque to modern readers. The Hamartigenia offers many instances of the image that deforms or changes how we can apprehend a text's meaning rather than conforming to habituated modes of understanding. The chapter discusses two key concepts that are essential in understanding how Prudentius and other late antique poets composed their poems through recognizing the importance of visualization in their conception of how audiences are affected by speech and writing: ekphrasis and enargeia. The pursuit of such thematic images and figures enhances the understanding of Prudentius' often dark and always intricate poetics, and further advances the study of the late antique poetic imagination.
Prudentius
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801442223
- eISBN:
- 9780801463051
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801442223.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter presents Marcion's poem, which introduced God as the one responsible for evil. Aurelius Prudentius Clemens wrote a counteroffensive on this insidious concept in a segment of the ...
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This chapter presents Marcion's poem, which introduced God as the one responsible for evil. Aurelius Prudentius Clemens wrote a counteroffensive on this insidious concept in a segment of the Hamartigenia by using dialectica to associate Marcion with the dialectic reasoning typical of ancient philosophy. In this dialectical process, truth is approached through a series of arguments and counterarguments. Prudentius uses the rhetorical devices of prosopopoeia (giving Marcion a voice) and apostrophe (responding in propria persona to Marcion's speech) to present Marcion's argument as part of a dialectic process. He argues that rational argument has led Marcion to a false conclusion—phrenesis manifesta or obvious madness—by saying that the true identity of Marcion's Creator God cannot be derived through the logic of dialectic, and must rather be derived through faith.Less
This chapter presents Marcion's poem, which introduced God as the one responsible for evil. Aurelius Prudentius Clemens wrote a counteroffensive on this insidious concept in a segment of the Hamartigenia by using dialectica to associate Marcion with the dialectic reasoning typical of ancient philosophy. In this dialectical process, truth is approached through a series of arguments and counterarguments. Prudentius uses the rhetorical devices of prosopopoeia (giving Marcion a voice) and apostrophe (responding in propria persona to Marcion's speech) to present Marcion's argument as part of a dialectic process. He argues that rational argument has led Marcion to a false conclusion—phrenesis manifesta or obvious madness—by saying that the true identity of Marcion's Creator God cannot be derived through the logic of dialectic, and must rather be derived through faith.
Prudentius
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801442223
- eISBN:
- 9780801463051
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801442223.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter argues that by guiding readers toward the Hamartigenia's correct interpretation through personification allegory in the poem's preface that contains typological allegory, Aurelius ...
More
This chapter argues that by guiding readers toward the Hamartigenia's correct interpretation through personification allegory in the poem's preface that contains typological allegory, Aurelius Prudentius Clemens draws attention to the process of figural reading. As the Hamartigenia progresses, the process of interpreting signs becomes less and less clear-cut. Prudentius presents his argument through different figures—analogy, allusion, simile, exempla—whose ambiguity and complex interrelationships represented the infinite ability of signs to generate meaning, as well as the concomitant difficulty of arriving at a right reading. The first major figure of the poem refutes the heretical notion that there are two gods. Prudentius offers as a counterargument the analogy of the sun, which were considered as a visible sign of the innate unity of God (the sun is unicus), and the Trinity (the sun is also triplex).Less
This chapter argues that by guiding readers toward the Hamartigenia's correct interpretation through personification allegory in the poem's preface that contains typological allegory, Aurelius Prudentius Clemens draws attention to the process of figural reading. As the Hamartigenia progresses, the process of interpreting signs becomes less and less clear-cut. Prudentius presents his argument through different figures—analogy, allusion, simile, exempla—whose ambiguity and complex interrelationships represented the infinite ability of signs to generate meaning, as well as the concomitant difficulty of arriving at a right reading. The first major figure of the poem refutes the heretical notion that there are two gods. Prudentius offers as a counterargument the analogy of the sun, which were considered as a visible sign of the innate unity of God (the sun is unicus), and the Trinity (the sun is also triplex).
