Gerard O'Daly
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199263950
- eISBN:
- 9780191741364
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199263950.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Prudentius is arguably the greatest Latin poet of late antiquity. This book provides the Latin text, a new English verse translation, and critical reviews on each of his twelve lyric poems, the ...
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Prudentius is arguably the greatest Latin poet of late antiquity. This book provides the Latin text, a new English verse translation, and critical reviews on each of his twelve lyric poems, the Cathemerinon, Poems for the Day, which were published early in the fifth century ad. They reflect the religious concerns of the increasingly Christianized western Roman Empire in the age of the emperor Theodosius and Ambrose of Milan, but they are above all the writings of a private person, and of the ways in which his religious beliefs colour his everyday life. Several of these poems follow the day's course, from pre-dawn to mealtime and nightfall. Others celebrate Christ's miracles, cult of the dead, and the feasts of Christmas and Epiphany. They are rich in biblical themes and narratives, images and symbols. But they are written in the classical metres of Latin poetry, use its vocabulary and metaphors, and exploit its themes as much as those of the Bible. They achieve a remarkable creative tension between the two worlds that determined Prudentius' culture: the beliefs and practices, sacred books and doctrines of Christianity, and the traditions, poetry, and ideas of the Greeks and Romans. A good part of the attractiveness of these poems comes from the interplay in Prudentius' reception of these two worlds.Less
Prudentius is arguably the greatest Latin poet of late antiquity. This book provides the Latin text, a new English verse translation, and critical reviews on each of his twelve lyric poems, the Cathemerinon, Poems for the Day, which were published early in the fifth century ad. They reflect the religious concerns of the increasingly Christianized western Roman Empire in the age of the emperor Theodosius and Ambrose of Milan, but they are above all the writings of a private person, and of the ways in which his religious beliefs colour his everyday life. Several of these poems follow the day's course, from pre-dawn to mealtime and nightfall. Others celebrate Christ's miracles, cult of the dead, and the feasts of Christmas and Epiphany. They are rich in biblical themes and narratives, images and symbols. But they are written in the classical metres of Latin poetry, use its vocabulary and metaphors, and exploit its themes as much as those of the Bible. They achieve a remarkable creative tension between the two worlds that determined Prudentius' culture: the beliefs and practices, sacred books and doctrines of Christianity, and the traditions, poetry, and ideas of the Greeks and Romans. A good part of the attractiveness of these poems comes from the interplay in Prudentius' reception of these two worlds.
Gerard O'Daly
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199263950
- eISBN:
- 9780191741364
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199263950.003.0014
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter gives a brief survey of Prudentius reception from the late fifth to the twentieth centuries.
This chapter gives a brief survey of Prudentius reception from the late fifth to the twentieth centuries.
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.
Aaron Pelttari
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801452765
- eISBN:
- 9780801455001
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801452765.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
When we think of Roman Poetry, the names most likely to come to mind are Vergil, Horace, and Ovid, who flourished during the age of Augustus. The genius of Imperial poets such as Juvenal, Martial, ...
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When we think of Roman Poetry, the names most likely to come to mind are Vergil, Horace, and Ovid, who flourished during the age of Augustus. The genius of Imperial poets such as Juvenal, Martial, and Statius is now generally recognized, but the final years of the Roman Empire are not normally associated with poetic achievement. Recently, however, classical scholars have begun reassessing a number of poets from Late Antiquity—names such as Ausonius, Claudian, and Prudentius—understanding them as artists of considerable talent and influence. This book offers the first systematic study of these fourth-century poets since Michael Robert's foundational The Jeweled Style. It is the first to give equal attention to both Christian and Pagan poetry and the first to take seriously the issue of readership. Like the Roman Empire, Latin literature was in a state of flux during the fourth century. As the book shows, the period marked a turn towards forms of writing that privilege the reader's active involvement in shaping the meaning of the text. In the poetry of Ausonius, Claudian, and Prudentius we can see the increasing importance of distinctions between old and new, ancient and modern, forgotten and remembered. The strange traditionalism and verbalism of the day often concealed a desire for immediacy and presence. We can see these changes most clearly in the expectations placed upon readers. The space that remains is the space that the reader comes to inhabit, as would increasingly become the case in the literature of the Latin Middle Ages.Less
When we think of Roman Poetry, the names most likely to come to mind are Vergil, Horace, and Ovid, who flourished during the age of Augustus. The genius of Imperial poets such as Juvenal, Martial, and Statius is now generally recognized, but the final years of the Roman Empire are not normally associated with poetic achievement. Recently, however, classical scholars have begun reassessing a number of poets from Late Antiquity—names such as Ausonius, Claudian, and Prudentius—understanding them as artists of considerable talent and influence. This book offers the first systematic study of these fourth-century poets since Michael Robert's foundational The Jeweled Style. It is the first to give equal attention to both Christian and Pagan poetry and the first to take seriously the issue of readership. Like the Roman Empire, Latin literature was in a state of flux during the fourth century. As the book shows, the period marked a turn towards forms of writing that privilege the reader's active involvement in shaping the meaning of the text. In the poetry of Ausonius, Claudian, and Prudentius we can see the increasing importance of distinctions between old and new, ancient and modern, forgotten and remembered. The strange traditionalism and verbalism of the day often concealed a desire for immediacy and presence. We can see these changes most clearly in the expectations placed upon readers. The space that remains is the space that the reader comes to inhabit, as would increasingly become the case in the literature of the Latin Middle Ages.
Gerard O'Daly
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199263950
- eISBN:
- 9780191741364
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199263950.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This introductory chapter discusses the evidence for Prudentius' career against the background of the increasingly Christianized Roman empire of the late fourth and early fifth centuries ad. The ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the evidence for Prudentius' career against the background of the increasingly Christianized Roman empire of the late fourth and early fifth centuries ad. The biographical evidence of the Praefatio is evaluated. Prudentius' poetic output is surveyed, as well as genre, themes, literary influences, symbolism, uses of biblical narrative, metre, and poetics in the Cathemerinon. There are sections on the textual tradition of the poems, and on editions and modern critical studies, as well as on the verse translation provided.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the evidence for Prudentius' career against the background of the increasingly Christianized Roman empire of the late fourth and early fifth centuries ad. The biographical evidence of the Praefatio is evaluated. Prudentius' poetic output is surveyed, as well as genre, themes, literary influences, symbolism, uses of biblical narrative, metre, and poetics in the Cathemerinon. There are sections on the textual tradition of the poems, and on editions and modern critical studies, as well as on the verse translation provided.
Cillian O'Hogan
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- October 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198749226
- eISBN:
- 9780191813412
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198749226.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book takes a thematic approach to the poetry of the late Latin poet Prudentius, focusing in particular on his descriptions of the geographical and cultural landscapes of late antiquity. It is ...
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This book takes a thematic approach to the poetry of the late Latin poet Prudentius, focusing in particular on his descriptions of the geographical and cultural landscapes of late antiquity. It is argued that the poet makes use of allusion to Augustan and early imperial Latin authors to present the late Roman landscape as one markedly altered by the arrival of Christianity, though retaining the grandeur of the pagan past. Prudentius is set in the context of other late antique authors, including Lactantius, Jerome, Augustine, and Endelechius. Examined in particular are Prudentius’ conception of the world as a text, his use of intertextuality to describe literary journeys, his view of the civic function of Christian martyrdom, his conception of heaven, and his attitude towards art and architecture. The book combines philological and intertextual criticism with approaches drawn from the fields of book history, cultural geography, and theology, to paint a fuller and richer picture of the greatest of the Christian Latin poets.Less
This book takes a thematic approach to the poetry of the late Latin poet Prudentius, focusing in particular on his descriptions of the geographical and cultural landscapes of late antiquity. It is argued that the poet makes use of allusion to Augustan and early imperial Latin authors to present the late Roman landscape as one markedly altered by the arrival of Christianity, though retaining the grandeur of the pagan past. Prudentius is set in the context of other late antique authors, including Lactantius, Jerome, Augustine, and Endelechius. Examined in particular are Prudentius’ conception of the world as a text, his use of intertextuality to describe literary journeys, his view of the civic function of Christian martyrdom, his conception of heaven, and his attitude towards art and architecture. The book combines philological and intertextual criticism with approaches drawn from the fields of book history, cultural geography, and theology, to paint a fuller and richer picture of the greatest of the Christian Latin poets.
Cillian O’Hogan
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- October 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198749226
- eISBN:
- 9780191813412
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198749226.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The conclusion provides a brief and succinct summary of the main themes, arguments, and findings of the book. The first two chapters explored the theme of travel in Prudentius’ poetry, from the view ...
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The conclusion provides a brief and succinct summary of the main themes, arguments, and findings of the book. The first two chapters explored the theme of travel in Prudentius’ poetry, from the view of both character and reader. The third and fourth chapters demonstrated Prudentius’ innovation in how he describes urban and rural locations, and the final chapter examined the poet’s description of works of art. Throughout the book, two major themes have recurred: a tendency towards abstraction and away from lived experience on the part of the poet, and his concern about the reliability of the senses and the possibility of coming close to a true understanding of the nature of the divine.Less
The conclusion provides a brief and succinct summary of the main themes, arguments, and findings of the book. The first two chapters explored the theme of travel in Prudentius’ poetry, from the view of both character and reader. The third and fourth chapters demonstrated Prudentius’ innovation in how he describes urban and rural locations, and the final chapter examined the poet’s description of works of art. Throughout the book, two major themes have recurred: a tendency towards abstraction and away from lived experience on the part of the poet, and his concern about the reliability of the senses and the possibility of coming close to a true understanding of the nature of the divine.
Aaron Pelttari
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801452765
- eISBN:
- 9780801455001
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801452765.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This introductory chapter discusses the figure of the reader in poetry of late antiquity. Poets in late antiquity came to describe their material as needing interpretation, recovery, and activation. ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the figure of the reader in poetry of late antiquity. Poets in late antiquity came to describe their material as needing interpretation, recovery, and activation. The figure of the reader structures the poetry of late antiquity, thus revealing how the formal aspects of their poetry worked for authors such as Ausonius, Claudian, and Prudentius. The book explores the ways in which reading was constructed in late antiquity on the level of text, paratext, intertext, and commentary. In this way, it hopes to contribute to the study of reading in the ancient world, particularly to the study of the Reader as figured in and through poetry. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the figure of the reader in poetry of late antiquity. Poets in late antiquity came to describe their material as needing interpretation, recovery, and activation. The figure of the reader structures the poetry of late antiquity, thus revealing how the formal aspects of their poetry worked for authors such as Ausonius, Claudian, and Prudentius. The book explores the ways in which reading was constructed in late antiquity on the level of text, paratext, intertext, and commentary. In this way, it hopes to contribute to the study of reading in the ancient world, particularly to the study of the Reader as figured in and through poetry. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.
Aaron Pelttari
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801452765
- eISBN:
- 9780801455001
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801452765.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter applies Umberto Eco's idea of an open text to a series of late antique poems. The figural poetry of Optatianus Porphyrius, the allegorical Psychomachia of Prudentius, and the sixteen ...
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This chapter applies Umberto Eco's idea of an open text to a series of late antique poems. The figural poetry of Optatianus Porphyrius, the allegorical Psychomachia of Prudentius, and the sixteen surviving Vergilian centos create space for the reader to resolve the discrepancies and gaps within the text. It begins with Optatian's figural poetry, which provide the most coherent example of openness. Three layers stand in sharp relief on the page; insofar as they do not depend upon secondary meanings or intertextual designs, they are each self-contained. The chapter moves on to Psychomachia's personification allegory, which involves a secondary meaning in dialogue with the surface narrative of the poem. It then discusses the cento, which is in a way the most complex of these forms. The Vergilian centos transfer a more local sense of openness onto the literary past and thereby directly engage the history of Latin literature. In this way, they give a more expansive view of the openness of these distinctively late antique forms of textuality.Less
This chapter applies Umberto Eco's idea of an open text to a series of late antique poems. The figural poetry of Optatianus Porphyrius, the allegorical Psychomachia of Prudentius, and the sixteen surviving Vergilian centos create space for the reader to resolve the discrepancies and gaps within the text. It begins with Optatian's figural poetry, which provide the most coherent example of openness. Three layers stand in sharp relief on the page; insofar as they do not depend upon secondary meanings or intertextual designs, they are each self-contained. The chapter moves on to Psychomachia's personification allegory, which involves a secondary meaning in dialogue with the surface narrative of the poem. It then discusses the cento, which is in a way the most complex of these forms. The Vergilian centos transfer a more local sense of openness onto the literary past and thereby directly engage the history of Latin literature. In this way, they give a more expansive view of the openness of these distinctively late antique forms of textuality.
Prudentius
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801442223
- eISBN:
- 9780801463051
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801442223.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This introductory chapter briefly examines how, in the Hamartigenia, Aurelius Prudentius Clemens pursued a number of interrelated themes: orthodoxy and heresy, similitude and difference, ...
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This introductory chapter briefly examines how, in the Hamartigenia, Aurelius Prudentius Clemens pursued a number of interrelated themes: orthodoxy and heresy, similitude and difference, understanding and misinterpretation, blindness and sight, fruitful creativity and sterile duplication. Prudentius ties all of these oppositions to the basic problem of the fall: man, created as the imago Dei, the likeness of God, has become, through his own will, unlike the God who is his origin. Like John Milton, who retells the same tale on a heroic scale in Paradise Lost (1667), Prudentius wrestles with the enigmatic pattern of likeness and unlikeness of man. The chapter also looks into the life of Prudentius, highlighting his career in public service and his conversion into a Christian contemplative and a poet.Less
This introductory chapter briefly examines how, in the Hamartigenia, Aurelius Prudentius Clemens pursued a number of interrelated themes: orthodoxy and heresy, similitude and difference, understanding and misinterpretation, blindness and sight, fruitful creativity and sterile duplication. Prudentius ties all of these oppositions to the basic problem of the fall: man, created as the imago Dei, the likeness of God, has become, through his own will, unlike the God who is his origin. Like John Milton, who retells the same tale on a heroic scale in Paradise Lost (1667), Prudentius wrestles with the enigmatic pattern of likeness and unlikeness of man. The chapter also looks into the life of Prudentius, highlighting his career in public service and his conversion into a Christian contemplative and a poet.
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/9780801442223.003.0004
- 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 ...
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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).
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/9780801442223.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter discusses how the Hamartigeniaplaces Eve offstage in the narrative of the origin of sin, thus deviating from the literary tradition that highlighted the part of Eve in the story. She ...
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This chapter discusses how the Hamartigeniaplaces Eve offstage in the narrative of the origin of sin, thus deviating from the literary tradition that highlighted the part of Eve in the story. She appears unnamed in the preface, identified only as the mother of Cain and Abel. She gets less than three lines in the text of the poem itself. Instead of Eve conversing with the serpent, Aurelius Prudentius Clemens writes that God had spoken directly to Adam, and it is Adam who appears to be persuaded by the serpent. Prudentius' treatment of Eve may be attributed to the difficulty in determining Eve's “real” name. Her God-given name, according to Genesis 5:2, is adam, but in Genesis 2:23, Adam names his wife ishaor “woman,” because she came from man.Less
This chapter discusses how the Hamartigeniaplaces Eve offstage in the narrative of the origin of sin, thus deviating from the literary tradition that highlighted the part of Eve in the story. She appears unnamed in the preface, identified only as the mother of Cain and Abel. She gets less than three lines in the text of the poem itself. Instead of Eve conversing with the serpent, Aurelius Prudentius Clemens writes that God had spoken directly to Adam, and it is Adam who appears to be persuaded by the serpent. Prudentius' treatment of Eve may be attributed to the difficulty in determining Eve's “real” name. Her God-given name, according to Genesis 5:2, is adam, but in Genesis 2:23, Adam names his wife ishaor “woman,” because she came from man.
Brenda Machosky
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780823242849
- eISBN:
- 9780823242887
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823242849.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
About the same time that Augustine developed a method for allegorically interpreting obscure biblical passages and connecting the old dispensation to the new, the poet Prudentius created a narrative ...
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About the same time that Augustine developed a method for allegorically interpreting obscure biblical passages and connecting the old dispensation to the new, the poet Prudentius created a narrative fiction with personified characters fighting a moral battle for the human soul that called out for a similar kind of allegorical interpretation. Subjecting this “first allegorical poem” to a phenomenological reduction reveals what allegory is as distinct from theology, narrative, personification, and poetry. The allegory of Psychomachia is not so much about an actual battle as it is an attempt to manifest the appearance of the imago Dei in human beings. This study of the image (of God) deepens the argument of the image as resemblance rather than representation. Heidegger's essay “On the Origin of the Work of Art,” shows how the techné of allegory sustains a fundamental gap (riß) through which something other than the work of art appears, and this explains how the soul appears in Psychomachia. Although Psychomachia is not aesthetically valued as poetry, it is, in fact, an important example of the intimate relation between poetry and allegory. The soul is a “phantasmenon,” an image that reason cannot explain but that appears in the work of art.Less
About the same time that Augustine developed a method for allegorically interpreting obscure biblical passages and connecting the old dispensation to the new, the poet Prudentius created a narrative fiction with personified characters fighting a moral battle for the human soul that called out for a similar kind of allegorical interpretation. Subjecting this “first allegorical poem” to a phenomenological reduction reveals what allegory is as distinct from theology, narrative, personification, and poetry. The allegory of Psychomachia is not so much about an actual battle as it is an attempt to manifest the appearance of the imago Dei in human beings. This study of the image (of God) deepens the argument of the image as resemblance rather than representation. Heidegger's essay “On the Origin of the Work of Art,” shows how the techné of allegory sustains a fundamental gap (riß) through which something other than the work of art appears, and this explains how the soul appears in Psychomachia. Although Psychomachia is not aesthetically valued as poetry, it is, in fact, an important example of the intimate relation between poetry and allegory. The soul is a “phantasmenon,” an image that reason cannot explain but that appears in the work of art.
Felice Lifshitz
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780823256877
- eISBN:
- 9780823261420
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823256877.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter discusses the famous full page crucifixion miniature in Würzburg, Universitätsbibliothek M.p.th.f. 69 in relation to the text it was intended to introduce, namely, the letters of St. ...
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This chapter discusses the famous full page crucifixion miniature in Würzburg, Universitätsbibliothek M.p.th.f. 69 in relation to the text it was intended to introduce, namely, the letters of St. Paul. The chapter argues that the key figures in the image (the large central figure amid a group in a boat, and the figure on the large central cross) represent both Paul and Jesus. The chapter identifies the many sources of inspiration used by the Kitzingen theologian-artist, including the Dittochaeon of Prudentius, Origen’s Homilies on Numbers, and a version of the Visio Pauli (Vision of St. Paul) very likely written at Kitzingen and certainly present in its library collection. A gendered analysis of this image shows how the theologian-artist generally emphasized the universal and thus gender-egalitarian nature of the message of Pauline Christianity, but also expressed views designed to support professed women’s central and active role in the ecclesiastical life of the Main Valley.Less
This chapter discusses the famous full page crucifixion miniature in Würzburg, Universitätsbibliothek M.p.th.f. 69 in relation to the text it was intended to introduce, namely, the letters of St. Paul. The chapter argues that the key figures in the image (the large central figure amid a group in a boat, and the figure on the large central cross) represent both Paul and Jesus. The chapter identifies the many sources of inspiration used by the Kitzingen theologian-artist, including the Dittochaeon of Prudentius, Origen’s Homilies on Numbers, and a version of the Visio Pauli (Vision of St. Paul) very likely written at Kitzingen and certainly present in its library collection. A gendered analysis of this image shows how the theologian-artist generally emphasized the universal and thus gender-egalitarian nature of the message of Pauline Christianity, but also expressed views designed to support professed women’s central and active role in the ecclesiastical life of the Main Valley.
Karla Pollmann
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- March 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198726487
- eISBN:
- 9780191793295
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198726487.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Religion and Literature
The theories about the origins of culture discussed in this chapter are instances of a way of systematically thinking about the nature of culture that was developed in classical times, either in ...
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The theories about the origins of culture discussed in this chapter are instances of a way of systematically thinking about the nature of culture that was developed in classical times, either in verse or in prose. In such so-called foundation narratives, the origins of culture can be explained either in a mythological or a rationalizing fashion. Early Christianity also engaged with these lines of thought, demonstrated in this chapter by looking at the poets Prudentius and Avitus, and by investigating how pagan models were received in varying Christian contexts. The chapter concludes that from the fourth to the sixth century one can observe a shift from a critical to an increasingly positive attitude towards the possibility of establishing a Christian culture, and that both attitudes are developed with recourse to pagan classical cultural traditions.Less
The theories about the origins of culture discussed in this chapter are instances of a way of systematically thinking about the nature of culture that was developed in classical times, either in verse or in prose. In such so-called foundation narratives, the origins of culture can be explained either in a mythological or a rationalizing fashion. Early Christianity also engaged with these lines of thought, demonstrated in this chapter by looking at the poets Prudentius and Avitus, and by investigating how pagan models were received in varying Christian contexts. The chapter concludes that from the fourth to the sixth century one can observe a shift from a critical to an increasingly positive attitude towards the possibility of establishing a Christian culture, and that both attitudes are developed with recourse to pagan classical cultural traditions.
Cillian O’Hogan
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- October 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198749226
- eISBN:
- 9780191813412
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198749226.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book takes a thematic approach to the poetry of the late Latin poet Prudentius, focusing in particular on his descriptions of the geographical and cultural landscapes of late antiquity. The book ...
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This book takes a thematic approach to the poetry of the late Latin poet Prudentius, focusing in particular on his descriptions of the geographical and cultural landscapes of late antiquity. The book includes study of Prudentius’ early readers, allusion (both to the Bible and to Augustan Latin poetry), the civic purpose of some of the poems, pastoral and bucolic, and ekphrasis. The introduction outlines the structure of the book and the main arguments pursued. It also contains a survey of recent scholarship on Prudentius and on late antique literary culture, with particular attention being paid to research on literary geography in late antiquity.Less
This book takes a thematic approach to the poetry of the late Latin poet Prudentius, focusing in particular on his descriptions of the geographical and cultural landscapes of late antiquity. The book includes study of Prudentius’ early readers, allusion (both to the Bible and to Augustan Latin poetry), the civic purpose of some of the poems, pastoral and bucolic, and ekphrasis. The introduction outlines the structure of the book and the main arguments pursued. It also contains a survey of recent scholarship on Prudentius and on late antique literary culture, with particular attention being paid to research on literary geography in late antiquity.
Jason Moralee
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- December 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190492274
- eISBN:
- 9780190492298
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190492274.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, World History: BCE to 500CE
Chapter 7 examines how dozens of martyr acts composed beginning in the fifth century turned the Capitol into a site of Christian resistance. In these pious fictions, rejection of a fantasy Capitol ...
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Chapter 7 examines how dozens of martyr acts composed beginning in the fifth century turned the Capitol into a site of Christian resistance. In these pious fictions, rejection of a fantasy Capitol created a new heritage for the hill. The Capitol was reconstructed out of the “living textuality” of the hill, fragments of inscriptions, and the ubiquitous presence of ruins. Unmoored from the traditional ways of remembering the hill established in the late republic, the Capitol came to play a new role in a distinctly Christian history of a pagan Roman empire. These martyr acts elaborated new ways of knowing the hill and the city of Rome that had almost nothing to do with the classical past. Here, Roman traditions about Christian heroes made the Capitol emblematic of the Roman Empire itself, a symbol of awesome worldly power that could be dramatically neutralized by a battalion of Roman saints.Less
Chapter 7 examines how dozens of martyr acts composed beginning in the fifth century turned the Capitol into a site of Christian resistance. In these pious fictions, rejection of a fantasy Capitol created a new heritage for the hill. The Capitol was reconstructed out of the “living textuality” of the hill, fragments of inscriptions, and the ubiquitous presence of ruins. Unmoored from the traditional ways of remembering the hill established in the late republic, the Capitol came to play a new role in a distinctly Christian history of a pagan Roman empire. These martyr acts elaborated new ways of knowing the hill and the city of Rome that had almost nothing to do with the classical past. Here, Roman traditions about Christian heroes made the Capitol emblematic of the Roman Empire itself, a symbol of awesome worldly power that could be dramatically neutralized by a battalion of Roman saints.
Galit Noga-Banai
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- June 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190874650
- eISBN:
- 9780190874681
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190874650.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, History of Art: pre-history, BCE to 500CE, ancient and classical, Byzantine
This chapter is about representations of contemporary constructions of earthly Christian Jerusalem in fifth-century Rome. Once the apostolic history of Rome had become visible in the city, and Rome ...
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This chapter is about representations of contemporary constructions of earthly Christian Jerusalem in fifth-century Rome. Once the apostolic history of Rome had become visible in the city, and Rome had turned into a pilgrimage destination, where the faithful celebrated the commemoration of the local Roman martyrs, Jerusalem was welcomed to perform on stage, embraced by the strong arms of Peter and Paul. Thus, additional translations of relics from Palestine to Rome, as well as distinct appearances of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in mosaic decoration (S. Pudenziana; S. Maria Maggiore) and possibly architecture (S. Stefano Rotondo), will form the core of discussion. I will show how innovative Roman combinations of Rome and Jerusalem, as well as configurations of Rome as the “Promised Land,” were designed to reinforce the supreme position of Rome and its Apostolic See both in the present and at the End of Days.Less
This chapter is about representations of contemporary constructions of earthly Christian Jerusalem in fifth-century Rome. Once the apostolic history of Rome had become visible in the city, and Rome had turned into a pilgrimage destination, where the faithful celebrated the commemoration of the local Roman martyrs, Jerusalem was welcomed to perform on stage, embraced by the strong arms of Peter and Paul. Thus, additional translations of relics from Palestine to Rome, as well as distinct appearances of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in mosaic decoration (S. Pudenziana; S. Maria Maggiore) and possibly architecture (S. Stefano Rotondo), will form the core of discussion. I will show how innovative Roman combinations of Rome and Jerusalem, as well as configurations of Rome as the “Promised Land,” were designed to reinforce the supreme position of Rome and its Apostolic See both in the present and at the End of Days.
