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The Poetry of Prudentius i Portraying the Female in Late Antiquity: The Poetry of Prudentius Lydia Michele Epple University of Florida Gainesville, Florida April 27th, 2011 ii Acknowledgements I am deeply grateful and indebted to so many people for the completion of this thesis that I fear that I could never name them all or begin to repay them. I would like to thank my family, friends and fellow students who have never ceased to offer input and their unwavering support in this endeavor. I would also like to thank my professor Andrea Sterk; without her guidance I never would of made it this far. iii Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: The Hamartigenia ...............................................................................8 The Vanity of a Woman’s Soul ............................................................................9 Vipers and Biblical Women ...............................................................................12 Chapter 2: The Psychomachia ............................................................................16 Greco Roman Virtues and Vices ........................................................................18 Christian Virtues and Vices ................................................................................20 Fusing traditions .................................................................................................22 Chapter 3: The Liber Peristephanon ..................................................................26 Martyrdom: Who and What? .............................................................................26 Peristephanon III: The Martyrdom of St. Eulalia ..............................................27 Peristephanon XIV: The Martyrdom of St. Agnes ............................................29 Greco-Roman thought and Christian Influences in Eulalia ...............................31 Synthesizing pagan and Christian thought in Agnes .........................................34 Conclusion ............................................................................................................37 Bibliography .........................................................................................................41 1 Introduction Faith first takes the field to face the doubtful chances of battle, her rough dress disordered, her shoulders bared, her hair untrimmed, her arms exposed; for the sudden glow of ambition, burning to enter fresh contests, takes no thought to gird on arms or armour, but trusting in a stout heart and unprotected limbs challenges the hazards of furious warfare, meaning to break them down. Lo, first Worship-of-the-Old-Gods ventures to match her strength against Faith’s challenge and strike at her. But she, rising higher, smites her foes head down,1 Thus begins the epic battle of the Psychomachia by the Latin Christian poet Prudentius, a battle not fought on earthly terrain between flesh and blood but rather in the spiritual realm among the forces of sin and vice and those of truth and virtue. Here, in this struggle for the very soul of humanity. Prudentius pits Faith in the Christian God against Worship of the old pagan gods, in which the latter is ultimately overcome by the former. Yet as evident in the very words of this poem the old has not been completely vanquished by the new, for Prudentius describes the power of the new faith by appealing to the style of and ideals of that very classical tradition over which the new religion has presumably triumphed. Such a merging of thought and ideals reflects the ambiguity of an age most often associated with the triumph of Christianity. Ancient Mediterranean culture and society underwent a time of subtle yet definitive transformation during the latter half of the fourth and early fifth century. Conflict between the pagan beliefs and conventions of the classical world, on the one hand, and Christian beliefs and practices, on the other, had gradually given way to a fusion of the two traditions. The portrayal of women in 1 Prudentius, “The Psychomachia”, Prudentius Vol 1, trans. H. J. Thomson, (Mass., Harvard University Press, 1969), 281. 2 the poetry and literature of this period mirrors this social and cultural transition. In particular this is evident in the literary representations of women and the feminine found in the works of the Latin poet Prudentius. By synthesizing the Greco- Roman literary past with Christian poetry Prudentius laid the groundwork for future allegorical representations in the Middle Ages. His portrayal of women and the feminine reflects a unique blending of traditional Greco- Roman representations of the female with elements that are solely Christian in character. In order to illustrate this fusion and evolution of ideas this study will focus on three of Prudentius’s poems: the Hamartegenia, the Psychomachia and the Liber Peristephanon. By examining his portrayal of women and feminine characteristics in these works this paper will show how his depictions represent the values of a society and culture in transition. First this paper will set the background of this time period, politically and culturally, and consider why it can be deemed a time of transition. Toward this end I will introduce the reign of Emperor Theodosius I before examining the underlying tensions and issues Christians faced with respect to classical education. I will then look at the author himself and analyze each of the three poems in turn. The first chapter will begin with Prudentius’s representation of women and the female in the Hamartegenia, the “Origin of Sin,” examining the ways in which he portrays commonly held ideas on the vanity of women, biblical women and the female viper. The second chapter will then proceed to the Psychomachia, the “Battle for a Human’s Soul,” and will explore the ways in which its representations of the feminine show this union of ideas by 3 incorporating classical, as well as Christian, portrayals of Vices and Virtues. Finally, the third chapter will examine the Liber Peristephanon, “Crowns of Martyrdom,” specifically considering which aspects of Prudentius’s portrayal of the two female martyrs Eulalia and Agnes reflect other Christian martyrdom accounts and in what ways these parallels illustrate the larger cultural fusion taking place in the Roman Empire of the late fourth and early fifth century. Finally, while looking at these works I will also establish what, if anything is original to Prudentius’s own perspective and depiction of women and the feminine. Politically this period was marked by unrest and contention. Various emperors rose and fell with their particular agendas. One in particular, however, Theodosius I, stands out for his distinctive role in Christianizing the Roman Empire.2 The reign of Emperor Theodosius I was embroiled in conflict between Christians and pagans. As a roman emperor Theodosius I was heir to the wealth of the Greco-Roman classical pagan tradition, yet as a Christian many aspects of this tradition contradicted his own religion. Consequently, Theodosius I actively promoted the removal of the remaining vestiges of paganism during his reign while at the same time advancing Christianity’s influence in the Mediterranean. In particular, Theodosius concentrated his efforts on passing legislation against paganism. The most significant of which was promulgated in the year 380 CE when he made Catholic Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Yet his anti-pagan legislation did not end there. Theodosius also endeavored to 2 For background on the reign of Theodosius I I have drawn primarily from Michelle Salzman’s book The Making of a Christian Aristocracy: Social and Religious Change in the Western Empire. 4 close down pagan temples and to limit the pagan rites and privileges granted to pagan priests. He was also not opposed to more symbolic gestures, such as his refusal of the statesman Symmachus’s plea to return the pagan altar of Victory to the senate house. Furthermore, Theodosius filled his court with devout Christians from regions such as modern Spain where he was born. His advancement of Christians to court and high administrative positions highlights this transition from a pagan empire to a Christian one. In the year 395 Theodosius chose two Christians as Roman consuls, thereby illustrating this shift in society by filling positions that for centuries preceding his own had been held by pagans.3 Theodosius’s rise to power and the pivotal changes in law and governance of the empire that he helped to facilitate were a crucial part of this shift in society. However, this is only one piece of a complex puzzle. Although politically during this period paganism was quickly being overtaken by Christianity, the lines were more unclear in the cultural arena. This is particularly evident in the uneasy relationship Christians maintained with classical education and the tensions that arose as a result, for in reality there was no viable Christian alternative to the education that the Greco-Roman tradition had long offered. This was true even for members of the clergy such as bishops. There existed no real schools of theology or divinity for them to attend. Therefore, their religious training was limited to what could be learned from older bishops and clerics, often in the form of a one on one discussion. In order to obtain such instruction they were often required to travel across the 3 Michele Renee Salzman, The Making of a Christian Aristocracy:
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