The Poetry of Prudentius

Portraying the Female in Late Antiquity: The Poetry of Prudentius

Lydia Michele Epple

University of Florida

Gainesville, Florida

April 27th, 2011

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.

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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

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: Social and Religious Change in the Western Empire (Mass. and England: Harvard University Press, 2002),183,184.

Mediterranean to meet with these mentors. For example, St. Jerome traveled to

Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople to receive private lessons from older

Christian leaders in his youth.4 However, if bishops wanted to learn how to read and write in Latin and Greek they were forced to supplement their theological discussions and what they could garner from the Bible with pagan texts. Yet this reliance on Greco-Roman pagan writings was not limited to clergy alone, but pervaded all levels of education. As a result an invisible line was drawn. Students learned about classical mythology in school while, conversely, learning the precepts of their own religion from their families and churches. In essence students were supposed to learn what they could from the pagan writings but were to approach it from the mindset of a Christian and thus not fall prey to its inherent falsehoods and vices. Even so, this created a crisis of conscience for many

Christian students. Perhaps the most famous example of this tension is the case of St. Jerome, who has a dream in which God berates him and calls him a

“Ciceronian instead of a Christian.”5 Yet an education could not be totally dismissed by devout Christians. As a religion based solidly in religious texts and teachings some form of education was required. Furthermore, an education in rhetoric or classical learning opened up windows of opportunity in life, such as the pursuit of a career in law or administration. 6 Thus in culture, if not politics, the Greco-Roman tradition was still vibrant and heavily relied upon.

4 H.I. Marrou, A History of Education, trans. George Lamb, (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1956), 328. 5 Marrou 320. 6 Marrou , 327.

Into such a world of contention and transition the Latin Christian poet

Prudentius was born. Aurelius Prudentius Clemens was born in 348 CE in what is now northwestern Spain, and although it is never explicitly stated that his family was Christian, this can be inferred from a preface attached to his collected works.7

After receiving an education in the Roman tradition of rhetoric, an education which would have enabled him to become well acquainted with the pagan texts of the Greco-Roman tradition, Prudentius began to practice law before taking a position in government. He served two terms in the post of provincial governor, and was then summoned to the court of Emperor Theodosius I.8 It was here, according to his preface, that Prudentius obtained some sort of higher rank from the emperor, although his exact office remains unclear.9 Regardless, after a successful career as a civil servant Prudentius turned toward more spiritual matters, leaving public life to become an ascetic. It was during this time that

Prudentius turned his attention to poetry, writing the preface to his collected works by around the age of fifty. Remaining an ascetic for the rest of his life

Prudentius died in 410 CE, leaving behind a collection of poetry of unrivaled literary and historical merit ranging in topic from an allegorical battle for the human soul in the Psychomachia to tales of the martyrs in the Liber

Peristephanon.

Since the end of the 1980s a number of scholars have taken an interest in

Prudentius and his poetry in the context of the transition from the classical to the

7 Prudentius, “Preface”, Prudentius Vol 1, 4,5. 8Martha A. Malamud, A Poetics of Transformation: Prudentius and Classical Mythology. (New York: Cornell University Press, 1989), 14. The locations of these two posts are still topics of debate among historians. 9 Prudentius, “Preface”, 4,5.

7 medieval Christian world. In particular, Martha A. Malamud demonstrates the connections between Prudentius and classical mythology. Similarly, a very recent study of Marc Mastrangelo places Prudentius within the framework of a broader classical context showing the influence which pagan writers such as

Vergil had on his writings and ideas. However, despite renewed attention to

Prudentius as a transitional figure, one of the lesser explored aspects of his writings has been his depiction of women. While Virginia Burrus and Jacqueline

Clarke have dealt with his portrayal of two specific female martyrs, Agnes and

Eulalia respectively, in the Liber Peristephanon, there has been no more general study of his representation of women. This thesis will pick up where Burrus and

Clarke have left off. Drawing on past historiography of Prudentius and his writings I will examine the poet’s conception of women and the feminine in the broader terms of his collective works and the society in which he lived. Given

Prudentius’s influence on later allegorical poetry and medieval Christian thought in general, this is a topic that deserves further scholarly consideration.

Chapter 1: The Hamartigenia In his poem the Hamartigenia Prudentius utilizes poetry to launch an assault on the second-century heretical teachings of Marcion who believed that the Old and New Testament represented two distinct Gods a harsh and a merciful one respectively. Prudentius sees these teachings as seeds of division in the church and uses the origin of sin in the biblical tradition as a means with which to attack them. 10 Prudentius begins his poem with a description of the first brothers in scripture, Cain and Abel, explaining how sin resulted from the shedding of

Abel’s blood by Cain correlating his misdeeds with Marcion.

It is plain to see whom this figure denotes, who is his brother’s murderer, the jealous slayer who divides the way of holy things amiss while supposing that he makes his offerings more correctly. Marcion, a creature of the foulest clay, teaches men to believe in two Gods, at variance with the Spirit; he offers gifts of flesh defiled and worships the everlasting Deity in separate shapes.11 Next Prudentius elaborates on the falsity of Marcion’s beliefs refuting them with logic in order to prove that there is but one God. According to Prudentius, sin originated from the fall of Satan, and all of the ensuing complications in the world, including the vanity of women and men, are a direct result of this. Here,

Prudentius first introduces a segment dedicated exclusively to women in the poem. He depicts the vanity of women before moving on to the vanity of men, calling attention to the makeup and adornments of women while on the other hand

10 Martha Malamud, “Writing Original Sin,” Journal of Early Christian Studies, Volume 10, Number 3, (2002): 331. 11 Prudentius, “Hamartigenia”, Prudentius Vol 1, 203.

9 focusing on the effeminate traits of men.12 Subsequently, Prudentius creates a list of the enemies of God’s people throughout the ages, biblical and allegorical, before presenting a vivid depiction of the death of a mother viper in order to demonstrate the result of sin in a human’s soul and the ultimate destruction that results.

At last the grievous brood come forth by the death of her that has nurtured them...a family of orphans at their very birth, that have only seen the light of day as the posthumous children of their poor mother. Just so does our soul conceive. In the same way...pregnant it brings forth its deadly brood in works of an evil nature.13 Prudentius uses this analogy as a stepping stone from which to entreat his audience to choose the path that they will take, to select between right and wrong.

He illustrates this through the life choices of Eve, Lot’s wife, Ruth, and Orpah of the Old Testament.14 Finally, Prudentius ends his poem with a look at eternity after this life and the possibilities available to faithful and faithless souls alike, those who chose truth and those who gave way to sin and lies.15

The Vanity of a Woman’s Soul

Prudentius employs various representations of women and the female throughout the Hamartigenia; however, in particular his portrayal of the vanity of women stands out as an example of the fusion of Christian and classical ideas and values. Prudentius shapes his portrayal from concepts of what was considered

12 Prudentius, “Hamartigenia”, 223-227. 13 Prudentius, “Hamartigenia”, 247. 14 Prudentius, “Hamartigenia”, 255-259. 15 Prudentius, “Hamartigenia”, 260-273.

10 vain in Christian as well as classical thought. Thus his imagery demonstrates an amalgamation of the values of the culture in which he lived.

Depictions of the vanity of men as well as women have a long history in both the Christian and the Greco-Roman tradition. In Christianity the Bible itself stands as an example from which Christian teachers and preachers were able to draw. In I Timothy 2:9-10 Paul writes about what he perceives of as the proper attire for a woman of God.

In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.16 Likewise in I Peter 3:3 wives are exhorted to “...let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold, or of putting on apparel.”17 In the writings of the Church Fathers these ideas are extended and refashioned to cover a wider variety of behaviors considered vain, including the putting on of makeup.

In Tertullian’s De Cultu Feminarum makeup and flashy dress are cast in a negative light. Tertullian connects makeup with prostitutes and original sin with

Eve while looking down on jewelry and immodest dress. For Tertullian makeup and adultery are linked and thus the simplicity of a natural look is to be preferred to anything else.18 However, these beliefs are not exclusive to Christianity.

16 King James Bible, I Tim. 2:9-10. 17 I Pet. 3:3. 18 Amy Richlin “Making up a Woman: The Face of Roman Gender” in Off With her head!: the denial of women’s identity in myth, religion, and culture. edited by Howard Eilberg-Schwartz and Wendy Donige (Berkeley : University of California Press, 1995), 194-195.

On the side of the Greco-Roman tradition a plethora of examples express condemnation of adornment, makeup and falsifying of a person’s true appearance in general. In Oeconomicus by the Athenian playwright Xenophon dating from

362 BC provides a prime example of this. In this work a husband complains of his wife’s overuse of makeup and adornment. He decries her efforts to portray something different over the fact that she is trying to portray something different from what she is; the deception and falsifying effect are what brings about the husband’s displeasure. Additionally, the first century BC elegiac poet Propertius takes issue with a mistress who changes her natural hair color, claiming that, “As nature made it, that’s the right shape for everyone: a Belgic color is foul on a

Roman face.”19 Once again this idea of natural versus artificial comes into play.

The tendency to reject excessive adornment on a cultural level crosses over into the rhetorical realm as well as exemplified by Cicero in his work on rhetoric in which he compares too much figural language in oratory to a woman who uses excessive makeup.20

Prudentius’s depiction of female vanity shows clear indications of borrowing from both Christian and classical traditions. In the Greco-Roman tradition, although wearing too much makeup and adornment was not necessarily a good thing, it did not enter the realms of a religious infraction. However, in

Christian literature such behavior took on the dimensions of sin and moved

19 Propertius, 2.18.23 32, quoted in Amy Richlin “Making up a Woman The Face of Roman Gender” in Off With her head!: the denial of women’s identity in myth, religion, and culture. edited by Howard Eilberg-Schwartz and Wendy Donige (Berkeley : University of California Press, 1995), 202-203. 20 Malamud, “Writing Original Sin”, 334.

12 beyond the realms of cultural aesthetic and into the area of religious ideals.

Prudentius’s main concern with the adornment and makeup of women lies in their tampering with what God has already made perfect.

For woman, not content with her natural grace, puts on a false and adventitious beauty, and as if the hand of the Lord which had made her had given her a face that was unfinished, ...It were wearisome to detail all the profane trouble matrons take, who colour the forms which God has dowered with his gifts, so that the painted skin loses its character and cannot be recognised under the false hue.21 As with Xenophon in the Greco-Roman tradition what is at issue is the deception and falseness of the action; yet at the same time, as for Tertullian, it takes on grander religious implications. Now, what was previously a matter of taste is an insult to God. In this way Prudentius draws on and combines aspects of the

Greco-Roman classical tradition while at the same time remaining within the bounds of Christian ideals and values.

Vipers and Biblical Women

In the Hamartigenia Prudentius uses the imagery of a mother Viper giving birth to her young and women of the Old Testament as moralizing agents and examples of the spiritual choices that lie before a person. They function as examples of lessons to be learned by the reader so as to make the right choices to ensure spiritual health.

To begin, Prudentius depicts the horrific birth of vipers from their mother’s body: in order for the young to live they must destroy their mother. He then applies this imagery to the idea of sin entering into the soul, resulting in the

21 Prudentius, “Hamartigenia”, 223.

13 death of the soul. As Martha Malamud explains, this imagery of the viper is an amalgamation of a variety of classical sources which include Herodotus, Pliny and Horace.22 However, the viper or serpent also has Christian connotations.

Throughout the Bible and in subsequent Christian literature the serpent is used to symbolize Satan. This association begins in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, in which the serpent tempts Eve into eating forbidden fruit leading to the expulsion of humanity from paradise.23 In Tertullian’s treatise On Baptism from the second century CE the female viper is associated with heresy.

The consequence is, that a viper of the Cainite heresy, lately conversant in this quarter, has carried away a great number with her most venomous doctrine, making it her first aim to destroy baptism. Which is quite in accordance with nature.24 Here, the female viper is associated with sin like in Prudentius but the context in which the reference is used is different. The sin Tertullian is concerned with is improper baptism while Prudentius’s viper is used to illustrate the outcome of indulging in sin, or more particularly as part of his attack on Marcion. Thus the

Hamartigenia’s depiction of natural life simultaneously brings together different patterns of thought that Prudentius’s Christian audience educated in classical rhetoric would recognize. Thereby his portrayal exemplifies the natural sciences of the Greco-Roman tradition as well as Christian depictions of vipers and serpents.

22 Malamud, “Writing Original Sin” 351. 23 Gen. 3. 24 Tertullian, “On Baptism”, In Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 3, Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. Translated by S. Thelwall., (Buffalo, New York: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight, < http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0321.htm>.

Prudentius also utilizes women of the Old Testament in the Hamartigenia, yet even in so doing employs language from classical literature. He uses Eve,

Lot’s wife, Ruth and Orpah to illustrate the choice between following God or self.

He begins with Eve who stands as the choice for Adam, whether or not he will choose to obey God’s word and not eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. In Prudentius’s narrative the choice is already completed but the poet stresses the fact that Adam could have chosen differently. Next Prudentius moves on to the story of Lot’s wife. She chooses to turn back to Sodom and thus becomes a pillar of salt, a punishment inflicted on her alone whereas as

Prudentius points out Eve took Adam into sin with her. Prudentius contrasts Lot’s firm purpose in following God’s command with his wife’s disobedience.

Subsequently Prudentius turns to the story of Ruth. He pits her against her sister- in-law Orpah, both of whom are from Moab, yet Ruth follows her mother-in-law to Israel while Orpah chooses to remain in Moab. Ruth thus enters the bloodline of Christ and Orpah enters into the lineage of Goliath.25

Prudentius’s portrayal of these women is drawn almost exclusively from the biblical account save for the form of Lot’s wife, which shares more in common with the Greco-Roman tradition. As Martha Malamud has illustrated

Prudentius’s representation of Lot’s wife draws heavily from Ovid’s

Metamorphosis. In the Metamorphosis the character Niobe, while weeping inconsolably for her dead children, becomes stone. Prudentius’s description of

Lot’s wife parallels the frozen sorrow of Niobe; however, Lot’s wife is described

25 Prudentius, “Hamartigenia”, 254-261.

15 in slightly different terms drawing attention to her frozen outward appearance as opposed to Niobe’s appearance which eventually becomes unrecognizable.

Malamud sees this as a way for Prudentius to further draw out his earlier ideas on the vanity of women.26 Thus, in his portrayal of biblical women Prudentius is able to seamlessly blend the classical tradition together with biblical characters.

By drawing on Ovid, Prudentius expands the original account of Lot’s wife enabling him to make the choice between obedience and disobedience more apparent and vivid to the reader. The consequences are given in such a dramatic way that the idea is not as easily dismissed by the reader as the one-line biblical quotation might have been. Thus Greco-Roman literature is a tool in the hands of a Christian poet.

26 Malamud, “Writing Original Sin”, 355.

Chapter 2:

The Psychomachia

In his poem the Psychomachia Prudentius relates an allegorical battle for a human’s soul fought between feminine personifications of Virtues and Vices, representing Christian beliefs on one side and sin and pagan religion on the other.

The poem begins with a brief preface on biblical history setting the stage for the main conflict, after which Prudentius immediately launches into the battle. This conflict is divided into seven distinct confrontations between the opposing forces, in which the Virtues always emerge victorious. The first confrontation, between

Faith and the Worship-of-the-Old-Gods, is swift and brutal, for faith destroys her enemy in only a few short lines:

Faith first takes the field to face the doubtful chances of battle…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,27 This confrontation is then followed by six more in like vein, interspersed with verbal challenges and rebuttals from both sides. Following Faith’s victory over

Worship-of-the-Old-Gods another Virtue, this time Chastity, faces off against

Lust who in turn is dispatched quickly by a sword thrust to the throat.

Subsequently Long-Suffering confronts Wrath and Lowliness Pride. Unlike the confrontations in the first two battles, however, in these later encounters Long-

Suffering and Lowliness more or less watch the Vices destroy themselves. Wrath, after being unable to harm Long-Suffering takes her own life, while Pride slips

27 Prudentius, “Psychomachia”, 281.

17 into a trap dug for the Virtues and is mortally wounded; it is then left to Lowliness to finish her off. The next sets of confrontations are not that simple. After the death of Pride, another Vice, Indulgence, takes the field. She breathes poison upon the Virtues, and their will to fight begins to crumble. The Virtues begin to lay down their weapons in surrender until Soberness takes command and attempts to rally the troops. Bearing a cross, she faces the Vice,

So speaking she holds up the cross of the Lord in face of the raging Chariot-horses, thrusting the holy wood against their very bridles; and for all their boldness they have taken fright at its outspread arms…then she is thrown out and the whirling wheels entangle her who was their mistress, for she fall forward under the axle…Soberness gives her the death-blow as she lies, hurling at her a great stone from the rock.28

The battle is then resumed once more as Greed appears on the field of battle and is first blocked by Reason, before changing her appearance to appear as a Virtue,

“…she puts off her grim look and her fiendish weapons and changes to a noble bearing.”29 Masquerading as the Virtue Thrifty, Greed is eventually discovered for her true nature by Good Works, who then chokes her to death. The Virtues then assume the battle is over and that victory has been achieved. However, upon entering their camp they are once again attacked. Disguising herself as a Virtue,

Discord attempts to assassinate Concord upon her entrance into the camp.

Wounding but failing to kill Concord, the Vice is then torn to pieces by the other

28 Prudentius, “Psychomachia”, 309. 29 Prudentius, “Psychomachia”, 317.

Virtues. Finally defeating the Vices, the poem closes with the building of a new temple where Wisdom sits enthroned forever.30

Greco-Roman Virtues and Vices

The feminine personifications of Prudentius’s Psychomachia can be traced back to the Greco-Roman classical tradition wherein there is a long history of personifying abstract notions as feminine. It was accepted practice in rhetoric to cast these ideas in a feminine mold, although the reasons behind this remain unclear. Some historians believe that this is merely a reflex reaction on the part of classical writers. They argue that since most intangible concepts in Greek and

Latin are feminine, it is logical to simply personify them as female. In any case, in a discourse On Style dating from around the first century CE the author

Demetrius claims that the female personification is the proper form to use when writing.31 As a person trained in classical rhetoric Prudentius would have been well aware of this convention. In addition to this, the historian Haworth has claimed that the Vices and Virtues of Prudentius were in actuality Roman deities and in fact not really allegorical personifications at all. However, as James

Paxson has pointed out, this does not take into account the first set of combatants in the Psychomachia, in which Worship-of-the-Old-Gods is defeated by Faith.

This defeat clearly illustrates the influence of Christian thought on Prudentius’s poetry; furthermore, his combatants do not follow an exact continuation of the

30 Prudentius, “Psychomachia”, 275-343. 31 James Paxson, “Personification’s Gender,” Rhetorica, Vol. 16, No. 2. (1998) 152, 159.

Greco-Roman tradition.32 Despite this fact, Prudentius does draw on other examples from classical authors. In one classical story by Xenophon Herakles is confronted with two women at a crossroads. The women, representations of pleasure and virtue, desired him to select between them. Although a very simplistic example of Personification it illustrates the two opposing sides, or good and evil.33 Furthermore, Vergil utilized various feminine personifications in his epic work The Aeneid, including his own representation of Discord. Vergil’s

Discord, although not bearing any striking resemblance to her representation by

Prudentius, is nonetheless feminine. Additionally, in the same scene featuring

Discord, Vergil describes the goddess Bellona who carries a whip, a whip very like the one that Prudentius’s Discord wields in the battle. In Aeneid 8 Discord is trailed by Bellona, “…with her bloody whip.”34 Yet, Prudentius’s Discord is similar to another character in The Aeneid. In the 7th book Allecto, one of the

Furies, disguises herself in order to bring about a major conflict. She takes on the appearance of an old woman with olive branches in her hair, a disguise remarkably similar in aspect to the one assumed by Discord in the Psychomachia.

For, when the Vices’ army was driven off, Discord had entered our ranks wearing the counterfeit shape of a friend. Her torn mantle and her whip of many snakes were left lying far behind amid the heaps of dead on the field of battle, while she herself, displaying her hair wreathed with leafy olive, answered cheerfully the joyous revellers.35 Thus instead of mirroring only one of Vergil’s characters, Prudentius’ s personification is rather an amalgamation of many. By drawing on various Greco-

32 Malamud, A Poetics of Transformation: Prudentius and Classical Mythology, 47-48. 33 Xenophon, The Socratic Writings (Memorabilia, Economist, Symposium, Apology, Hiero), translated by H. G. Dakyns, (Digisreads.com Publishing, 2009). 34 Malamud, A Poetics of Transformation: Prudentius and Classical Mythology, 70. 35 Prudentius, “Psychomachia”, 327.

Roman literary traditions Prudentius’s Vices and Virtues represent a strong continuity between the past and poet’s own time.36 As a person trained in classical rhetoric it would have been natural for Prudentius to make this connection between classical traditions and his own Christian poetry. By transplanting and recreating aspects of Greco-Roman classical tradition,

Prudentius’s poetry reflects the larger changes taking place throughout the

Mediterranean. This blending can be likened to the education he would have received based on the classics but approaching them from the mindset of a

Christian and for the purposes of furthering his own faith.

Christian Virtues and Vices

Certainly, Prudentius was not the first Christian intellectual to use personification. Indeed he was able to draw on Christian writers from the preceding centuries who had laid the groundwork for his own portrayal of Virtues and Vices. A simple example of this is found in the writings of Tertullian. In the

29th chapter of his work “De Spectaculis” Tertullian describes the defeat of various vices by Christian Virtues while they competed for control of the human soul. These Christian Virtues include faithfulness, chastity, compassion, and modesty that are opposed respectively by unchastity, perfidy, cruelty, and impudence. Yet Tertullian’s description of these personifications is very short, only going on for a few lines, and does not go into any real detail about the

Virtues or Vices, but instead merely naming them. Additionally, unlike

Prudentius’s later personifications, these Virtues and Vices are not given a

36 Malamud, A Poetics of Transformation: Prudentius and Classical Mythology, 60.

21 gender.37 Nevertheless, Tertullian’s writings are important as an early example of

Christian personification. Another case is that of the Shepherd of Hermas which dates from the second century CE in Rome. Written by a revival preacher, this work is a sort of allegorical note-book that was extremely popular in the second century CE. Here Virtues and Vices are not only personified but are specifically female. The writer speaks of a tower, representing the church, around which twelve virgins stand in white.

And round the door there stood twelve virgins…And they were clothed in linen mantles…they were joyful and eager…Listen to the names of the stronger virgins who stand at the corners. The first is Faith, the second is Temperance, the third is Power, the fourth is Long-suffering, and the others who stand between them have these names: Simplicity, Guilessness, Holiness, Joyfulness, Truth, Understanding, Concord, Love.38 In addition to the Virtues listed above, the work also contains corresponding

Vices, also twelve in number although these are not described as virgins.

And there were called twelve women, very beautiful to look at, clothed in black, girded, and their shoulders bare, their hair loose. And these women looked to me to be cruel…Hear also the names of the women who have black raiment. Of these also four are more powerful. The first is Unbelief, the second Impurity, the third Disobedience, and the fourth Deceit; and those who follow them are called Grief, Wickedness, Licentiousness, Bitterness, Lying, Foolishness, Evil-speaking, Hate.39 The portrayal of these Virtues and Vices and their juxtaposition to one another is similar to that of the Psychomachia, to the point that even some of the names are the same. Yet, there are some differences. For instance in the Psychomachia the

37 Tertullian, “The Shows”, In Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 3, Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. Translated by S. Thelwall., (Buffalo, New York: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight, . 38 Shepherd of Hermas Similitude IX, quoted in Jean LaPorte, The Role of Women in Early Christianity.(New York and Toronto, 1982) 135-136. 39 LaPorte, 137.

Vices and Virtues actually confront one another in battle, much as in Tertullian’s portrayal of them, whereas here they simply share the same place. There is an implied opposition to one another but it is more a choice on the part of men as to which side they will take. The “servant of god” has to choose, much like

Herakles, which way he will go for both are open to him.40 It is up to individuals to choose with whom they will “lie,” for that is what they must do. For example,

Hermas, the narrator, is told to go into the virgins and take them as his lovers so as to take on their names.41 This is very different from the Virtues and Vices of the Psychomachia, where the Virtues, although living inside the human’s soul, are never spoken of in such a manner. Additionally, these Vices and Virtues are silent; they give no grand speeches or exultations unlike the personifications of the Psychomachia. These works and their counterparts in Greco-Roman literature, surveyed in the preceding section, illustrate that the themes of Vice and

Virtue were common devices of both Christian and pagan writers. However, the ways in which they were utilized and their purposes differ. It is in Prudentius’s own poetry that a merging of these two traditions can be seen.

Fusing Traditions

The Virtues and Vices of the Psychomachia exhibit a fusion of the Greco-

Roman tradition with Christian ideas on various levels. On the one hand there are the examples of Vices like Discord who bear a striking resemblance to their counterparts in pagan texts; on the other hand there are Christian works such as

40 LaPorte, 136. 41 LaPorte, 136.

23 the The Shepherd of Hermas, where clearly defined Christian Virtues and un-

Christian Vices stand for the choice between right and wrong, God and sin, making it clear that one must choose between them. This influence is evident in the Psychomachia where some Virtues share the same names as the ones used in

The Shepherd of Hermas, as well as in some cases their virginal description. For example Prudentius’s Chastity is called a “maiden” with “modest eyes,” and

Purity in turn is described as “with scarce a tinge of blood to colour her cheeks.”42

The Vices in turn reflect the opposing description of being un-maidenly in a similar way to the women in black from The Shepherd of Hermas. In the confrontation between the Virtue, Chastity, and the Vice Lust, Prudentius describes the latter as a “whore” and a “harlot.”43 Yet Prudentius’s Virtues and

Vices draw more heavily on the classical ideals then the other Christian work does for unlike in The Shepherd of Hermas, Prudentius’s Virtues and Vices are quite literally able to speak for themselves. The Christianizing of Prudentius’s

Virtues is more about what they say than about their dress and behavior, which more accurately reflect the traditions of epic poetry. For although there are small obviously Christian touches to their raiment and weapons, such as when

Soberness, their standard bearer, wields a cross on the battlefield, they more closely resemble figures of the older epic poets such as Vergil.44 Here, in the speeches given by the Virtues and Vices, the full influence of Christianity on

Prudentius’s poetry appears time and time again. In the first speech of the poem

Chastity, upon her defeat of Lust, sets the pattern for all such speeches to come:

42 Prudentius, “Psychomachia”, 283, 297. 43 Prudentius, “Psychomachia”, 283. 44 Prudentius, “Psychomachia”, 303.

This shall be thy last end; for ever shalt thou lie prostrate; no longer shalt thou dare to cast thy deadly flames against God’s man-servants or his maid-servants; the inmost fibre of their pure heart is kindled only from the torch of Christ….Well, since a virgin immaculate has borne a child, hast thou any claim remaining-since a virgin bore a child, since the day when man’s body lost it’s primeval nature, and power from on high created a new flesh, and a woman unwedded conceived the God Christ, who is man in virtue of his mortal mother but God long with the Father? From that day all flesh is divine, since it conceives Him and takes on the nature of God by a covenant of partnership.45 Following Chastity’s exhortation a number of other Virtues speak during their respective confrontations. Yet the Virtues are not the only ones to speak in the poem. The Vices, like their opposition, give speeches that reflect the Christian nature of the work as well. For example, when Discord is captured in the camp of the Virtues at the end of the poem she is given leave to tell her name, and while doing so, she attempts to influence her listeners:

…the whole army of the Virtues surrounds her, asking in an uproar of excitement her race and name, her country and her faith, what God she worships, of what nation he that sent her. And she, all pale with upsetting fear, says: “I am called Discord, and my other name is Heresy. The God I have is variable, now lesser, now greater, now double, now single; when I please he is unsubstantial, a mere apparition, or again the soul within us, when I choose to make a mock of his divinity. My teacher is Belial, my home and country the world.” No further did Faith, the Virtues’ queen, bear with the outrageous prisoner’s blasphemies,46

Here, once again, Prudentius’s Christian purpose becomes apparent. By his use of words such as “blasphemies” and “heresy,” the Vice and the heresies that it stands for are placed in a negative light. In this moment the Virtues can clearly be seen as Catholic Christianity while the Vice in turn essentially stands in the place of all other opposing Christian creeds.

45 Prudentius, “Psychomachia”, 285. 46 Prudentius, “Psychomachia”, 329.

Prudentius’s portrayal of feminine Virtues and Vices in the Psychomachia is distinctive and indicative of the world in which he lived, a society and culture in transition. By combining various aspects of Greco-Roman classical tradition with Christian imagery and ideals, Prudentius’s work represents a unique synthesis of the two traditions.

Chapter 3: The Liber Peristephanon In his poem the Liber Peristephanon, or “Crowns of Martyrdom,”

Prudentius shifts his focus from the allegorical battlefield to the realm of Christian martyrdom and the struggles inherent to this genre of literature. The Liber

Peristephanon contains 14 lyric poems or hymns dedicated to Christian martyrs ranging from local Spanish saints such as Emerius and Chelidonius in

Peristephanon I to the martyrdoms of well-known saints outside of Spain such as the young Roman girl Agnes in Peristephanon XIV.47 However, this paper will only concentrate on two of these poems, those depicting the martyrdoms of Saints

Eulalia and Agnes in Peristephanon’s III and XIV respectively. In the creation of these complementary martyrdom accounts Prudentius draws on established ideals of martyrdom found in other Christian texts while once again bringing his knowledge of the Greco-Roman classical tradition to his poetry. Thus, in the imagery of these young virgin martyrs, Prudentius creates a distinctive synthesis of Christian and classical thought.

Martyrdom: Who and What?

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary martyrdom can be defined as “the suffering of death on account of adherence to a cause and especially one’s religious faith.”48 Nevertheless, for most people the word “martyrdom” conjures images of the early Christian martyr bravely standing before his or her persecutor

47 Prudentius, “Liber Peristephanon”, Prudentius Vol 2, 199,339. 48 Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, “Martyrdom”, 2011, < http://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/martyrdom>.

27 prior to death. Yet was martyrdom something that arose purely out of Christian belief or is it part of an older tradition? This question lies at the heart of years of scholarly debate. There are two dominant theories on the origins of martyrdom.

The first presents martyrdom as a result of purely Roman custom and society in the first centuries of the Common Era while the second maintains that martyrdom accounts have their basis in Judaism and that Christianity merely prolonged the idea. 49 Whatever its origins, however, martyr accounts have certain key characteristics in common as described by Jan Willhem van Henten and Friedrich

Avemarie. First, pagan authorities must create an act against the Christians with a capital punishment consequence that forces the issue of the martyrs’ loyalties, to

God or state. Then, when the issue is truly forced and the martyr must choose between his or her religious beliefs and obeying the laws, the martyr always choose to die rather than conform. The persecutor realizes this upon examination and possible torture. Finally, these accounts all reference the final death of the martyr in some way.50

Peristephanon III: The Martyrdom of St. Eulalia

The third hymn in Prudentius’s Liber Peristephanon relates the tale of the martyrdom of the young virgin Eulalia and in so doing exemplifies the characteristics of a typical martyrdom accounts. He begins his narrative with a description of the virgin’s noble birth and the location of her cult site.

49 Daniel Boyarin, Dying for God: Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and Judaism (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1999), 93. 50 Jan Willhem van Henren and Friedrich Avemarie, Martyrdom and Noble Death: Selected Texts from the Greaco-Roman, Jewish and Christian Antiquity (New York and London: Routledge, 2002), 4.

Noble of stock, and nobler still in the quality of her death, the holy maid Eulalia honours with her bones and tends with her love her own Emerita, the town that gave her birth. Far in the west lies the place that has won this signal honour; as a city great and populous, but greater through the blood of the martyrdom and a maiden’s tombstone.51 Prudentius then goes on to relate how as a young virgin of twelve years Eulalia was far more mature in her manner than any of her peers. She does not act as other young girls, refusing adornments and to play games. Prudentius uses this as justification for why a girl at this age was already predisposed toward martyrdom.

He goes on to describe how Christians were commanded to make pagan sacrifices, a command which Eulalia protested to the point that her mother feared for her life. Thus in an effort to protect her daughter Eulalia’s mother took her from the city and hides her. Yet this is not what Eulalia desired. Escaping by night she hurried to reach the city and to place herself before those in charge of the persecution. Once there she proceeded to boldly insult the pagan gods and the emperor himself.

Isis, Apollo, Venus---they are naught; Maximian himself too is naught; they because they are works of men’s hands, he because he worships the works of men’s hands, both worthless, both naught. Though Maximian, lord of power and yet himself in vassalage to figures of stone, prostitute himself to his gods and make himself over to them, why does he persecute noble hearts? Your good captain, your excellent ruler, feeds on innocent blood;52 This speech enraged the governor who ordered Eulalia tortured for her insolence.

However, even in the same breath that he commanded her to be tortured the governor offered her a chance for pardon if she would submit to the barest minimum of sacrifice and thus save herself for a good marriage. Eulalia answered

51 Prudentius, “Liber Peristephanon”, 143, 145. 52 Prudentius, “Liber Peristephanon”, 149.

29 his proposal with an adamant refusal. She spat in his eyes and lashed out against the idols and sacrifice laid out before them eliciting the further anger of the governor who then ordered that the act of torture be carried out. The remainder of the hymn hinges on this torture and its ultimate end, Eulalia’s martyrdom.

Prudentius describes in detail the effects of the torture on Eulalia’s body as well as her final death by fire. She was burned alive and with her last breath her soul was released from her body in the form of a dove. This, then, is followed by a final miraculous event. Eulalia’s remains are covered in a blanket of snow preventing any from looking upon her. Prudentius ends his poem by once again directing his reader’s mind to the here and now, specifically to the place of her cult.53

. Peristephanon XIV: The Martyrdom of St Agnes

In the fourteenth and final hymn of his poem Prudentius relates the martyr narrative of another young virgin, St. Agnes of Rome. In this martyrdom, as in

Eulalia’s, Prudentius’s account follows the characteristics of typical martyr passions. The poet begins by first giving the place of her tomb in Rome before then jumping straight into the middle of the story of her martyrdom with the saint already in the hands of her persecutors. In a few short words Prudentius breezes over how a young virgin such as Agnes comes to be in such a dangerous position:

They say it happened that as a young girl in her earliest years, scarce yet marriageable, but warm with the love of Christ, she bravely withstood godless commands, refusing to make herself over to idols and desert her holy faith. For though she was first assailed with many arts, now with

53 Prudentius, “Liber Peristephanon”, 149-157.

seductive words from a smooth-tongued judge, and again with threats of cruel torture, she stood firm with strength indomitable, and even offered her body for the sore torment, not refusing to die.54 Thus, Prudentius quickly skims over the events leading up to Agnes’s present circumstances. By acting on the assumption that his readership has prior knowledge of the saint, Prudentius allows himself to take greater freedom with the narrative and to develop certain aspects of the story that he chooses to emphasize. For example, how Agnes came to be in the hands of her persecutors pales in importance to the way in which her death is carried out. Accordingly,

Prudentius takes up the tale in earnest at the point when Agnes is given a choice by her persecutor between seeking forgiveness from the virgin goddess Minerva and being placed in a public brothel. Agnes refuses to acknowledge the idol and is sent to a brothel and positioned on a public street corner. However, this plan fails as all those present refuse to look upon the martyr’s naked form, all except one young man who gazes openly at her bringing about the first miraculous event of the poem.

...when behold, a fire came flying like a thunderbolt and with its quivering blaze struck his eyes, and he fell blinded by the gleaming flash...But the maiden passed in triumph, singing of God the Father and Christ in holy song because, when an unholy peril fell upon her, her virginity won the day...55 Following this episode the authorities, realizing that there is no other option, call for an executioner. After a brief speech from Agnes in which she warmly welcomes this death she is beheaded. Prudentius closes the poem from the

54 Prudentius, “Liber Peristephanon”, 339. 55 Prudentius, “Liber Peristephanon”, 341.

31 perspective of Agnes’s spirit looking down on the world below her, glorying in her triumph, as Prudentius extols her virtues.56

Greco-Roman Influences and Christian Thought in Eulalia

Prudentius’s accounts of the martyrdoms of Eulalia and Agnes exhibit strong connections to models found in the Greco-Roman classical tradition while at the same time incorporating themes and motifs from Christian literature. By utilizing models from the Greco-Roman tradition Prudentius is able to lay out his

Christian narratives in such a way that they might have appeared familiar to his audience on two intertwined levels of reference: the classical and the Christian.

This interweaving is particularly evident in Eulalia’s night journey to her martyrdom. According to historian Anne-Marie Palmer, Prudentius’s portrayal of Eulalia’s journey by night corresponds to a similar night expedition found in

Vergil’s Aeneid. In Eulalia’s path through the countryside Palmer sees parallels to the tale of Euralyus and Nissus in the ninth book of the Aeneid. Here, Euryalus sneaks away by night without telling his mother in order to achieve glory from a night raid. His actions, like Eulalia’s, lead to death. 57 However, besides this more subtle connection to the classical tradition, Prudentius makes overt references to the Bible. Eulalia is compared to the Children of Israel in the book of Exodus. In the Exodus account the Israelites are led by a pillar of fire at night

56 Prudentius, “Liber Peristephanon”, 343,345. 57 Anne Marie Palmer, Prudentius on the Martyrs (New York: Oxford University press, 1989) 160.

32 and a cloud by day.58 In constructing Eulalia’s journey Prudentius reworks this famous instance for his own purposes:

So it was that the noble company of the patriarchs had a beam in the pillar which, being able to pierce the gloom, showed them the way by night with its bright flame and the darkness was done away. Like them, the devoted girl was deemed worthy to have the light of day...as she fled from the realms of Egypt, winning a way beyond the stars.59 In this way, Eulalia’s passage through the night incorporates this double influence. Palmer also points to other links between the Aeneid and Prudentius’s

Peristephanon III. The flames that consume Eulalia’s body reflect the imagery of the flames above the heads of both Iolus and Lavinia in the Aeneid emphasizing through this association the young age of the martyr.60 Fire and flames are common motifs in the biblical tradition as exemplified in the burning bush and pillar of fire of the Old Testament as well as the flames above the disciples’ heads in the New Testament book of Acts.61 Eulalia’s flames serve to draw the reader into the passion on multiple levels of understanding. Eulalia’s spirit’s transformation into a dove accomplishes the same end. In this imagery Palmer denotes references to Anchises’ funeral games in the fifth book of the Aeneid.62

However, the symbol of the dove has biblical precedence as well. In the Old

Testament Noah releases a dove from the ark after the flood while in the New

Testament the Holy Spirit descends as a dove at Jesus’ baptism.63 Additionally in the 55th chapter of Psalms the psalmist writes, “And I said, Oh that I had wings

58 Exod. 13:21 59 Prudentius, “Liber Peristephanon”, 147. 60 Palmer, 169-171. 61 Exod. 3:2, Acts 2:3. 62 Palmer, 171. 63 Gen. 8: 8-11, Matt. 3:16.

33 like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.”64 This verse in particular brings to mind Eulalia’s ascent into heaven, for as in the case of Eulalia’s martyrdom, the dove is tied with the idea of release from toils and achieving rest.

Finally, at Eulalia’s death a blanket of snow falls to cover her body. As Palmer notes, this snow is reminiscent of the third book of the Aeneid as well as a reference to winter in Ovid.65 However, snow also carries Christian connotations of purity and cleansing. Snow is often equated in scripture with the cleansing of sin from a human’s soul. In Psalms 51:7 the psalmist writes, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Here and in similar scriptures such as Isaiah 1:18 the purifying connotations of snow are emphasized. Eulalia’s purity is supported by the presence of the snowfall. In this way Prudentius merges ideas from Christian as well as pagan sources creating layers of meaning. This layering and intertwining of motifs reflects the fluidity of thought within Prudentius’s time that finds expression in the reworking of literary ideas into a synthesis of traditions. Palmer sees in Prudentius’s descriptions of flowers in Peristephanon III connections to elegiac love poetry and the wedding hymns of Catullus in particular.66 James Uden takes this idea a step further by expanding on the metaphor of the martyrdom as a more sexual experience. Uden maintains that Saint Eulalia’s passion for God as described by Prudentius consciously mirrors the more erotic narratives of the passion a person has for a

64 Ps. 55:6. 65 Palmer, 172, 173. 66 Palmer, 168.

34 lover found in pagan literature. 67 Furthermore, Peter Brown argues that a comparison can be made between ancient oracular figures and Eulalia’s passion and furor for Christ.68 Thus, Prudentius’s portrayal of Eulalia in these instances draws more on established Greco-Roman tradition than on Christian literature.

Yet in certain respects, Prudentius’s representation of Eulalia is more Christian in character than pagan. As in the case of his feminine personifications in the

Psychomachia, Eulalia’s Christianity is most apparent in her speech. Whatever influences may exist elsewhere in the poem in her initial speech to the authorities of Emeritia Prudentius’s Christian ideals come to the forefront of the narrative.

What madness is this, I ask, that makes you send your souls headlong to destruction and bow down before smoothed stones hearts all too ready to throw themselves away, denying God who is the Father of all? See, o pitiable company, the people who worship Christ? Here am I, a foe to the worship of evil spirits; I trample idols under foot, and with heart and lips I confess God.69 Prudentius places powerful words of Christian conviction in the mouth of his young martyr.

Synthesizing pagan and Christian thought in Agnes

Prudentius brings a Christian perspective to older Greco-Roman literary imagery in his portrayal of the young virgin Agnes. Virginia Burrus compares the ways in which Agnes’s martyrdom is depicted in the works of two Christian writers, namely Prudentius’s Liber Peristephanon and the writings of Ambrose.

67 James Uden, “The Elegiac Puella as Virgin Martyr,” Transactions of the American Philological Association, 139.1 (2009): 213. 68 Peter Brown, “Enjoying the Saints in Late Antiquity,” Early Medieval Europe, Volume 9, Issue1, (2000): 8. 69 Prudentius, “Liber Peristephanon”, 147-149.

Their accounts are roughly contemporary and share the same basic story line with different literary style and embellishments. She discusses Ambrose’s version with regard to its Apocryphal nature and stress on virginity but views Prudentius’s version in a different light. In particular, Burrus dwells on the concept of manly womanhood, an idea found to a certain extent in both accounts but more prominently in Prudentius’s. Burrus compares Agnes’s death in the Liber

Peristephanon to the death of the Trojan princess Polyxena in Euripides’ play

Hecuba. In this play Polyxena willingly welcomes the chance to be sacrificed so as to avoid her fate as a slave. Her death is similar in form to the death of Agnes.

Both young women are willing to die, but for different reasons; Polyxena dies to avoid slavery while Agnes’s desire for martyrdom hinges on her beliefs and love of Christ. She is portrayed as bold and forceful, yet at the same time innocent.

However, according to Burrus whatever power Agnes seems to acquire in choosing to die for her beliefs is taken from her in the form of her death. Agnes offers her breast to be pierced by the sword but is instead killed by her neck, a more feminine death. Burrus argues that in offering her neck the martyr’s vulnerability is highlighted thus taking power away from her. Killing her in this manner represents a chastisement of her boldness in rebelling against male authority; in this way her power as a virgin martyr is tamed so to speak. Burrus sees this as a modification of the virginal Heroine found in Classical tragedies, such as Euripides’ play as well as Ovid’s poetry. 70 Additionally, in Prudentius’s portrayal of Agnes other classical elements are apparent. Martha Malamud

70 Virginia Burrus. "Reading Agnes: The Rhetoric of Gender in Ambrose and Prudentius." (Journal of Early Christian Studies, 1995), 25-46.

36 connects Agnes to the virgin goddess Minerva, the Greek Athena. She illustrates how Minerva’s relationships with Arachne and Medusa correlate to Agnes’s disregard for the image of the goddess.71 Furthermore, Malamud makes a connection between the ancient practice of weaving branches from the agnus castus tree, the word agnus bearing a resemblance to Agnes’s name, and chastity in antiquity. She also draws attention to the scene in which the youth is blinded, where the imagery resembles Zeus hurtling his thunderbolts. 72 However, the blinding also has a lesser biblical parallel in the blinding of Paul on the road to

Damascus.73 Like the youth in the Agnes narrative, he is struck low but through a miracle receives his sight. Yet in Paul’s case the blinding is from Jesus and forms part of his conversion to Christianity. Although Prudentius’s story can be compared to the biblical account, the impact of the scene as a whole is more reminiscent of the power of Zeus, king of the Gods, as the poetry mirrors the raw power of a lightning strike. For Prudentius it would have been just as natural to reference pagan mythology as Christian literature when crafting his poem. While the Roman government was certainly Christian in name by this point, it is harder to argue that the culture and literature of the late Roman Empire was solely

Christian in character. The mixture of Greco-Roman classical elements and

Christian ideals found in the martyrdom accounts of Agnes and Eulalia reflect this ambivalence.

71 Malamud, A Poetics of Transformation: Prudentius and Classical Mythology, 161-163. 72 Malamud, A Poetics of Transformation: Prudentius and Classical Mythology, 173-176. 73 Acts 22:6-13.

Conclusion

Prudentius’s portrayal of women and the feminine stands as a reflection of larger societal trends taking place in late antiquity. The Mediterranean world of the latter half of the fourth and early fifth century was a world in the midst of transformation from the Greco-Roman traditions of the past to a newly

Christianized government and culture. However, this statement belies the intricacies involved in such a transition. The Greco-Roman classical tradition did not simply disappear during this period but persisted, particularly in the realm of education, creating a synthesis between the values and ideas of the classical pagan past and those of the new Christian society. This is especially evident in

Prudentius’s depiction of the female. From the vanity of women in the

Hamartigenia to the feminine Vices and Virtues of the Psychomachia, and the martyrdoms of Eulalia and Agnes in the Liber Peristephanon his poetry stands as a reflection of this amalgamation of ideas that characterized late antiquity. By his careful craftsmanship of the Hamartigenia, Psychomachia and Liber

Peristephanon Prudentius seemingly combined and reconciled the tensions that existed between these two traditions, tensions that educated people living in this period no doubt experienced throughout their lives.

Prudentius’s interweaving of classical imagery with Christian values and expressions is particularly striking in the Hamartigenia. Here, the poet’s depiction of female vanity most clearly integrates concepts from both Christian and classical traditions. His portrayal uniquely blends the disdain that classical writers had for excessive makeup and adornment with the standards of the

Christian morality. What represented for the classical writers a breach in ethical behavior on the part women becomes for the Christian Prudentius a sinful exercise in vanity implying imperfection in God’s creation. Moreover, through his reworking of the death of a mother viper the poet merges concepts from the natural world of classical texts with the religious concerns of Christian literature.

This unification of Greco-Roman and Christian elements is particularly evident in

Prudentius’s construction of Lot’s wife. The original story comes from Christian literature but the imagery with which she is crafted is purely classical in origin.

In Prudentius’s Pscyhomachia the female takes on the form of feminine

Vices and Virtues. This change from the Hamartigenia’s more realistic depiction of women to an allegorical battlefield gives Prudentius greater freedom of poetic expression. Here, the Vices and Virtues represent a composite blend of classical

Greco-Roman goddesses, abstract Christian and classical concepts and literary traditions. His portrayal of these feminine personifications of Virtues and Vices within the Psychomachia is distinctive and indicative of the society and culture in which he lived, a world in transition.

In the Liber Persitephanon or “Crowns of martyrdom” Prudentius approaches the female from a different perspective than that of the Psychomachia.

The allegorical is replaced with the reality of martyrdom. While Prudentius’s depiction of the deaths of Agnes and Eulalia corresponds with typical Christian martyr narratives it still contains elements borrowed from the Greco-Roman classical tradition. Similarities are especially evident in Eulalia’s night journey

39 which seamlessly weaves the Aeneid with the Old Testament. Likewise, Agnes represents a Christian adaptation of the death of the Trojan princess Polyxena.

Consequently, although his portrayal of women and the feminine is not without precedence in the Christian or classical traditions, it is still invaluable for its reflection of larger societal trends. Despite parallels with earlier writers,

Prudentius still included elements in his depictions that were clearly his own, such as the speeches given by the personified Virtues and Vices of the Psychomachia.

Despite different goals for each poem Prudentius’s representations of the female still maintain a certain consistency throughout his poetry. Eulalia’s scorn for adornments parallels Prudentius’s negative view of the desire to “have your manly hair confined by a gilded turban;” it is instigated by the Vice Indulgence in the Psychomachia while at the same time echoing the vanity of women in the

Hamartigenia.74 Additionally, the masculine speech patterns of the virgin martyrs in the Liber Peristephanon mirror the speeches of the feminine personifications of the Psychmachia. There is boldness in their actions and speech, boldness which in Christian and classical literature alike is usually reserved for the realms of men.

This approach differs from the way in which Prudentius describes the women of the Harmartigenia. In the Harmartigenia the masculine is not emphasized as much as the feminine. The masculinity is absent in this poem because it would undermine Prudentius’s goals of showing the origin of sin and its ties to the female.

74 Prudentius, “Psychomachia”, 305.

Prudentius’s portrayal of the female represents a unique merging of concepts from classical and Christian traditions to facilitate his own poetic aims.

For this reason as much as any other, his poetry stands as an exceptional benchmark in literary history providing historians with a glimpse into the ever evolving Mediterranean world in which he lived.

Bibliography

Primary Sources:

Prudentius. Prudentius. Translated by H. J. Thomson. Vol. 1 and 2.

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