Prudentius practiced law with some success, and was twice provincial governor, perhaps in his native country, before the emperor Theodosius I summoned him to court. Towards the end of his life (possibly around 392) Prudentius retired from public life to become an ascetic, fasting until evening and abstaining entirely from animal food; and writing poems, hymns, and controversial works in defence of Christianity.[2] Prudentius later collected the Christian poems written during this period and added a preface, which he himself dated 405.
The allegorical Psychomachia, however, is his most influential work, incorporating as it did elements of both Hellenic epic and inner psychological conflict.[3] It became the inspiration and wellspring of medieval allegorical literature, its influence (according to C. S. Lewis) exceeding its intrinsic artistic merit.[4] In the battle between virtue and vice, full weight is given to the power of Luxuria, “Flowershod and swaying from the wine cup, Every step a fragrance”.[5] With her attendants Beauty and Pleasure, and her weapons of rose-petals and violets, she succeeds in swaying the army of Virtue “in surrender to love”,[6] before succumbing to ultimate defeat.
Influenceedit
With his merger of Christianity with classical culture,[7] Prudentius was one of the most popular medieval authors,[8] being aligned as late as the 13th century alongside such figures as Horace and Statius in Henri d'Andeli's Battle of the Seven Arts between Grammar (poetry) and Logic.[9]
Worksedit
The list of Prudentius's works given in the preface to his autobiography mentions the hymns, poems against the Priscillianists and against Symmachus and Peristephanon. The Diptychon is not mentioned. The twelve hymns of the Cathemerinon liber ("Daily Round") consist of six for daily use, five for festivals, and one intended for every hour of the day.[10]
The specific works include:
Liber Cathemerinon -- ("Book in Accordance with the Hours") comprises 12 lyric poems on various times of the day and on church festivals.
Liber Peristephanon -- ("Crowns of Martyrdom") contains 14 lyric poems on Spanish and Roman martyrs. Some were suggested to Prudentius by sacred images in churches or by the inscriptions of Pope Damasus I.[10]
Apotheosis -- ("Deification") attacks disclaimers of the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus.
Hamartigenia -- ("The Origin of Sin") attacks the Gnosticdualism of Marcion and his followers. In this and the Apotheosis, Tertullian is the source of inspiration.[10]
Libri contra Symmachum -- ("Books Against Symmachus") oppose the pagansenator Symmachus's requests that the altar of Victory, which had been removed by Gratian,[11] be restored to the Senate house.
^Helen Waddell, The Wandering Scholars (1968) p. 48
^Quoted in B. Machosky, Structures of Appearing (2012) p. 85
^J. M. Wallace-Hadrill, The Barbarian West (1964) p. 12
^J. Broussard, The Civilisation of Charlemagne (1968) p. 58
^Helen Waddell, The Wandering Scholars (1968) p. 141-2
^ abcOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Prudentius, Aurelius Clemens". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 518.
Albrecht, M. von. 1997. "Prudentius." In A History of Roman Literature: From Livius Andronicus to Boethius with Special Regard to its Influence on World Literature. Vol. 2. By M. von Albrecht. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
Cameron, A. 2011. The last Pagans of Rome. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
Conybeare, C. 2007. "Sanctum, Lector, Percense Volumen: Snakes, Readers, and the Whole Text in Prudentius’s Hamartigenia." In The Early Christian Book. Edited by W. E. Klingshirn and L. Safran, 225–240. Washington, DC: Catholic Univ. of America Press.
Deferrari, Roy J., and James Marshall Campbell. 1932. A Concordance of Prudentius. Cambridge, Mass.: The Mediaeval Academy of America.
Dykes, A. 2011. Reading Sin in the World: The Hamartigenia of Prudentius and the Vocation of the Responsible Reader. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Fux, P.-Y. 2003. Les sept passions de Prudence (Peristephanon 2.5.9. 11–14): Introduction générale et commentaire. Fribourg, Switzerland: Éditions Univ. Fribourg Suisse.
Fux, Pierre-Yves. 2013. Prudence et les martyrs: hymnes et tragédie (Peristephanon 1.3-4.6-8.10). Commentaire, Paradosis 55, Fribourg.
Gnilka, Christian 2000: Prudentiana I. Critica. K. G. Saur, München.
Gnilka, Christian 2001: Prudentiana II. Exegetica. K. G. Saur, München.
Gnilka, Christian 2003: Prudentiana III. Supplementum. K. G. Saur, München.
Gnilka, Christian 2017: Contra orationem Symmachi, Eine kritische Revue. Aschendorff, Münster.
Gnilka, Christian 1963: Studien zur Psychomachie des Prudentius (= Klassisch-Philologische Studien 27), Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden.
Krollpfeifer, Lydia 2017. Rom bei Prudentius. Dichtung und Weltanschauung in »Contra orationem Symmachi« (=Vertumnus. Berliner Beiträge zur Klassischen Philologie und zu ihren Nachbargebieten. Vol. 12). Goettingen: Edition Ruprecht.
Lease, Emory B. 1895. A Syntactic, Stylistic and Metrical Study of Prudentius. Baltimore: The Friedenwald Company.
Malamud, M. 1989. A Poetics of Transformation: Prudentius and Classical Mythology. Ithaca, NY, and London: Cornell Univ. Press.
Malamud, M. A. 1990. "Making a Virtue of Perversity: The Poetry of Prudentius." In The Imperial Muse: Ramus Essays on Roman Literature of the Empire. Edited by A. J. Boyle, 64–88. Bendigo, Australia: Aureal.
Mastrangelo, M. 2008. The Roman Self in Late Antiquity: Prudentius and the Poetics of the Soul. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press
O’Daly, G. 2011. "Choosing to be a Christian poet: Prudentius, Praefatio and Cathemerinon 2.37–56." In Noctes Sinenses: Festschrift für Fritz-Heiner Mutschler zum 65. Geburtstag. Edited by A. Heil, M. Korn, and J. Sauer, 373–378. Heidelberg, Germany: Winter.
Palmer, A.M. 1989. Prudentius on the Martyrs. Oxford: Clarendon.
Pucci, J. 1991. "Prudentius’ Readings of Horace in the Cathemerinon." Latomus 50:677–690.
Roberts, M. 1993. Poetry and the Cult of the Martyrs: The Liber Peristephanon of Prudentius. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press.
Roberts, M. 2001. "Rome Personified, Rome Epitomized: Representations of Rome in the Poetry of the Early Fifth Century." American Journal of Philology 122:533–565.
Witke, C. 1968. "Prudentius and the Tradition of Latin Poetry." Transactions of the American Philological Association 99:509–525.
Prudentius, Loeb Classical Library, Volume I - Latin and English, H. J. Thomson, 1949
Prudentius, Loeb Classical Library, Volume II - Latin and English, H. J. Thomson, 1953
- Latin text.
The Catholic Encyclopedia
Opera Omnia by Migne's Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes
January 01, 1970
prudentius, ninth, century, writer, bishop, troyes, aurelius, clemens, roman, christian, poet, born, roman, province, tarraconensis, northern, spain, probably, died, iberian, peninsula, some, time, after, possibly, around, place, birth, uncertain, have, been, . For the ninth century writer and bishop see Prudentius of Troyes Aurelius Prudentius Clemens p r uː ˈ d ɛ n ʃ i e s ʃ e s was a Roman Christian poet born in the Roman province of Tarraconensis now Northern Spain in 348 1 He probably died in the Iberian Peninsula some time after 405 possibly around 413 The place of his birth is uncertain but it may have been Caesaraugusta Saragossa Tarraco Tarragona or Calagurris Calahorra Contents 1 Life 2 Poetry 3 Influence 4 Works 4 1 Editions 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksLife editPrudentius practiced law with some success and was twice provincial governor perhaps in his native country before the emperor Theodosius I summoned him to court Towards the end of his life possibly around 392 Prudentius retired from public life to become an ascetic fasting until evening and abstaining entirely from animal food and writing poems hymns and controversial works in defence of Christianity 2 Prudentius later collected the Christian poems written during this period and added a preface which he himself dated 405 Poetry editThe poetry of Prudentius is influenced by early Christian authors such as Tertullian and St Ambrose as well as the Bible and the acts of the martyrs His hymn Da puer plectrum including Corde natus ex parentis Of the Father s Love Begotten and the hymn for Epiphany O sola magnarum urbium Earth Has Many A Noble City both from the Cathemerinon are still in use today 1 The allegorical Psychomachia however is his most influential work incorporating as it did elements of both Hellenic epic and inner psychological conflict 3 It became the inspiration and wellspring of medieval allegorical literature its influence according to C S Lewis exceeding its intrinsic artistic merit 4 In the battle between virtue and vice full weight is given to the power of Luxuria Flowershod and swaying from the wine cup Every step a fragrance 5 With her attendants Beauty and Pleasure and her weapons of rose petals and violets she succeeds in swaying the army of Virtue in surrender to love 6 before succumbing to ultimate defeat Influence editWith his merger of Christianity with classical culture 7 Prudentius was one of the most popular medieval authors 8 being aligned as late as the 13th century alongside such figures as Horace and Statius in Henri d Andeli s Battle of the Seven Arts between Grammar poetry and Logic 9 Works editThe list of Prudentius s works given in the preface to his autobiography mentions the hymns poems against the Priscillianists and against Symmachus and Peristephanon The Diptychon is not mentioned The twelve hymns of the Cathemerinon liber Daily Round consist of six for daily use five for festivals and one intended for every hour of the day 10 The specific works include Liber Cathemerinon Book in Accordance with the Hours comprises 12 lyric poems on various times of the day and on church festivals Liber Peristephanon Crowns of Martyrdom contains 14 lyric poems on Spanish and Roman martyrs Some were suggested to Prudentius by sacred images in churches or by the inscriptions of Pope Damasus I 10 Apotheosis Deification attacks disclaimers of the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus Hamartigenia The Origin of Sin attacks the Gnostic dualism of Marcion and his followers In this and the Apotheosis Tertullian is the source of inspiration 10 Psychomachia Battle of Souls describes the struggle of faith supported by the cardinal virtues against idolatry and the corresponding vices Libri contra Symmachum Books Against Symmachus oppose the pagan senator Symmachus s requests that the altar of Victory which had been removed by Gratian 11 be restored to the Senate house Dittochaeon The Double Testament contains 49 quatrains intended as captions for the murals of a basilica in Rome 11 Editions edit Bergman J ed Aurelii Prudenti Clementis carmina Vienna Holder Pichler Tempsky 1926 Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 61 Cunningham M P ed Aurelii Prudentii Clementis Carmina Turnhout Brepols 1966 Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 126 Thomson H J ed and trans Prudentius 2 vols Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University Press 1949 53 Loeb Classical Library Trankle H ed Prudentius Contra Symmachum Gegen Symmachus Turnhout Brepols 2008 284 p Fontes Christiani 85 See also editAllegory in the Middle Ages Ausonius Of the Father s Heart Begotten Paulinus of Nola Sidonius Apollinaris Quicumque Christum QuaertisReferences edit a b H J Rose A Handbook of Classical Literature 1967 p 508 H J Rose A Handbook of Classical Literature 1967 p 508 9 Gilbert Highet Juvenal the Satirist 1960 p 184 C S Lewis The Allegory of Love 2013 p 83 Helen Waddell The Wandering Scholars 1968 p 48 Quoted in B Machosky Structures of Appearing 2012 p 85 J M Wallace Hadrill The Barbarian West 1964 p 12 J Broussard The Civilisation of Charlemagne 1968 p 58 Helen Waddell The Wandering Scholars 1968 p 141 2 a b c nbsp One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Prudentius Aurelius Clemens Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 22 11th ed Cambridge University Press p 518 a b Chisholm 1911 Further reading editAlbrecht M von 1997 Prudentius In A History of Roman Literature From Livius Andronicus to Boethius with Special Regard to its Influence on World Literature Vol 2 By M von Albrecht Leiden The Netherlands Brill Cameron A 2011 The last Pagans of Rome New York Oxford Univ Press Conybeare C 2007 Sanctum Lector Percense Volumen Snakes Readers and the Whole Text in Prudentius s Hamartigenia In The Early Christian Book Edited by W E Klingshirn and L Safran 225 240 Washington DC Catholic Univ of America Press Deferrari Roy J and James Marshall Campbell 1932 A Concordance of Prudentius Cambridge Mass The Mediaeval Academy of America Dykes A 2011 Reading Sin in the World The Hamartigenia of Prudentius and the Vocation of the Responsible Reader Cambridge UK Cambridge Univ Press Fux P Y 2003 Les sept passions de Prudence Peristephanon 2 5 9 11 14 Introduction generale et commentaire Fribourg Switzerland Editions Univ Fribourg Suisse Fux Pierre Yves 2013 Prudence et les martyrs hymnes et tragedie Peristephanon 1 3 4 6 8 10 Commentaire Paradosis 55 Fribourg Gnilka Christian 2000 Prudentiana I Critica K G Saur Munchen Gnilka Christian 2001 Prudentiana II Exegetica K G Saur Munchen Gnilka Christian 2003 Prudentiana III Supplementum K G Saur Munchen Gnilka Christian 2017 Contra orationem Symmachi Eine kritische Revue Aschendorff Munster Gnilka Christian 1963 Studien zur Psychomachie des Prudentius Klassisch Philologische Studien 27 Harrassowitz Wiesbaden Krollpfeifer Lydia 2017 Rom bei Prudentius Dichtung und Weltanschauung in Contra orationem Symmachi Vertumnus Berliner Beitrage zur Klassischen Philologie und zu ihren Nachbargebieten Vol 12 Goettingen Edition Ruprecht Lease Emory B 1895 A Syntactic Stylistic and Metrical Study of Prudentius Baltimore The Friedenwald Company Malamud M 1989 A Poetics of Transformation Prudentius and Classical Mythology Ithaca NY and London Cornell Univ Press Malamud M A 1990 Making a Virtue of Perversity The Poetry of Prudentius In The Imperial Muse Ramus Essays on Roman Literature of the Empire Edited by A J Boyle 64 88 Bendigo Australia Aureal Mastrangelo M 2008 The Roman Self in Late Antiquity Prudentius and the Poetics of the Soul Baltimore Johns Hopkins Univ Press O Daly G 2011 Choosing to be a Christian poet Prudentius Praefatio and Cathemerinon 2 37 56 In Noctes Sinenses Festschrift fur Fritz Heiner Mutschler zum 65 Geburtstag Edited by A Heil M Korn and J Sauer 373 378 Heidelberg Germany Winter Palmer A M 1989 Prudentius on the Martyrs Oxford Clarendon Pucci J 1991 Prudentius Readings of Horace in the Cathemerinon Latomus 50 677 690 Roberts M 1993 Poetry and the Cult of the Martyrs The Liber Peristephanon of Prudentius Ann Arbor Univ of Michigan Press Roberts M 2001 Rome Personified Rome Epitomized Representations of Rome in the Poetry of the Early Fifth Century American Journal of Philology 122 533 565 Witke C 1968 Prudentius and the Tradition of Latin Poetry Transactions of the American Philological Association 99 509 525 External links edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Prudentius Library resources about Prudentius Online books Resources in your library Resources in other libraries By Prudentius Online books Resources in your library Resources in other libraries Works by Prudentius at Perseus Digital Library Works by Prudentius at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Prudentius at Internet Archive Prudentius Loeb Classical Library Volume I Latin and English H J Thomson 1949 Prudentius Loeb Classical Library Volume II Latin and English H J Thomson 1953 Liber peristephanon Latin text The Catholic Encyclopedia The Christian Classics Ethereal Library Opera Omnia by Migne s Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Prudentius amp oldid 1213212348, 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