Thesis (Ph. D.)--John Hopkins University. / Life. "Recent literature relation to Prudentius": 1 p. at end.

Thèse--Paris.

Inaug.--Diss.--Heidelberg. / Vita.

Th.--Lett.--Paris, 1933.

M.A. (Latin) / This study is focused on a literary analysis of the Passio Agnetis, the last poem in the Peristephanon-series, written by the poet Aurelius Prudentius Clemens. This analysis is preceded by a historical survey on Agnes, the martyr who is venerated in poem fourteen, as well as a survey of Prudentius' life and work. The survey of the background of Agnes shows that she was still very young when she chose to worship Christ and not the gods of the Romans. She also refused to be married to a magistrate's son, as she saw herself as the bride of Christ. Because of this choice she was decapitated. According to .the ancient sources (Damasus, Ambrose and Prudentius), Agnes is an historical figure and she forms part of the Christian martyrology, and has consequently been worshipped and venerated throughout the centuries. Prudentius, a Roman citizen, was born in Spain. He led an active life as a magistrate and at the age of fifty-seven, after his retirement, he decided to devote himself to a more worthy cause, and he started writing. In the Peristephanon Prudentius combined his devotion to the martyrs with his love of poetry. This survey is followed by a translation of the one hundred and thirty-three lines of poem fourteen. Then follows a discussion on the metre and form of poem fourteen. This was deemed necessary as the metre is complex and the form and contents of the poem raise the problem of genre, as the poem shows elements of both epic and lyric. The bulk of this study is taken up by the literary analysis of the poem. The poem is divided into different sections. In each section the style, contents and the thought development of the poem are discussed.

D.Litt. et Phil. / Taking Golden Age Latin lyric poetry as a model for the genre, Prudentius' hymns in the Liber Cathemerinon are comparatively long. Since they were apparently not written for practical church liturgy and consequently lacked a religious ceremony which could provide unity, it is an open question whether Prudentius succeeded in each individual hymn in developing a coherent train of thought which resulted in a definite structure. The problem becomes more complicated when one considers that the poet employs a variety of Biblical motifs in his hymns which might lead to fragmentation of the line of thought ...

M.A. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Bochum, Univ., Diss., 2003.

Inaug.-Diss.--Leipzig. / Lebenslauf.

This dissertation examines the themes of geography and space in the poetry of the late antique Latin poet Prudentius (348-c.405 CE). The first chapter discusses the geography of reading, and suggests that Prudentius’ Peristephanon provides a means for the reader to experience the sites of the cults of the martyrs by reading about them rather than by having to travel to see them. It is also argued that the varying orders of the poems of the Peristephanon in the manuscript tradition can be explained by the differing interests of early readers, and that the arrangement extant in one group of manuscripts can be seen to be the result of organising the poems to fit a geographical itinerary. The second chapter investigates the intertextual aspect of literary journeys, and argues that late antique descriptions of journeys are as much indebted to the literary tradition as they are to “lived” experience on the part of the narrator. This chapter focuses in particular on Ausonius' Mosella, and the third, ninth, and eleventh hymns of Prudentius' Peristephanon. The third chapter discusses the representation of the city in the works of Prudentius, and shows how Prudentius’ approach to the civic nature of martyrdom in the Peristephanon must be related to the contemporary Christian perception that earthly civic obligations are not fundamentally incompatible with participation in the heavenly city of the afterlife. The fourth chapter examines the representation of pastoral spaces in the Liber Cathemerinon and the discussion of farming and religion in the Contra Orationem Symmachi. The final chapter addresses Prudentius' descriptions of works of art and architecture, particularly churches, and argues that Prudentius exhibits a marked preference for the word over the image as a means of conveying knowledge. A brief conclusion suggests that Prudentius’ representation of physical and imaginary spaces is always governed by a belief in the primacy of the written word, and by a fundamentally bookish approach to the world.