The Test Case of Epic Poetry in Late Antiquity

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines how epic, considered the grandest of all classical literary genres, was transformed in late antiquity in order to make its cultural potential serve (not only) Christian ends. The rich spectrum of possible uses for the epic genre is illustrated through concrete examples organized into five (not necessarily exhaustive) types: (1) Mythological epic: Dracontius, Medea (Romulea 10); (2) (Pagan) panegyric epic: Claudian, De Bello Gildonico; (3) Allegorical epic: Prudentius, Psychomachia; (4) Biblical epic: Avitus, De Spiritalis Historiae Gestis; and (5) Hagiographical epic: Venantius Fortunatus, Vita S. Martini. The chapter concludes that Vergil maintains his dominant position as the Latin epicist that later epicists had to attempt to emulate. Likewise, epic style, figures of thought (like personifications, or the Muse) are either transformed or Christianized, but rarely abandoned. Moreover, the authoritative function of epic as pure explanation of the world yields to political and ecclesiastical purposes.