Reading Sin in the World
The Hamartigenia of Prudentius and the Vocation of the Responsible Reader

A new study of the Hamartigenia in the context of Prudentius' work overall, covering its theological and literary contributions.

Anthony Dykes (Author)

9781107519091, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 9 April 2015

294 pages
23 x 15.3 x 1.5 cm, 0.52 kg

Prudentius is one of the major Latin poets of antiquity. A Christian living and writing in Spain in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, he was thoroughly imbued with the whole tradition of Latin poetry. The Hamartigenia is a didactic poem exploring the origins of evil and how it operates in the world. It is full of echoes and reworkings of earlier poems by Lucretius, Virgil and others, but is also a serious contribution to this important theological issue which was much discussed in Church circles of the day. This is a major new study of the Hamartigenia in the context of Prudentius' work as a whole and is striking for being as seriously interested in its theological as in its literary contribution.

Introduction: 'Prudentius counts'
1. The world projects human responsibility
2. The vocation of a responsible reader: the Biblical strategy
3. The vocation of the responsible reader: the genre strategy
Conclusion
Appendix A. A note on the title of the Hamartigenia
Appendix B. A brief note on the date and circulation of the Vulgate
Genesis.

Subject Areas: Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]