The Shadow of Creusa: Negotiating Fictionality in Late Antique Latin Literature

Anders Cullhed

Published by De Gruyter 2015

The Shadow of Creusa

Negotiating Fictionality in Late Antique Latin Literature

Anders Cullhed
Translated by: Michael Knight

Volume 339 in the series Beiträge zur Altertumskunde

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110310948

Overview
Contents

About this book

Anders Cullhed’s study The Shadow of Creusa explores the early Christian confrontation with pagan culture as a remote anticipation of many later clashes between religious orthodoxy and literary fictionality. After a careful survey of Saint Augustine’s critical attitudes to ancient myth and poetry, summarized as a long drawn-out farewell, Cullhed examines other Late Antique dismissals as well as appropriations of the classical heritage. Macrobius, Martianus Capella and Boethius figure among the Late Antique intellectuals who attempted to save or even restore the old mythology by means of allegorical representation. On the other hand, pious poets such as Paulinus of Nola and Bible epic writers such as Iuvencus or Avitus of Vienne turned against pagan lies, and the mighty arch-bishop of Milan, Saint Ambrose, played off unconditional Christian truth against the last Roman strongholds of cultural pluralism. Thus, The Shadow of Creusa elucidates a cultural conflict which was to leave traces all through the Middle Ages and reach down to our present day.

Author / Editor information

Anders Cullhed, Stockholm University, Sweden.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	VII
Acknowledgements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	XV
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	XIX
I. In the World of Make-Believe
Preliminary Remarks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
1. Fictionality: Theoretical Considerations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	6
2. Fictionality: Historical Circumstances Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	21
3. Late Antiquity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
II. Augustine: A Restless Farewell Renouncing Ficta in Late Antiquity
Preliminary Remarks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
1. At the Window in Ostia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	86
2. Recycling the Classics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
3. The Figures of the Spirit Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207
4. In the Heat of the Battle Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
5. “Set me free, O God, from that multitude of speech” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	292
III. Oblique Speech Implementations of Allegory in Late Roman Learned Culture
Preliminary Remarks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	303
1. Lactantius: Christian Eloquence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	313
2. Servius: The Grammarian’s Gaze Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	328
3. Macrobius: Narratio fabulosa Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	346
4. Martianus Capella: A Hopeless Mess Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	369
5. Fulgentius: Mythographer and Mythoclast Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	402
6. Boethius: The Maieutics of Consolation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	433
IV. Poeta Christianus From Ficta to Facta in Early Christian Poetry
Preliminary Remarks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	471
1. The Foam of Style Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	477
2. Paulinus and Proba: “A Greater Order” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	487
3. Prudentius: Dreams and Demons Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	518
4. Biblical Epic Poetry: The Orthodoxy of Paraphrase Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	544
V. Epilogue: Ecclesia Triumphans Fiction and Figuration on the Threshold of the Middle Ages
Preliminary Remarks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	605
1. The Old Dreams Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	608
2. The New Library Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	615
3. The Glory of the Mirror Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	629
Appendix: Original Quotations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	633
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	658
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	691

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Academics, Institues, Libraries, Religious institutions of all kinds
Pages
- Front matter: 21
- Main content: 703
Keywords: Allegory; fictionality; Late Antiquity; the Church Fathers

eBook

Published: April 24, 2015
ISBN: 9783110310948

Hardcover

Published: April 17, 2015
ISBN: 9783110310863

Paperback

Published: July 10, 2017
ISBN: 9783110559248