Marc Mastrangelo    An Epic Successor? Prudentius, Aeneid 6, and Roman Epic Tradition

 

This paper argues that from the first line of the Psychomachia to its epilogue, Prudentius programmatically engages Aeneid 6, in an effort to transform the political, ethical, and metaphysical landscape of Vergil’s master narrative. The descent of the epic hero, Aeneas, to the underworld, an exercise in self-definition and a harbinger of national and spiritual identity, provides the basis for the Psychomachia’s narrative, as well as for the rite of passage which its poet and reader must complete to reach their individual, and national, Christian identity. This allusive bond between the Psychomachia and Aeneid 6 reveals a literary purpose. From the first line of the Psychomachia, Prudentius places his poem squarely in the Roman epic tradition which Vergil anchors. Specifically, Prudentius’ manipulation of the notion of katabasis as a trial, permits the Christian poet to appropriate several epic categories, such as the source of poetic inspiration, theology, the hero, and national identity. The invocation of the Psychomachia, the centrally placed battle between Avaritia and Operatio, the epilogue and other passages, allude systematically to Aeneid 6 reinforcing the picture of the soul’s journey from mortality and death, to life and immortality. The journey turns on a moral and spiritual choice between virtue and vice. To choose virtue and Christianity represents a radical conversion, which, if replicated in enough individuals, engenders a Christian community, that is, a Christian Rome.