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

Marc Notes: Originally published: 2011.; Includes bibliographical references and index.; Prudentius is one of the major Latin poets of antiquity. This study of his didactic poem, the 'Hamartigenia', which explores the origins of evil and its workings in the world, is striking for being as interested in its theological as in its literary contribution. Table of Contents: Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations, manuals and works of reference -- Bible texts used -- Classical texts used -- Electronic resources -- The names of biblical characters -- Vocabulary and style -- 1. Introduction: 'Prudentius counts' -- 2. The world projects human responsibility -- 3. The vocation of the responsible reader: the biblical strategy -- 4. The vocation of the responsible reader: the genre strategy -- 5. 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 -- Bibliography -- Index. Publisher Marketing: 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.

Contributor Bio:  Dykes, Anthony Anthony Dykes is a Research Fellow in the Department of Classics at the University of Manchester. This is his first book.