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The Shadow of Creusa

Negotiating Fictionality in Late Antique Latin Literature
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Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2015
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Beiträge zur Altertumskunde

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

  • Publicly Available

    Frontmatter

    I
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    Preface

    VII
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    Acknowledgements

    XV
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    Contents

    XIX
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  • I. In the World of Make-Believe
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    Preliminary Remarks

    3
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    1. Fictionality: Theoretical Considerations

    6
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    2. Fictionality: Historical Circumstances

    21
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    3. Late Antiquity

    55
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  • II. Augustine: A Restless Farewell Renouncing Ficta in Late Antiquity
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    Preliminary Remarks

    83
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    1. At the Window in Ostia

    86
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    2. Recycling the Classics

    123
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    3. The Figures of the Spirit

    207
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    4. In the Heat of the Battle

    263
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    5. “Set me free, O God, from that multitude of speech”

    292
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  • III. Oblique Speech Implementations of Allegory in Late Roman Learned Culture
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    Preliminary Remarks

    303
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    1. Lactantius: Christian Eloquence

    313
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    2. Servius: The Grammarian’s Gaze

    328
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    3. Macrobius: Narratio fabulosa

    346
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    4. Martianus Capella: A Hopeless Mess

    369
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    5. Fulgentius: Mythographer and Mythoclast

    402
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    6. Boethius: The Maieutics of Consolation

    433
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  • IV. Poeta Christianus From Ficta to Facta in Early Christian Poetry
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    Preliminary Remarks

    471
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    1. The Foam of Style

    477
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    2. Paulinus and Proba: “A Greater Order”

    487
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    3. Prudentius: Dreams and Demons

    518
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    4. Biblical Epic Poetry: The Orthodoxy of Paraphrase

    544
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  • V. Epilogue: Ecclesia Triumphans Fiction and Figuration on the Threshold of the Middle Ages
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    Preliminary Remarks

    605
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    1. The Old Dreams

    608
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    2. The New Library

    615
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    3. The Glory of the Mirror

    629
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    Appendix: Original Quotations

    633
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    Bibliography

    658
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    Index

    691
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
April 24, 2015
eBook ISBN:
9783110310948
Hardcover published on:
April 17, 2015
Hardcover ISBN:
9783110310863
Paperback published on:
July 10, 2017
Paperback ISBN:
9783110559248
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Front matter:
21
Main content:
703
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110310948
eBook ISBN: 9783110310948
Hardcover ISBN: 9783110310863
Paperback ISBN: 9783110559248
Keywords for this book
Allegory; fictionality; Late Antiquity; the Church Fathers
Audience(s) for this book
Academics, Institues, Libraries, Religious institutions of all kinds
Safety & product resources
Manufacturer information:
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Genthiner Straße 13
10785 Berlin
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com
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