Bridal songs: Catullan Epithalamia and Prudentius Peristephanon 3

Abstract

<jats:p>Prudentius' account of the martyrdom of the young Spanish girl Eulalia in<jats:italic>Peristephanon</jats:italic>3 is particularly interesting because not only does it consist of her defiance of an order to pay homage to the pagan gods but also a rejection of pressures to get married. If martyrdom constituted an act of rebellion against the conventions of pagan society, then female martyrdom was doubly so and the ways in which it was presented to a community in which Christianity was still struggling to establish its reputation is worthy of detailed examination. Prudentius was arguably the Christian poet most influenced by his pagan predecessors, making an active effort to compose poetry worthy of the great Latin poetic tradition. When examining the classical antecedents of<jats:italic>Peristephanon</jats:italic>3, scholars have largely concentrated upon its Virgilian echoes, emphasising the heroic dimensions of Eulalia's conduct by comparing her to Virgilian ‘heroines’ (the Sibyl, Camilla and Dido) who challenge conventional female roles. Some critics have pointed to elements of an epithalamium within the poem but they have related this imagery to late antique epithalamia or to the<jats:italic>Song of Songs</jats:italic>rather than looking for antecedents within classical poetry.</jats:p>