Prudentius' prologues: translation, introduction and notes

• Grant number: 13/18141-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2013
• End date: October 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Classical Literatures
• Principal Investigator: João Angelo Oliva Neto
• Grantee: Fernando Gorab Leme
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project aims at a full academic prose translation of seven lyric prologs and one lyric epilogue by Aurelius Prudentius Clemens. Roman of Hispanic origin, is considered to be the first Christian poet and has a varied work, a feature which is noticeable in sundry instances. Meter wise, Prudentius one again practices polimetry, which since Horace and Statius had lost its place for elegy. Generic wise, the poet is, as Alexandrine poets would say, polyéides, writing in several genres such hymnic lyric, elegy, epigram, epos, and martyrdoms, with which he dialogues directly with classical Latin authors of the same generic affiliation and even, albeit indirectly, with poets of genres he does not practices, such as tragedy, satire, and historiography. Thus, regarding his poetics, Prudentius is, in modern terms, allusive or intertextual for he refers to classical authors as Vergil, Juvenal, Lucretius, and Ovid. In his themes, Prudentius accomplishes probably the most noticeable quality of his poetry: using traditional "heathen" poetic apparatus he is able to, as a Christian, write about the triumph of Christianity in a Roman Imperial context. Thus, the poet perceives in Christian matter and speech a poetic potential ignored until that very moment. With this in mind, the project objects to present the translation of Prudentius' preface-poems as the first contact with his complete works. Each translation is presented with an introductory comment about the book or poem it opens as well as Prudentius' work as a whole. (AU)