Livy (on the teacher of Falerii), Prudentius (on Cassian of Imola), and others recount students killing their teachers. True teachers shouldn’t be martyred. … Read the post teacher-martyrs defy authority for peace, justice, and truth
Prudentius’ Hamartigenia uses a lurid account of vipers’ mating to signify perverse gynocentrism. Cocks crowing represent hope for new light & worldly life. … Read the post generation of vipers will be overcome when cocks crow
Lullabies help babies go to sleep. Prudentius’s lullaby Hymnus ante somnum, from his Cathemerinon, helps Christians go to sleep despite worries and desires. … Read the post Prudentius’s Hymn Before Sleep for worries & desires
From before Prudentius’ Peristephanon to beyond Keats’ “The Eve of St. Agnes,” holy martyr Saint Agnes has redeemed the male gaze & promoted Christian love. … Read the post Prudentius’s crown: Saint Agnes redeemed the male gaze on every Eve
Guillaume Du Fay wrote O sante Sebastiane in response to plague in Bologna. Against fear, his motet subtly embraces Christian martyrdom, even by plague. … Read the post martyrdom & fear of plague in Guillaume Du Fay’s O sancte Sebastiane
In Notker’s Rachel sequence, Rachel weeps for her loss of Joseph / the massacre of innocents – boys / Jesus, in part with concern for the stupid brothers. … Read the post holy mother Rachel weeping for the massacre of innocents: boys
Dante, Purgatorio c. 25, cites Summae Deus clementiae, but in its struggle to forgive men’s lust, it’s more closely related to Jacob wrestling at Peniel. … Read the post Dante in ring of lust saw men being purified of their sexual sins