IMC 2016: Sessions
Session 308: The Literary Origins of Hagiography, II: How to Praise a Saint
Monday 4 July 2016, 16.30-18.00
| Organiser: | James Corke-Webster, Department of Classics & Ancient History, Durham University |
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| Moderator/Chair: | Christa Gray, Department of Classics, University of Reading |
| Paper 308-a | Panegyric and Eusebius of Caesarea's Portrait of Constantine (Language: English) Index terms: Hagiography, Language and Literature - Greek, Learning (The Classical Inheritance) |
| Paper 308-b | Partners in Chastity: Heroic Characterisation in Latin Lives of Virgin Spouses (Language: English) Index terms: Hagiography, Language and Literature - Latin, Learning (The Classical Inheritance) |
| Paper 308-c | The Composition of Holy Praise: Generic Textures in Late Latin Hagiography (Language: English) Index terms: Hagiography, Language and Literature - Latin, Learning (The Classical Inheritance) |
| Abstract | This panel is one of two discussing narrative texts about holy men and women from Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. 'How to Praise a Saint' will explore the literary strategies used to depict heroes as exceptional and exemplary, for example by addressing the relationship between hagiography and panegyric, a genre with ancient roots that evolved throughout the Roman and mediaeval period. Papers will address well-established examples of saints' lives but also early examples of quasi-hagiography, and even precursors to hagiography in the pre-Christian world. The panel hopes to assess how hagiography’s relationship with secular panegyric and related genres contributed to its versatility and long afterlife in the medieval world. |