The Roman Models of mater familias and pater familias in the Parentalia by Decimus Magnus Ausonius

Their Literary Creation, Moral Tradition and Compositional Function

Bibliographic Data

ID21730573
AuthorsAnna Mleczek (0000-0002-1254-8511, Jagiellonian University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume28
Pages109-158
Publication date2025-11-05
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueClassica Cracoviensia (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1505-8913 • E-ISSN: 2391-6753
PublisherKsiegarnia Akademicka Sp. z.o.o (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.12797/cc.28.2025.28.06
OpenAlexW4415913170
LanguageEN
References cited17

D.M. Ausonius’ Parentalia occupy an important place in Latin funeral poetry and constitute a collection of thirty eulogies aimed to commemorate the dead members of gens Ausoniana. Ausonius, who intends to honour the memory of his dead relatives, draws in the eulogies first and foremost their moral portraits. Despite these characteristics being more or less individualised, they are in fact composed of quite conventional virtues constitutive of two moral models such as mater familias and pater familias; ones deeply rooted within Roman culture and moral tradition. In consequence, the eulogies in memoriam composed are actually not free from literary, moral and cultural convention but rather seem to be firmly based on it. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to present Ausonius’ literary creation of the mater familias and pater familias models that emerge from the eulogies and to indicate their moral tradition and compositional function as well as the literary and stylistic techniques used by the author to show both these moral patterns in the Parentalia

Alma mater · Convention · Honour · Moral philosophy · Poetry · Augustinian Studies and Theology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Organic Chemistry Synthesis Methods

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