Gender Fluidity in Ep. 2.9

In an article entitled ‘Personification and Gender Fluidity in the Psychomachia and Its Early Reception’ (Speculum 97/4, Oct. 2022), Katherine Breen points out that Sidonius, in Ep. 2.9.4, shelves Prudentius’ works ambiguously between the men’s and the women’s side of the library.

‘Their Christian subject matter classifies them as feminine even as their epic verse form and dense classical allusions situate them within the Roman literary tradition, and so make them appropriate for male readers. Given the association between rhetorical and bodily ornament, one might see Prudentius’s texts as cross-dressing, clothing feminine religious doctrine in a masculine and classical style.’