Van Penelope tot Eva en Maria Vrouwelijke perspectieven in de christelijke cento-poëzie van Keizerin Eudocia

A cento is a literary text composed of quotations, such as a mosaic or a collage. In Christian cento poetry, Biblical stories are retold with verses from Homer and Virgil. These texts bring together two traditions, Christian and classical, in a unique and not uncontroversial way. What makes it extra interesting is that the most important Christian centos were written by women. Female authors from antiquity, whose work we can still read today, are an absolute rarity. And yet Proba, author of the Latin Cento Vergilianus, and Eudocia, author of Homerocentones, are unknown to the general public. Aelia Eudocia (fifth century AD) was not only a poet but also an empress. As the wife of Theodosius II, Eastern Roman emperor, she was an influential figure. Although her cento exclusively quotes verses from Homer, it seems possible to discern a female perspective in her selection of Biblical stories and the Homeric verses she chooses to give shape to them. Mary as the mother of God is a remarkably well-developed character in Eudocia. Eve's fatal mistake and its consequences for the woman's reputation are analysed with great nuance. The figure of the Homeric Penelope offers Eudocia a common thread.