Fulgentius' Mythologies
Also known as: Mythologiae, Mythologiarum Libri Tres, Fulgentius Mythologies, Fulgentii Mythologiarum
An allegorical handbook in three books interpreting Greco-Roman myths as moral, natural, and linguistic lessons. Fulgentius reshapes traditional tales through late antique Christianizing exegesis, organizing brief entries that decode names, episodes, and symbols for ethical and didactic ends.
Description
Fulgentius’ Mythologies is a compact Latin compendium that reads classical myths through the lenses of moral allegory, etymology, and natural philosophy. In short chapters, he retells well-known Greco-Roman stories—Jupiter’s seductions, Prometheus’ theft, Perseus’ exploits—and then ‘unveils’ their hidden significations for the reader. The work exemplifies late antique encyclopedic method: passages proceed from narrative résumé to etymological play and moralized interpretation, often Christian-inflected yet thoroughly conversant with pagan learning. Its three books circulate with other works attributed to Fulgentius (e.g., the Virgilian allegory), and together they became a key conduit by which medieval school culture knew and justified ancient fable. Although frequently derivative of earlier mythographic and rhetorical traditions, the Mythologies shaped the medieval taste for decoding myth into lessons about virtue, vice, and the structure of the cosmos.
Historiography
Transmitted in a varied medieval manuscript tradition, the Mythologies circulated alongside other works attributed to the same author, sometimes conflated with Fulgentius of Ruspe. Modern editors (notably Helm) established three books with numerous minor variants and glosses. The text strongly influenced medieval mythographers and encyclopedists, informing schoolroom compendia and later allegorical readings. Debates continue concerning sources, dating, and occasional interpolations, but consensus treats the compendium as a late antique Latin product.
Date Notes
Usually dated c. 500–530 CE; authorship distinct from Fulgentius of Ruspe. Internal dedications and stylistic features support a late antique date.
Archetypes
Major Characters
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Juno
- Venus
- Mars
- Mercury
Myths
- Allegories of the Olympian Gods
- Allegories of Heroic Tales
- Cosmological Allegories from Classical Myth
Facts
- Written in Latin prose as a three-book compendium of allegorical interpretations.
- Distinct from Fulgentius of Ruspe; medieval manuscripts sometimes conflated the two figures.
- Uses etymological play to extract moral or natural meanings from mythic names.
- Frequently draws on Ovidian and Virgilian material reframed through late antique exegesis.
- Influential on medieval mythographers and encyclopedists, including schoolroom handbooks.
- Survives in multiple manuscripts with minor variants and scholia-like glosses.
- Often Christianizing in tone while preserving pagan narrative summaries.
- Transmitted with other works attributed to Fulgentius, such as the Virgilian allegory.