Author:
Reina Marisol Pereira
Synopsis
Fifty-one epistles by an anonymous author, identified by the scholarly community as Aristaenetus. Composed in Attic prose during the sixth century AD, they comprise short fictional anecdota set within amorous frameworks, portraying passions, infidelities, and various behaviours that anticipate the conventions later associated with courtly love. These narratives are developed through characters bearing nomina significantia. The epistolary corpus thus constitutes an erudite staging of the classical tradition, inscribing itself within the legacy of the ars amatoria, while preserving echoes of Hellenic culture within a Christian context. As illustrative and ornamental features, the collection includes numerous elements of Classical Antiquity, notably figures, topoi, maxims, authors, and citations. As a whole, it represents the continuation of a literary genre marked by didactic intent, fostering the transmission of traditional Hellenic culture into the Christian sphere, in accordance with a literary panorama arguably characteristic of a Third Sophistic.
Publication Date
February 6, 2026
Available at Biblioteca Classica Digitalia: Latin Authors