Articles

Reworking the classics in Herbert’s 'Roman de Dolopathos'

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Abstract

Herbert’s thirteenth-century Dolopathos ostensibly constitutes matière de Rome with its setting in Augustan Sicily; placement alongside the romans antiques of Paris, BnF fr. 1450 and frame tales featuring Homeric, Ovidian and Petronian motifs. However, this paper contends that “the problem of Paganism” (Marenbon: 2015) complicates notions of passive and linear acts of classical reception in the romance, particularly through the protagonist Lucimien’s mentor, Virgil. Following the twelfth-century, Latin Dolopathos of Jean de Haute-Seille, Herbert is shown to rope Virgil into providing an epistemological foundation for the divine revelation which compels Lucimien to abandon Graeco-Roman paganism for Christianity. Consequently, the Mantuan’s unique insertion into the Seven Sages of Rome tradition unexpectedly renders ambiguous his position in the Western, clerical canon. The challenges of grappling with the auctores in the vernacular expose Herbert’s ignorance and uncertainty at times, alongside his guises of authority and intentionality. Finally, the narrative valorisation of the medieval scholasticism that underpins the dynamic between Virgil and Lucimien arguably also creates new interpretations of masculinity via the concept of homosociality, allowing modern audiences to partake in the Old French Dolopathos’ ongoing entanglement with classical reception.

Keywords: Conversion, Seven Sages of Rome, Dolopathos, Virgil, Paganism

How to Cite:

Chandramohan, R., (2026) “Reworking the classics in Herbert’s 'Roman de Dolopathos'”, Journal of Latin Cosmopolitanism and European Literatures 12. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/jolcel.90312