Athletae Christi. Early Christian Hagiography between Imitation and Rewriting

ANGLICKÁ ANOTACE (= předběžná náplň práce) Passio Perpetuae and Its Reflection in the Literature of Ancient Church The "Passion of Perpetua and Felicity" (Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis) is one of the most renowned texts of early Christian hagiography. Accordingly, it has been enjoying a renewal of scholarly interest in the last decades. However, surprisingly little attention was paid to its literary "Nachleben", and there exist virtually no studies focusing on its reception in the subsequent literature of the early Church. Seemingly simple narrative, describing the martyrdom of a group of North African Christians, has been held in high esteem since its composition. It acquired almost "canonical" status and was considered authoritative not only by the mass of simple believers but by the Christian intellectuals, too. Though highly venerated in the early Church, it contained a number of innovative and - in the context of Antique and early Christian society - potentially subversive features. These novel features were felt to undermine the existing social order and hierarchy, and it was necessary to "explain them away" in order to make the text more compliant with traditional and generally accepted social values. This was then often taken into account, when later authors and interpreters refer to the text. The..