Today's reading introduced an even greater degree of ambiguity into Prudentius' allegorical scheme, with the virtues succumbing more or less instantly to the wiles of Luxury. Perhaps even more significant, though, was the degree to which Luxury and her cohorts were humanized. From the raucously comic opening scene of Luxury staggering onto the battlefield, not just hungover but still drunk, to the oddly sympathetic description of Voluptuousness' (virtuous?) ability to endure a painful flight, the portrayals ranged from harmlessly inept to possibly admirable. I think there might be an intertext to the Ariadne of Catullus 64 in the final lines of today's selection--a similar vocabulary of feminine ornaments is ripped off, dropped or otherwise discarded. Which again lends a note of unexpected sympathy.
(From Sam)