The Medieval Church · c. 10th century
The Eclogue of Theodulus
Attributed to Theodulus
What it is
A singing contest in thirty-seven verse exchanges: Pseustis the shepherd offers a pagan myth, Alithia the shepherdess answers with the scriptural story that matches and outdoes it, and Phronesis judges. Deucalion is answered by Noah, Prometheus by Adam.
Why it lasted
A standard school text across Europe for five hundred years, and the form in which most medieval schoolboys first met classical mythology at all — always paired with its scriptural rebuttal, which is how the Middle Ages managed to keep the pagan stories.
Scripture it works from
Where to read it
This work is in the public domain and can be read in full, free, at the archives below.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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