The Rape of Proserpine

work by Claudian

Also known as: “Raptus Proserpinae”

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July 13, 2026

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The Raptus Proserpinae (The Rape of Proserpine) is a mythological epic poem by Claudian, a late Roman poet. It is the second book of his Claudianus minor collection and was largely responsible for his fame in the Middle Ages. The poem focuses on the abduction of Proserpine, a theme drawn from classical mythology, and reflects Claudian's interest in the Eleusinian mysteries. While modern critics find his themes inferior and his rhetoric overly elaborate, his work is valued as a historical source for its invention and invective.1

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Claudian
…minor contains the mythological epic Raptus Proserpinae (“The Rape of Proserpine”), on which Claudian’s medieval fame largely depended. The second book of the epic has an elegiac epistle addressed to Florentinus, the city prefect, and reflects Claudian’s interest in the Eleusinian mysteries.
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…minor contains the mythological epic Raptus Proserpinae (“The Rape of Proserpine”), on which Claudian’s medieval fame largely depended. The second book of the epic has an elegiac epistle addressed to Florentinus, the city prefect, and reflects Claudian’s interest in the Eleusinian mysteries.
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Latin literature
The 3rd to the 5th century: the rise of Christian Latin literature
400; The Rape of Proserpine) is one of the last examples of an extended narrative in verse that dwells wholly in the world of pagan mythology.
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400; The Rape of Proserpine) is one of the last examples of an extended narrative in verse that dwells wholly in the world of pagan mythology.
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textual criticism
Books transmitted in manuscript
, Claudian, De raptu Proserpinae). (2) The interval between the original and the earliest surviving copies may be very short (e.g., the French medieval poet Chrétien de Troyes) or very long (e.g., the Attic tragedians). (3) A tradition may be “dynamic”—i.e., the text may have been copied…
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, Claudian, De raptu Proserpinae). (2) The interval between the original and the earliest surviving copies may be very short (e.g., the French medieval poet Chrétien de Troyes) or very long (e.g., the Attic tragedians). (3) A tradition may be “dynamic”—i.e., the text may have been copied…
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