The wisdom of Narcissus: Martianus Capella, vanity and learning as a glorification of the self

O'Neill, Daniel (2025) The wisdom of Narcissus: Martianus Capella, vanity and learning as a glorification of the self. Cambridge Journal of Education. ISSN 0305-764X

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Abstract

This paper examines the educational thought of Martianus Capella, a fifth-century Carthaginian writer, through his only surviving work The Marriage of Mercury and Philology. The didactic handbook is an ode to learning, adorning a faltering introduction to the liberal arts with baroque mythological ornamentation. The paper highlights Capella's unique approach to the liberal arts, framed within a Neo-Platonic context, that views knowledge as a means of embellishment, self-glorification and ascension. The paper discusses the allegorical elements of Capella's text, interpretations of its significance, and its implications for the modern academic, particularly regarding the interplay between the pursuit of knowledge and vanity.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	© 2025 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
Keywords:	Martianus Capella, vanity, late antiquity, higher education, liberal arts.
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Education and Social Sciences > School of Education
Depositing User:	Daniel O'Neill
Date Deposited:	18 Jul 2025 11:53
Last Modified:	18 Jul 2025 11:53
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/4708

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