Consortia blanda (Laud. Dei, 1.363 ; Romul., 8.5). L’utilisation du préverbe com- pour dire le mariage chez Dracontius

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Dracontius wrote two epithalamia, but it would be almost true to say that he showed more interest in marriage in the rest of his work, both Christian and profane, although he lays stress on its destruction by adultery. Yet he created a somewhat sophisticated iunctura, consortiablanda, which had a double color, legal and erotic, and expresses on the contrary “the charm of a shared life”. This iunctura is used twice: in a Christian poem, in order to explain why God gave man a companion (Laud. Dei, 1.363) and in the prooemium of De raptu Helenae (Romul., 8.5), to denounce Paris, the destroyer of marriage. In this article I study the significance of these two key passages which reveal that the Laudes Dei, especially Book 1, and De raptu Helenae form a diptych on marriage. And from this, a positive view of marriage appears by means of words using the prefix com-. They shed light on the fundamental unity of Dracontius’ work and of his Weltanschauung.