The Psychomachia: An Early Medieval “Comic Book”

People who are interested in reading a modern take on the sort of society in which Psychomachia could have been read could do worse than read 'Hild' [0] by Nicola Griffith. Hild is a fictionalized account of the early life of the woman who became Hilda of Whitby, the founding abbess of the monastery at Whitby. It is a historical drama, but written by a science fiction author who uses her world-building skills to create a story of first-contact between the court of a pagan king and the alien priests of Rome, told from the perspective of a kick-ass ninja seer (Hild) who just happens to be the King's niece. Hild could easily have been a character in Psychomachia

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hild_(novel) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilda_of_Whitby

Saints were also often essentially an analog to modern superheroes. They didn't need to eat, sleep, go to the bathroom. They didn't need to bathe yet always smelled like roses. They performed miracles and other superhuman feats. They were also abstinent, which is something people at the time viewed as no more possible for a normal person than going without food and water entirely was.

And, of course, they were much closer to actually being people than abstract concepts like the Vices and Virtues, which I think puts them a bit closer to 'superhero' than the characters in this medieval comic book. Still, a very neat historic work!

This link is returning a 404 right now, unfortunately.

It's... kind of a badass mediaeval Inside Out.