The aim of my paper will be to analyse Augustine’s laus vermiculi, ‘praise of the worm’ in De vera religione XLI, 77 (PL 34:156–7).
Firstly I shall explain how in late antiquity’s imagery the worm came to represent matter in its negative aspect. Coming from matter via spontaneous generation and being one of the lowest forms of being, the worm is the best suited to represent matter, but, as it can represent matter in its badness, it can also represent it in its substantial goodness and beauty. I shall therefore explore how, with a surprising twist of meaning, the worm comes to play this very role of representing the beauty of the whole creation in Augustine’s laus vermiculi, in which he argues, against the Manicheans, that everything which exists, coming from God, is good and beautiful.
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