Early Christian genres called in antiquity “passions” and “martyrias” or “acts” had no clear genre boundaries. Neither literary frameworks were established, nor fidelity to generic canon was much important to Christians who wrote about martyrdom. They often wrote epistles because they wanted to tell their fellow believers about the deeds of the martyrs, often relied on authentic records of trials and eyewitness accounts, often praised the passion-bearers, and used martyrologies as liturgical texts. Martyrology gradually developed into hagiography with its subgenres. But even against this background, the “Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas” demonstrates exclusively elusive generic nature. The traditional title “Passio” corresponds to the content of the text under discussion. However, the work is made up of many parts written by different authors, not simultaneously, and combined into a single book. At least five persons were involved in the compilation of this set of documents (the communis opinio – three persons). These five had different statuses and different tasks. Theologue and author of the Prologue and Epilogue preached and glorified the martyrs, Perpetua created extra-genre commentaria or hypomnemata for her congregation about the events of the prison, mainly about her dreamy visions given to her by the Holy Spirit: a heavenly journey, two journeys to the underworld, and a symbolic dream of the coming martyrdom as a victory over the devil. The Vision of Saturus has apocalyptic features, but what he saw he saw as if already beyond his earthly life; the Eyewitness created an account of what happened in the prison and in the arena, very vivid, but not fulfilling the minimum conditions of acts and martyrdoms: interrogation, sentence, burial, cult. The fifth author brought all the texts together and provided explanatory inserts, thus turning the whole functionally into an epistle that could be sent from Carthage to the larger world to be read in the Church.

The result is a genre to which there are no analogues in ancient literature, and attempts to define this book through the genres of ancient literature both as a whole and in parts are unsuccessful. However, the genre of the documentary book, written by different authors at different times, in different genres, including apocalyptic, acts and passions, sermons, epistles, and visions, had emerged by the time of our Passio as the whole collection of the New Testament, with all the disparate texts, though independent, all dealing with one great event: the life, death, and resurrection of Christ and the establishment of his church. It served as a model for the compilation of the “Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas”.

The paper discusses the most recent datings of the “Passion of Perpetua and Felicity” made by Eric Rebillard and by Ellen Muehlberger. The author states that Rebillard’s hypothesis of dating the composition of the “Passion” to the period following the persecution of Valerian and Gallienus is not plausible because it renounces any support from internal arguments (e. g. the closeness of Perpetua’s language and that of the editor of the “Passion” to Tertullian’s style). The attempt of Muehlberger to locate the “Passion” in the fifth century and prove its inauthentic nature is based on extreme scepticism regarding the available material and is no proof at all. According to Muehlberger the male writer of the late fourth century or early fifth century created the first-person account of Perpetua, he or another writer composed the account of Saturus and another person, the redactor, pulled these together with some framing material to produce the “Passion”. The author shows that Muehlberger has rejected all previous research on chronology, authorship and influence of the “Passion” without a thorough analysis to prove her claim. The author’s conclusion is that the discussion about the date of the “Passion” should be based on the internal evidence of the text and a thorough weighing of arguments produced by previous scholarship.

The article describes relationship in the family of Christian martyr of the 3rd century St. Perpetua. Author analyses how conflict between a Christian and his/her non-Christian relatives, typical moment in the Lives of Christian martyrs, is reflected in “The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas”. The uniqueness of this document is that the family conflict is described on behalf of the martyr herself in Perpetua’s prison diary, where the problem of relations with her household and, in particular, the conflict with her father, pushing her to apostasy, is the central motif. If we compare “The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas” with more recent “Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas”, one can see how a realistic description of the relations in the family of a newly converted Christian woman in all its diversity, from like-mindedness with a catechumen brother to an acute conflict with her father, is replaced by the tradition in “Lives of saints” in which the non-Christian household becomes an indistinguishable crowd of “just pagans” whom a newly converted Christian identifies with his/her sinful past and often perceives as enemies.

The article is devoted to the analysis of some of the images that occur in one of the Perpetua’s visions. Her first vision comes in response to her brother’s question: he asks whether the martyrdom really awaits her. Perpetua sees a ladder of great length reaching up to heaven and a serpent of great size lying at the foot of the ladder. Here the heroine finds herself at a moment of choice: she has a way up and a way down. The image of a ladder can be commonly perceived as an ascent to a deity or to a new knowledge, skills, stages of initiation.

A serpent (or dragon) tried to prevent ascension and here it is a symbolic representation of the devil. But the snake’s symbolism is incredibly complex and diverse. The dragon signifies Perpetua’s own instinctive origin, her will to live, and her feminine essence.

The uniqueness of the text lies in the fact that the visions described are not constructed literary works, but real dreams of the heroine reflecting the state of her psyche during a period of extreme choice and spiritual transformation.

A similar combination, i.e., a ladder and a serpent, is found in a completely different context, namely in the structure of the ancient Indian self-knowledge game «Leela». In the game board ladders (or arrows) symbolize “good behavior” that allows people to move to a higher level, and snakes are correspondingly “bad acts” leading to a descent to a lower level of spirituality.

The article argues that in the history of Perpetua the two images converge. In some surprising way the described vision, being on the one hand very personal, on the other hand fits into another existing cultural tradition, describing the difficult path of the soul, trials and temptations awaiting it, as well as a spiritual ascent to heaven and higher level of spirituality.

The early Christian work the “Passion of Perpetua and Felicity” (Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis, early 3rd century) has a complex composition. One part contains unique writings, Perpetua’s “Notes,” written by her in confinement before her execution. In particular, a record of dreams or Visions. The article discusses Perpetua’s second and third Visions (7, 1 – 8, 4), where she sees her brother Dinocrates, who died as a boy after a serious illness. These two dreams show at first a sad picture of his afterlife, but after her sister’s fervent prayers, the boy’s appearance is transformed and Perpetua is assured of his salvation. The article examines this plot from the point of view of the influence of Christian prayer on posthumous fate and emphasizes the special role of water in alleviating this fate. The author also addresses the question of the sustainability of pagan ideas about the afterlife in the new context is also. Finally, a slightly different interpretation of the final words of the Perpetua’s third vision is proposed than it is traditionally understood by commentators, translators, and publishers of the “Passion”.

The paper explores the fourth vision of Perpetua from the early Christian work “Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis”, focusing on her battle with an Egyptian. We identify liturgical allusions in the passage where Perpetua is anointed with oil by her helpers, drawing connections to Psalms, especially Psalm 88 (89). The term “ἀντιλήμπτωρ” is highlighted, linking it to God’s role as a helper in Psalms and its appearance in the vision. The anointing with oil in Perpetua’s vision is compared to New Testament references, where it serves purposes of exorcism and healing. The paper delves into the liturgical significance of oil, connecting it to the defense against defeat and the exorcism of evil. The paper suggests that the term “ἀντιλήμπτωρ” may have entered Perpetua’s vision through liturgical practices or the Psalter. Connections to Psalm 88 (89) are analyzed, with parallels found in Perpetua’s victory song, the image of a Lanista, and the defeat of an Egyptian reminiscent of Rahab in the Psalm. The transformation of Perpetua into a man is linked to the image of David in Psalm 88 (89), highlighting her role as a king-military commander. The image of the Egyptian is related to the images of Goliath and Pharaoh from Ezekiel’s prophecy. The paper concludes that these intersections between the vision and Psalm 88, such as the use of specific terms, anointing, and victorious themes, are not likely accidental and may indicate an unconscious influence. The Greek version of the vision is suggested to contain more recognizable liturgical allusions than the Latin version. The findings encapsulate the key points of a detailed analysis of the connections between Perpetua’s vision and Psalm 88 (89), highlighting the significance of these intersections in understanding the theological and liturgical context of the vision.