Genre
Theology
Setting and Context
Set in the time of the early Christians, during the 2nd Century
Narrator and Point of View
The narrator is Athenagoras. He writes from his own perspective and also as the "representative" of early Christians.
Tone and Mood
The tone is both conciliatory and firm.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonists are the early Christians, the antagonists are the Romans.
Major Conflict
The main conflict is with the Romans and their total lack of understanding of Christians.
Climax
There is no true climax to the work; however, the author comes to some key conclusions that act as climaxes within each point that he makes.
Foreshadowing
Athenagoras seems to build a case against the Romans and what they consider their superior religious belief system, which foreshadows his conclusions about them at the end of the work.
Understatement
The author states that the Romans are living a more questionable morality than Christians which is a huge understatement as they are wildly promiscuous, engage in Bacchanalian feasts and worship multiple pagan gods.
Allusions
The author alludes to the way in which the Romans persecuted Jesus, and have therefore always been opposed to Christianity.
Imagery
N/A
Paradox
The Romans insinuate that the Christian religion is based in immoral ritual but it is their pagan religion that is actually based in ritual and immoral practice.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between the promiscuity of the Romans and the likelihood that there are incestuous relationships going on between them.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The Romans is the name given to the ruling party and the government of the time.
Personification
N/A
