ABSTRACT
Jean Jolivet discussed the presentation by Peter Abelard of the philosophers of antiquity, their personalities and their teachings. Jolivet explored the relationships which Abelard forged with these figures in the light of his Christian faith. By their reason and by the uprightness of the lives which they led, the philosophers of antiquity had come to knowledge of God. Abelard writes that Christians should learn the liberal arts but should not be detained by poetic fables or by rare, obscure and imperfect constructions. The collected correspondence of Abelard and Heloise would lose much of its value if it did not have poetic colouring. Pagan though the Sybils were, they too were prophets who had received revelation about Christ, and grace which surpasses all the grace that men have received. In his feminism also Abelard wove together threads found in pagan poetry with those found in Christian teaching.
