Poetry, bible and theology from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages

581 Pages·2020·4.288 MB·English

by  Michele Cutino (editor)

Poetry, Bible and Theology from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages
Millennium-Studien
zu Kultur und Geschichte
des ersten Jahrtausends n. Chr.
Millennium Studies
in the culture and history
of the first millennium C.E.
Herausgegeben von / Edited by
Wolfram Brandes, Alexander Demandt,
Peter von Möllendorff, Dennis Pausch,
Rene Pfeilschifter, Karla Pollmann
Volume 86
Poetry, Bible
and Theology
from Late Antiquity
to the Middle Ages
Edited by
Michele Cutino
ISBN 978-3-11-068719-4
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-068722-4
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-068733-0
ISSN 1862-1139
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020932189
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available from the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck
www.degruyter.com
Introduction
ThisvolumecontainstheproceedingsoftheInternationalSymposium“Poetry,Bible
and TheologyfromLate Antiquity tothe Middle Ages” organized on 25–27 January
2018 in Strasbourgby ERCAM, “Research Team on Ancient and Medieval Christian-
ity”,belongingtoUR4377ofCatholicTheologyandReligiousSciencesofStrasbourg,
in collaboration with several French institutions (IEA, “Institut d’Études Augustini-
ennes“-LEM,“Laboratoired’étudessurlesmonothéismes“-UMR8584;ÉcoleNatio-
nale des Chartres; THAT Association, “Texts for the History of Late Antiquity”;
CARRA EA 3094- University of Strasbourg) and international Institutions (Facultad
de Literatura Cristiana y Clásica“San Justino” (FLCC) of Madrid; Universidad Com-
plutense de Madrid). This conference was attended by the greatest specialists in
late ancient and medieval poetry, involving a total of 33 papers, divided into three
full days.
AllmethodologicalquestionsconcerningChristianpoetry–i.e.Christian,Greek
andLatin,ancientandmedieval,poetictexts,inclassicalmetres–withbiblicaland
theological content,were approached from a diachronic perspective which made it
possible to evaluate the doctrinal significance and the role that these compositions
play even in the development of Christian theological ideas and biblical exegesis.
From a chronological point of view, we have taken into account the period from
LateAntiquitytotheMiddleAges,withparticularattentiontotheadaptationofclas-
sicalpoeticmodulestotherewritingoftheBibleinallitsformsbyGreekandLatin
poetsofLateAntiquity,andtothenewformsofbiblicalpoetrypromotedintheWest,
fromtheCarolingianRenaissancetothe12th-13thcenturies,whentheCharterslegiti-
mizedtheuseofpoetryinthetheologicaldebate,andtothelaterpolemicsbetween
scholastic theologians (such as Giovanni Dominici and Jean Gerson) and Christian
“humanist” poets. Indeed, it can be noted that the use of poetic genres by Greek
and Latin-speaking Christians begins much later (especially from the end of the
3rdcentury/beginningofthe4thcentury)thanthebirthofChristianliteraryproduc-
tioninprose,whichaccompaniestheverybirthofthisreligion.This“delay”revealsa
realdifficultyforChristianculture:thecreationofacodeadaptedtotheexpression
of biblical contents,central in this religion,through the cultural tools of Greekand
Latin literaryproduction inverse.Thisdifficultyis oftenreflected in declarations of
radical incompatibility between the two areas of reflection of Sacred Scripture and
poetry, which is the instrument of expression privileged by profane culture (just
think of certain statements hostile to poetry by important authors, such as Jerome
orAugustine,whowillhaveafollow-uptotheMiddleAges,asM.ZinkPoésieetcon-
versionauMoyenÂge,Paris2003.hasclearlyshown).Ontheotherhand,poetryisat
theoriginofattemptstointegratethestyleofbiblicalpoetictexts,psalms,andclas-
sicalliteraryforms(thisisthepathfollowed,forexample,bythetypeofResponso-
rial Psalm,which will not be very successful.The solution that ultimately prevails
over the others gives rise, using a remarkable expression of Herzog, to the third
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110687224-001
VI
cycle of poems of Western literature,which flanks the Homeric and Carolingian-Ar-
thurian cycles: the cycle of biblical poetry in classical meters. This is a literary
field of vital importance,which, after havingencountered prejudices from a certain
classicisingperspective,especiallyfromthemiddleofthe20thcentury,hasbeenes-
tablished in the panorama of critical studies because of its chronological cross-cut-
ting. Indeed,the “canons” of biblical poetrydeveloped in Late Antiquity will dom-
inate medieval schools and even those of the humanist era, finding also a
favourable ground in the culture of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, to
enter definitively into crisis with the cultural renewal of the Enlightenment. This
has also been established thanks to the interaction that the field has promoted be-
tween emergingcultures,biblical-Christian and Germanic, and Greek-Latin civiliza-
tion in its expressive forms.
The symposium highlighted the socio-cultural importance of this transposition
of scriptural content into poetic forms: in fact, according to various modalities
and purposes, and in relation to different recipients and reference environments,
this transposition aims, first of all, at the “vulgarization” of the biblical interpreta-
tion and theological speculation in favor of the rudes, i.e. people who are foreign
to catechetical schools or to the ecclesiastical careers, but who belong to the cul-
tured/educated elites of their time, through the expressive instrument privileged
by them,that is,the production inverse.This is the reasonwhy Christian literature
inverseisofgreatinterestinthein-depthevaluationevenofthephenomenonofthe
Christianizationoftherulingclasses,especiallyfromthefourth/fifthcentury.Aliter-
ary genre such as the ’epic’ or the ’biblical paraphrase’ clearly shows the value of
this cultural operation: the transposition principally into hexameters of the books
oftheOldTestament(mentiontheparaphrasesofGenesisbyCypriantheGaul,Clau-
diusMariusVictoriusandAvitus)oroftheNewTestament(suchastheEvangeliorum
libriofJuvencus,theCarmenPaschaleofSedulius,theParaphraseoftheJohn’sGos-
pelofNonnosofPanopolisandtheHistoriaapostolorumofArator)isnotreducedto
a simple rhetorical exercise or a literary reading. As M. Roberts (Biblical Epic and
Rhetorical Paraphrase in Late Antiquity, Liverpool 1985) and D. Nodes (Doctrine and
ExegesisinBiblicalLatinPoetry,Leeds1993)haveclearlyshown, fromdifferentper-
spectives. J. Nodes, such transpositions into verse offer readers a re-reading of the
biblical hypotext, an“update” of Scripture in relation to the requirements and ex-
pectationsofthereferenceenvironment.So,thisproductionassociatesscripturalin-
terpretationsanddoctrinalcommentarieswithparaphrasinginverse,sothatforthis
genre,we can also speak of a true biblical exegesis inverse,which is often accom-
panied by very precise theological objectives.
The study of Christian biblical poetry, therefore, requires a global and organic
scientific approach,that is, an approach not limited to examining the formal ques-
tionsrelatedtothetranspositionintoscripturalcontent,butalsotoshowinghowpo-
eticformand exegetical-theologicalcontent supporteach other.Onthe other hand,
thereisaneedforreflectionontheverylegitimacyofcallingChristianpoetstruethe-
ologians.This is an issue thatchallenges even our notion of theology.Indeed, from
Introduction VII
the essay Gloria. Pour une esthétique théologique (ed. 1962) by the theologian Hans
UrsvonBalthasar,anewattemptwasmadetorecover,withinthetheology,theaes-
theticdimensionoftheology,underlininghowsymbolicandmetaphoricallanguage
canbeaveryeffectiveinstrumentoftheologicallanguage.Thisisanaspectthatme-
dieval theologians were already very familiar with: thus, since Carolingian times,
JeanScotErigène(PL122,146B-C)hasbroughtthetheologyofpoetry(theologia ve-
luti quaedam poetria) closer together through this particular use of language for
teaching purposes.
By publishing these proceedings,we are convinced that the contributions they
contain will make it possible to provide a good framework for these issues and to
bring new clarification to them.
Michele Cutino

Contents
Part I: The Greek-Latin Biblical Epic in Late Antiquity
Michael Roberts
Narrative and Exegesis in Sedulius’ Carmen paschale 3
Michele Cutino
Fictions poétiques et vérités bibliques dans les réécritures vétéro et
néotestamentaires en vers
Questions méthodologiques 13
Nicole Hecquet-Noti
L’auteur et son public
Les différentes lectures de l’épopée biblique selon Avit de Vienne 27
Sylvie Labarre
La réécriture des récits bibliques de guérison chez les poètes latins du IVe au VIe
siècle 41
Luciana Furbetta
Avit de Vienne et Dracontius en rapport
‘Chanter’ et ‘expliquer’ la Bible entre formation scolaire et création
poétique 57
Bruno Bureau
L’autorité apostolique à travers les discours de l’Historia Apostolica
d’Arator 75
Franca Ela Consolino
Severus (of Malaga?) and Narrative Construction
The Healing of Bartimaeus (VIII.119–153) 89
Renaud Lestrade
Usage des sources poétiques classiques et perspectives «théologiques» dans
l’Heptateuchos de Cyprien le Gaulois (Ve s.) 105
Donato De Gianni
Four Variations on the Theme
“The Withered Fig Tree” (Mt 21.17–22; Mc 11.12–14. 20–25) in Juvencus,
Sedulius, Avitus of Vienne and Severus of Malaga(?) 127