Religion And the Self in Antiquity

281 Pages·2005·2.53 MB·English

by  David Brakke

Religion
Ancient Studies
Religion and the Self
BRAKKE,
SATLOW,
AND
WEITZMAN
in Antiquity
Many recent studies have argued that the self is a modern invention,
a concept developed in the last three centuries. Religion and the Self in R
Antiquity challenges that idea by presenting a series of studies that ex-
e
plore the origins, formation, and limits of the self within the religions of
l
the ancient Mediterranean world. Drawing on recent work on the body, i
g
gender, sexuality, the anthropology of the senses, and power, contribu-
i
tors make a strong case that the history of the self does indeed begin in o
antiquity, developing as Western religion itself developed.
n

Contributors are David Brakke, Georgia Frank, J. Albert Harrill, Susan a
Ashbrook Harvey, Esther Menn, Patricia Cox Miller, Saul M. Olyan,
n
Michael L. Satlow, Jonathan Schofer, Guy G. Stroumsa, Peter T. Struck,
d
Edward Watts, and Steven Weitzman.

t
David Brakke is Professor of Religious Studies and Adjunct Professor of h
History at Indiana University. e

S
Michael L. Satlow is Associate Professor in the Program in Judaic
Studies and the Department of Religious Studies at Brown University. e
l
f
Steven Weitzman is Associate Professor of Religious Studies, the Irving
i
M. Glazer Chair in Jewish Studies, and Director of the Robert A. and n
Sandra S. Borns Jewish Studies Program at Indiana University.

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INDIANA u
i
University Press t
y
Bloomington & Indianapolis
http://iupress.indiana.edu
1-800-842-6796
INDIANA
EDITED BY
DAVID BRAKKE, MICHAEL L. SATLOW, AND STEVEN WEITZMAN
Cover image: Roman Fayum Funerary Portrait.
© Werner Forman/CORBIS
R E L I G I O N A N D T H E
S E L F I N A N T I Q U I T Y

Religion
and the Self
in Antiquity
EDITED BY
DAVID BRAKKE
MICHAEL L. SATLOW
STEVEN WEITZMAN
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
Bloomington and Indianapolis
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
601 North Morton Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47404-3797 USA
http://iupress.indiana.edu
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∫ 2005 by Indiana University Press
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No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any
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publisher. The Association of American University Presses’
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Religion and the self in antiquity / edited by David Brakke, Michael L. Satlow, Steven Weitzman.
p. cm.
Includes index.
isbn 0-253-34649-5 (cloth : alk. paper) — isbn 0-253-21796-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Self—Religious aspects—History—To 1500—Congresses. 2. Self—Mediterranean Region—
History—To 1500—Congresses. I. Brakke, David. II. Satlow, Michael L. III. Weitzman, Steven, date
bl65.s38r45 2005
202%.2—dc22
2005008639
1 2 3 4 5 10 09 08 07 06 05
C O N T E N T S
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
Part I
SEEKING RELIGIOUS SELVES
1. Shifting Selves in Late Antiquity patricia cox miller 15
2. The Search for the Elusive Self in Texts of the Hebrew Bible
saul m. olyan 40
3. Paul and the Slave Self j. albert harrill 51
4. Prayer of the Queen: Esther’s Religious Self in the Septuagint
esther menn 70
5. Giving for a Return: Jewish Votive O√erings in Late Antiquity
michael l. satlow 91
6. The Self in Artemidorus’ Interpretation of Dreams
peter t. struck 109
Part II
SENSING RELIGIOUS SELVES
7. Sensory Reform in Deuteronomy steven weitzman 123
8. Locating the Sensing Body: Perception and Religious Identity in Late
Antiquity susan ashbrook harvey 140
9. Dialogue and Deliberation: The Sensory Self in the Hymns of Romanos the
Melodist georgia frank 163
Part III
TEACHING RELIGIOUS SELVES
10. From Master of Wisdom to Spiritual Master in Late Antiquity
guy g. stroumsa 183
11. The Beastly Body in Rabbinic Self-Formation
jonathan schofer 197
vi Contents
12. Making Public the Monastic Life: Reading the Self in Evagrius Ponticus’
Talking Back david brakke 222
13. The Student Self in Late Antiquity edward watts 234
Contributors 253
Subject Index 255
Source Index 261
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
This book grew out of a conference on ‘‘The Religious Self in Antiquity’’ held at the
Bloomington campus of Indiana University in September 2003. The conference
received financial support from the President’s Arts and Humanities Initiative,
established by President Myles Brand, and from the Robert A. and Sandra S. Borns
Jewish Studies Program, then directed by Alvin Rosenfeld. Richard Miller, the chair
of the Department of Religious Studies at the time, supported our e√orts, and sta√
members Jan Cobb, Patsy Ek, and Melissa Deckard helped to facilitate the con-
ference. To all of these people and programs we express our gratitude.
The papers in this volume benefited immensely from the rich intellectual
exchange that took place at the conference. Numerous faculty and graduate stu-
dents participated in the discussions, but we thank especially Robert Ford Cam-
pany, Natalie Dohrmann, Constance Furey, Alan Segal, and Benjamin Sommer for
their formal presentations and responses.
For assistance in the preparation of the book, we are grateful to Corrine
Shirley, who did preliminary copyediting; to Michael Lundell and Robert Sloan of
the Indiana University Press, who expressed interest in and support for the project
from its beginning; to Betsy Garman, Elisabeth Marsh, and Jane Lyle of the Press,
who guided the manuscript through publication; to Bradley Storin, who created the
indexes; and to Elizabeth Yoder, whose copyediting expertise saved us from errors
and infelicities.
Despite the generous funding awards that we received, the original conference
would not have taken place nor would it have been as congenial and stimulating as it
was without the crucial support of our late colleague in the Department of English,
Albert Wertheim. In gratitude we dedicate this book to his memory.
Abbreviations of ancient and modern sources and the style of annotation follow
Patrick H. Alexander et al., eds., The SBL Handbook of Style: For Ancient Near
Eastern, Biblical, and Early Christian Studies (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1999).
Additional abbreviations of ancient sources follow Henry George Liddell and
Robert Scott, with Henry Stuart Jones, eds., A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed.; Ox-
ford: Clarendon, 1968).

R E L I G I O N A N D T H E
S E L F I N A N T I Q U I T Y