The Gospel 'According to Homer and Virgil': Cento and Canon

293 Pages·2011·0.99 MB·English

by  Karl Olav Sandnes

The Gospel ‘According to Homer and Virgil’
Supplements
to
Novum Testamentum
Executive Editors
M.M. Mitchell
Chicago
D.P. Moessner
Dubuque
Editorial Board
L. Alexander, Sheffield – F. Bovon, Cambridge MA
C. Breytenbach, Berlin
J.K. Elliott, Leeds – C.R. Holladay, Atlanta
M.J.J. Menken, Tilburg – J. Smit Sibinga, Amsterdam
J.C. Thom, Stellenbosch – P. Trebilco, Dunedin
VOLUME 138
The Gospel ‘According to
Homer and Virgil’
Cento and Canon
By
Karl Olav Sandnes
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2011
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sandnes, Karl Olav, 1954–
The Gospel “according to Homer and Virgil” : cento and canon / by Karl Olav
Sandnes.
p. cm. — (Supplements to Novum Testamentum ; v. 138)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-18718-4 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Religion and poetry.
2. Christian literature, Early—Classical influences. 3. Bible. N.T.—Criticism,
Textual. 4. Homer—Influence. 5. Virgil—Influence. 6. Classical
literature—Influence. 7. Centos. I. Title.
PN1077.S195 2011
809.1’9382—dc22
2010051436
ISSN 0167–9732
ISBN 978 90 04 18718 4
Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints BRILL, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
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CONTENTS
Abbreviations ...................................................................................... ix
Preface .................................................................................................. xi
1 Introduction: The Context of the Study ................................... 1
1.1 New Testament and Classical Literature ......................... 4
1.2 Homer and Virgil: Ubiquitous Poets ............................... 6
1.3 Mark’s Gospel ...................................................................... 11
1.4 The Acts of the Apostles .................................................... 14
1.5 Mimesis Criticism: A Literary Approach? ...................... 17
1.5.1 Mark 15:39 ............................................................... 18
1.5.2 Acts 10–11 ............................................................... 19
1.6 Setting Out the Strategy ..................................................... 22
1.7 A Renewed Interest in Centos .......................................... 25
2 The Rhetorical Context of Biblical Epics .................................. 29
2.1 Paraphrasis: A Rhetorical Exercise ................................... 30
2.2 Mimesis and Emulatio ....................................................... 36
2.3 Hermeneutical Emulation .................................................. 41
2.3.1 Evaluative Comparison: Synkrisis ........................ 43
2.3.2 Ranking Texts (Canon) ......................................... 44
2.4 A Pioneer in Latin: C. Vettius Aquilinus Juvencus ...... 50
2.4.1 Juvencus Who? ....................................................... 50
2.4.2 Virgil Corrected or Elucidated? ........................... 53
2.4.3 Virgil Transvalued: Two Examples ..................... 58
2.4.3.1 The Storm ................................................. 59
2.4.3.2 The Baptism of Jesus .............................. 60
3 Why Imitate Classical Texts? ...................................................... 65
3.1 A Literary Reason: The Gospels’ Lack of Culture ......... 65
3.1.1 Origen Contra Celsum ........................................... 70
3.1.2 Origen De Principiis ............................................... 71
3.1.3 Lactantius: The Divine Institutes .......................... 74
3.1.4 Augustine ................................................................. 78
3.2 A Historical Reason: Julian—Emperor and Apostate
(361–3 C.E.) ......................................................................... 84
vi contents
3.2.1 Restricted Acess to the Classical Literature:
Julian’s Decree on Teaching ................................. 85
3.2.2 Words from those affected ................................... 89
3.2.3 Synkrisis and Transvaluation in Julian’s
Argument ................................................................. 93
3.3 Pioneers in Greek: Apollinarius, Father and Son,
of Laodicea (4th century) .................................................. 97
3.3.1 Socrates’ Church History: Gospels as Platonic
Dialogues .................................................................. 98
3.3.2 Sozomen’s Church History (5th century):
The Gospels not Mentioned ................................. 101
4 What is a Cento? .......................................................................... 107
4.1 Decimus Magnus Ausonius on Centos ........................... 108
4.2 Playful Texts ......................................................................... 113
4.3 Hypotexts ‘Open’ to Yielding New Texts ....................... 118
4.4 Cento Transformation ........................................................ 121
4.5 Centos among Christians .................................................. 124
4.5.1 Minucius Felix on the Creation ........................... 125
4.5.2 Tertullian: The “Deconstructional”
Power of Centos ..................................................... 127
4.5.3 Authorial Respect? ................................................. 132
4.6 Summary ............................................................................... 139
5 Faltonia Betitia Proba: The Gospel “According to Virgil” .... 141
5.1 A Lady and Her Cento ....................................................... 141
5.2 Dedication added to the Poem ......................................... 147
5.3 Proba’s Proem about Peace (L. 1–55) ............................. 149
5.4 Nova Progenies (New Generation or Offspring) ............ 155
5.4.1 Nova Progenies and the Crucifixion of Christ ... 156
5.5 The Baptism of Jesus “According to Virgil”
(L. 388–414) ......................................................................... 160
5.6 The Temptation “According to Virgil” ........................... 165
5.7 The Sermon on the Mount “According to Virgil” ......... 167
5.7.1 The Rich Young Man ............................................. 170
5.8 What has been Proved by Proba’s Poem? ...................... 171
5.8.1 Virgil and the Christian Subject-Matter (Res) ..... 174
contents vii
6 Eudocia Athenais: The Gospel “According to Homer” ......... 181
6.1 The Empress and Her Cento ............................................. 181
6.1.1 Outline and Structure of the Poem ..................... 182
6.1.2 The Prefatory Poem ............................................... 186
6.2 Gen 2–3 as Key to the Gospel “According to
Homer” ................................................................................. 189
6.2.1 A Divine Plan [µοῖρα and βουλή] for Salvation .... 192
6.3 The Baptism of Jesus “According to Homer” ................ 196
6.3.1 The Baptism of Jesus in Conscriptio Secunda .... 200
6.3.2 The Baptism of Jesus in Conscriptio A, B
and Γ ......................................................................... 204
6.4 The Best Vision [µέγα θαῦµα] .......................................... 205
6.5 The Crucifixion “According to Homer” .......................... 207
6.5.1 Jesus and Hector (Il. 22) ....................................... 211
6.6 Descensus ad Inferos ........................................................... 214
6.7 The Resurrection of Jesus “According to Homer” ........ 220
6.8 The νόστος (‘homecoming’) of Jesus: The Closing
of the Poem .......................................................................... 222
6.8.1 The Ascension in the other Recensions .............. 224
7 Summary ........................................................................................ 229
7.1 Bringing Homer and Virgil to their Completion .......... 230
7.2 Micro and Macro Levels .................................................... 232
7.3 Mimesis Involving two “Canonical” Texts ..................... 233
7.4 Why Christian Centos? ...................................................... 236
7.5 Gospel Composition and Centos ..................................... 238
Bibliography ......................................................................................... 245
Reference Index ................................................................................... 261
Subject Index ....................................................................................... 276
Modern Authors ................................................................................. 278

ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviations follow the standard of The SBL Handbook of Style, Hen-
drickson Publishers (1999).
Worth mentioning in particular are the following abbreviations:
ANF Ante-Nicene Fathers
BAGD Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other
Christian Literature (Bauer etc.)
CCSL Corpus Christianorum Series Latina
CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiastiscorum Latinorum
GCS Die griechische christliche Schriftsteller der ersten [drei]
Jahrhunderte
FC Fontes Christiani
LCL Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press
LSJ Liddell, Henry George, Scottt, Robert, Jones, Henry-Stuart. A
Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1996
NPNP Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
OLD Glare, P.G.W., Oxford Latin Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1982
PG Patrologia Graeca (J.-P. Migne)
PL Patrologia Latina (J.-P. Migne)
SC Sources Chrétiennes
s.v. sub verbo