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298 Pages·2019·6.477 MB·English
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THE POETRY OF THOUGHT IN LATE ANTIQUITY Representing a different voice in the study of late ancient religion, these collected essays by Patricia Cox Miller identify new possibilities of meaning in the study of religion in late antiquity. The book addresses the topic of the imaginative mindset of late ancient authors from a variety of Greco-Roman religious traditions. Attending to the play of language, as well as to the late ancient sensitivity to image, metaphor, and paradox, Cox Miller's work highlights the poetizing sensibility that marked many of the texts of this period and draws on methods of interpretation from a variety of contemporary literary-critical theories. This book will appeal to scholars of late antiquity, religious literature, and literary critical theory more widely, illustrating how fruitful dialogue across the centuries can be - not only in eliciting aspects of late ancient texts that have gone unnoticed but also in showing that many 'modern' ideas, such as Roland Barthes', were actually already alive and well in ancient texts. Patricia Cox Miller is Professor of Religion at Syracuse University, USA and author of books which include: Dreams in Late Antiquity (Princeton University Press) and Biography in Late Antiquity (University of California Press). For David, with love and a chrysanthemum The Poetry of Thought in Late Antiquity Essays in imagination and religion PATRICIA COX MILLER Syracuse University, USA I~ ~~o~!J;n~~:up 10NDONAND First published 2001 by Ashgate Publishing Reissued 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an inform a business © Patricia Cox Miller 2001 Graham Roberts-Phelps has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Publisher's Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent. Disclaimer The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact. A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: ISBN 13: 978-1-138-71199-0 (hbk) ISBN 13: 978-1-315-19953-5 (ebk) Contents Acknowledgements vii List of Abbreviations ix INTRODUCTION PART I: POETIC IMAGES AND NATURE Preface 15 "Adam Ate From the Animal Tree": A Bestial Poetry of Soul 19 2 Origen on the Bestial Soul: A Poetics of Nature 35 3 The Physiologus: A Poiesis of Nature 61 4 Jerome's Centaur: A Hyper-icon of the Desert 75 PART II: POETIC IMAGES AND THE BODY Preface 103 5 "Plenty Sleeps There": The Myth of Eros and Psyche in Plotinus and Gnosticism l 07 6 "Pleasure of the Text, Text of Pleasure": Eros and Language in Origen's Commentary on the Song of Songs 123 VI The Poetry of Thought in Late Antiquity 7 The Blazing Body: Ascetic Desire in Jerome's Letter to Eustochium 135 8 Desert Asceticism and "The Body from Nowhere" 159 PART III: POETIC IMAGES AND THEOLOGY Preface 177 9 "In My Father's House Are Many Dwelling Places": K-ri.crµai n Origen's De principiis 181 10 Origen and the Witch of Endor: Toward an Iconoclastic Typology 199 11 Poetic Words, Abysmal Words: Reflections on Origen's Hermeneutics 211 12 In Praise ofNonsense: A Piety of the Alphabet in Ancient Magic 221 13 "Words With An Alien Voice": Gnostics, Scripture, and Canon 247 Bibliography 271 Acknowledgements The articles collected in this volume were written over the course of twenty years and appeared in a variety of publications. I gratefully acknowledge and thank all those who gave permission to reprint these essays. Credit lines are listed in the order in which the essays appear in this volume. Cox, Patricia. '"Adam Ate From the Animal Tree': A Bestial Poetry of Soul", Dionysius V ( 1981) , 165-80. With permission of the Editors of Dionysius; Cox, Patricia. "Origen on the Bestial Soul: A Poetics of Nature", Vigiliae Christianae 36. Copyright 1982 by Brill Academic Publishers. Reproduced with permission of Brill Academic Publishers via Copyright Clearance Center; Cox, Patricia. "The Physiologus: A Poiesis of Nature", Church History 52 (1983), 433-43. By permission of the Executive Secretary of the American Society of Church History; Miller, Patricia Cox. "Jerome's Centaur: A Hyper-Icon of the Desert", Journal of Early Christian Studies 4:2 (1996), 209-233. © The Johns Hopkins University Press. Miller, Patricia Cox. '"Plenty Sleeps There': The Myth of Eros and Psyche in Plotinus and Gnosticism", In Richard T. Wallis and Jay Bregman (eds), Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, Studies in Neoplatonism, vol. 6, 223-38. © State University of New York Press, 1992; Miller, Patricia Cox. "'Pleasure of the Text, Text of Pleasure': Eros and Language in Origen's Commentary on the Song of Songs", Journal of the American Academy of Religion LIV/2 (1986), 241-53; Miller, Patricia Cox. "The Blazing Body: Ascetic Desire in Jerome's Letter to Eustochium", Journal of Early Christian Studies 1: 1 (1993), 21-45. ©The Johns Hopkins University Press; Miller, Patricia Cox. "Desert Asceticism and 'The Body From Nowhere'", Journal of Early Christian Studies 2:2 (1994), 137-53. © The Johns Hopkins University Press. Cox, Patricia. "'In My Father's House Are Many Dwelling Places': K-ricrµai n Origen's De principiis", Anglican Theological Review LXII:4 (1980), 322-37; "Origen and the Witch of Endor: Toward an Iconoclastic Typology", Anglican Theological Review viii The Poetry of Thought in Late Antiquity LXVI:2 (1984), 137-47; Miller, Patricia Cox. "Poetic Words, Abysmal Words: Reflections on Origen's Hermeneutics", In Charles Kannengiesser and William L. Petersen (eds), Origen of Alexandria: His World and Legacy.© University of Notre Dame Press, 1988. Miller, Patricia Cox. "In Praise of Nonsense", In A. H. Armstrong (ed), Classical Mediterranean Spirituality, World Spirituality, vol. 15, 481-505. © Crossroad Publishing Company, 1986. Miller, Patricia Cox. '"Words With An Alien Voice': Gnostics, Scripture, and Canon", Journal of the American Academy of Religion L VII/3 ( 1989), 459-83. There are three people to whom I offer special thanks for their contributions to the making of this volume. First, I thank Sarah Lloyd, commissioning editor at Ashgate Publishing, for her initial interest in and enthusiasm for the project; I am very appreciative of her support. Second, I am deeply indebted to Deborah Pratt, an outstanding member of the staff that keeps the Religion Department at Syracuse University operative. Without her generous devotion of time, technological wizardry, and keen eye for detail, I would not have been able to manage the volume in a timely fashion, if at all. Finally, I thank my husband and colleague, David L. Miller. He suggested the idea of a collection of essays (and gently persisted until I came to believe in the idea myself) and, more than anyone else, he has taught me to understand that "there is no wing like meaning" (Stevens, Opus Posthumous, p. 162). I dedicate this book to him with love and admiration. Abbreviations ACW Ancient Christian Writers (Newman Press, New York, 1946---) ANF Ante-Nicene Fathers (Christian Literature Company, New York; Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1867-) AP Apophthegmata patrum CCL Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina (Brepols, Tumhout, Belgium, 1953-) Comm. Commentarius, Commentarii CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, C. Gerodi et al., Vienna, 1866---) Enn. Plotinus, Enneads Ep. Epistula GCS Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte, J.C. Hinrichs, Leipzig, 1899-) Haer. Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses HL Palladius, Historia Lausiaca HM Historia monachorum in Aegypto Hom. Homilia, Homiliae NHC Nag Hammadi Corpus NPNF A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd series (Christian Literature Company, New York, 1887- 1902) PG Patrologia Graeca, ed. J. P. Migne (Migne, Paris, 1857- 66) PGM Papyrae Graecae Magicae PL Patrologia Latina, ed. J. P. Migne (Migne, Paris, 1844- 65) RSV Revised Standard Version, The Holy Bible (Thomas Nelson and Sons, New York, 1952) TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament VA Athanasius, De vita Antonii VP Jerome, De vita sancti Pauli

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