 |
 |
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Luke-Acts would definitely be an exception for biblical literature, though, since the author was obviously hellenistic and had far better Greek than the other books (with the possible exception of Hebrews). On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 7:33 PM, John Dillon <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > > Anna Graham wrote: > "I think the consensus right now about similarities between biblical > texts and classical literature is that apparent similarities in themes or > images have more to do with similar mythological/religious themes common to > the Hellenistic Mediterranean world..." > > That does seem to be the consensus on that score. But there are recent or > relatively recent books by Marianne Palmer Bonz (_The Past as Legacy: > Luke-Acts and Ancient Epic_ [Fortress Press, 2000]) and Dennis R. MacDonald > (_Luke and Vergil: Imitations of Classical Greek Literature_ [Rowman and > Littlefield, 2014]) that are interested not in religious themes but > instead in narrative similarities. With regard to Vergil, these are > unpersuasive in their assumptions of widespread interest in the _Aeneid_ in > essentially non-Latin areas of the Roman empire. > > Best again, > John Dillon > ________________________________________ > From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious > culture <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Anna Kirkwood > Graham <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Monday, April 18, 2016 9:19:46 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [M-R] connection between Revelation, the Aeneid and Dante? > > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > > I think the consensus right now about similarities between biblical > texts and classical literature is that apparent similarities in themes > or images have more to do with similar mythological/religious themes > common to the Hellenistic Mediterranean world -- I've been wondering > for years what Livy might have known about biblical literature, but > have been unable to find any evidence one way or another. There is > Vergil's messianic eclogue as well, which seems to blur the lines > between classical and Christian. But it would be interesting if > anyone out there knows of any other good sources on the subject ... > Anna Graham > Romance and Classical Languages > > > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and > culture > > > > I noticed the connections between Revelation and Dante are really > strong, > > especially when you get to Paradiso, back as an undergrad. As for > John > > having read Virgil, I haven't heard any speculation on that (doesn't > mean > > someone hasn't published a paper in a religious studies journal > somewhere, > > though). It strikes me as unlikely that there was any direct > connection. > > The author (whether the Apostle John or someone from eastern > Anatolia/upper > > Mesopotamia) almost certainly didn't know Latin and doesn't appear > to have > > been overly invested in Hellenistic cultural referencing. > Furthermore, > > there was a wealth of Jewish apocalyptic literature available for > him. > > > > On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 4:11 AM, Rosemary Hayes-Milligan and Andrew > > Milligan <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > >> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and > culture > >> > >> I hope you will forgive an idle query borne out of the fact that I > was > >> reading the second reading at Mass yesterday (Revelation 7:9-17) > >> > >> When I reached the bit that that begins 'who are those, robed in > white...' > >> it rang bells with the recent Radio 4 reading of Seamus Heaney's > >> translation of the Aeneid Book 6 (Aeneas's journey into the > underworld). > >> We know that Dante was inspired by Virgil. Was he also inspired by > >> Revelation and has anyone suggested that St John may have read > Virgil? > >> > >> Forgive me if this is something that has been much rehearsed, or is > >> totally silly. Does anyone have thoughts? > >> > >> Best, > >> Rosemary > >> > >> Dr RCE Hayes > >> 18 Murrayfield Drive > >> Edinburgh > >> EH12 6EB > >> > >> 0131 337 1385 > >> [log in to unmask] > >> > ********************************************************************** > To > >> join the list, send the message: subscribe medieval-religion YOUR > NAME to: > >> [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it > to: > >> [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the > message: > >> unsubscribe medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order > to > >> report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: > >> [log in to unmask] For further information, > visit > >> our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/medieval-religion > > > > > ********************************************************************** > > To join the list, send the message: subscribe medieval-religion YOUR > NAME > > to: [log in to unmask] > > To send a message to the list, address it to: > > [log in to unmask] > > To leave the list, send the message: unsubscribe medieval-religion > > to: [log in to unmask] > > In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write > to: > > [log in to unmask] > > For further information, visit our web site: > > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/medieval-religion > > > > Anna Kirkwood Graham, J.D., Ph.D. > Romance and Classical Languages > B480 Wells Hall > Michigan State University > > ********************************************************************** > To join the list, send the message: subscribe medieval-religion YOUR NAME > to: [log in to unmask] > To send a message to the list, address it to: > [log in to unmask] > To leave the list, send the message: unsubscribe medieval-religion > to: [log in to unmask] > In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: > [log in to unmask] > For further information, visit our web site: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/medieval-religion > > ********************************************************************** > To join the list, send the message: subscribe medieval-religion YOUR NAME > to: [log in to unmask] > To send a message to the list, address it to: > [log in to unmask] > To leave the list, send the message: unsubscribe medieval-religion > to: [log in to unmask] > In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: > [log in to unmask] > For further information, visit our web site: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/medieval-religion > ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: subscribe medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: unsubscribe medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/medieval-religion