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The Gospel 'According to Homer and Virgil': Cento and Canon
Author(s): Karl Olav Sandnes (Author)
- Publisher: Brill
- Publication Date: February 14, 2011
- Edition: 1st
- Language: English
- Print length: 292 pages
- ISBN-10: 9004187189
- ISBN-13: 9789004187184
Book Description
In the fourth century C.E. some Christians paraphrased the stories about Jesus’ life in the style of classical epics. Imitating the genre of centos, they stitched together lines taken either from Homer (Greek) or Virgil (Latin). They thus created new texts out of the classical epics, while they still remained fully within the confines of their style and vocabulary. It is the aim of this study to put these attempts into a historical and rhetorical context. Why did some Christians rewrite the Gospel stories in this way, and what came out of this? On the basis of these Christian centos, it is natural to address the view held by some scholars, namely that New Testaments narratives are imitations of the epics.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“surely an interesting and very welcome publication.[…] written in accessible language and preserves the rigors of the scientific research. […] The Gospel ‘According to Homer and Virgil’ should be read by everybody interested in the relation between the New Testament and the ancient literary culture.” – Marcin Kowalski, in: The Biblical Annals / Roczniki Biblijne 3 (2013)
About the Author
Karl Olav Sandnes, Dr. theol. (1988), University of Oslo, is Professor in New Testament at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo, Norway. He has published on the Graeco-Roman background of the New Testament, including The Challenge of Homer. School, Pagan Poets and early Christianity (2009).
