GREEK CHRISTIAN POETRY IN CLASSICAL FORMS: THE CODEX OF

VISIONS FROM THE BODMER PAPYRI AND THE MELDING OF

LITERARY TRADITIONS

Kevin James Kalish

A DISSERTATION
PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY
OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
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June 2009




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iii
ABSTRACT
This dissertation presents a new chapter in the story of Christian cultures
engagement with classical literary culture. The Codex of Visions, part of the Bodmer
Papyri discovered in upper Egypt in 1952, provides the material for my study. This
codex contains previously unknown and anonymous Greek Christian poems dating
from the mid-fourth to the mid-fifth century. The nature of the codex is eclectic, and I
base my analysis on four narrative poems from the codex. These poems, though
composed according to classical prosody and employing archaic diction, nonetheless
deal with Christian themes, from visions of heaven to retellings of Bible episodes. I
argue that these poems show how Christian poets in Late Antiquity melded Christian
and classical traditions to form a new type of poetry.
Chapter One gives an introduction to the codex and provides background
information on Christian poetry in Late Antiquity and the classical tradition. The
Vision of Dorotheus, a poem that recounts a vision of heaven narrated by a Roman
soldier, is the subject of Chapter Two. In a poem on Abraham and the Sacrifice of
Isaac (Chapter Three), the poet imagines what Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac would have
said to each other before the sacrifice. Chapter Four discusses two poems on Cain and
Abel. Cains lament evokes monologues from Greek tragedy, whereas Abel, in
Hades, paraphrases Psalm 101 and looks forward to the coming of his savior. The
poems on Abraham, Cain, and Abel take rhetorical devices as their starting points:
characterization (ethopoiia) and paraphrase are used as the basis for poetic
experiments in retelling Biblical episodes.
iv
An important conclusion from this study is that these poems imitate the poetry
of Gregory of Nazianzus, the fourth-century bishop, theologian, and poet. Since we
know that Gregory composed most of his poetry in the 380s, this establishes a more
precise date for these poems. Subsequently, these poems from the Codex of Visions
provide a glimpse of how Christian poetry developed after Gregorys classicizing
poetry and before the emergence of new poetic forms in the sixth century with the
poetry of Romanos the Melodist.

v
ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviations for papyri follows the Checklist of Editions of Greek, Latin, Demotic,
and Coptic Papyri, Ostraca, and Tablets found online at
<http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/texts/clist.html>
LSJ A Greek-English Lexicon, ed. H.G. Liddell, R. Scott, and H.S.
Jones (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996)
LXX Septuaginta, ed. Alfred Rahlfs (Stuttgart: Deutsche
Bibelstiftung, 2006)
PG Patrologia Graeca, ed. J. P. Migne (Paris, 1857)
PGL A Patristic Greek Lexicon, ed. G.W.H. Lampe (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1961)
OCD Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth, 3
rd
ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1996)
vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to express my gratitude to all of those who made this possible. First, I
would like to thank my committeePeter Brown, Andrew Ford, Daniel Heller-
Roazen, and Stratis Papaioannou (Brown University)for seeing this project to its
completion. The composition of my committee reflects the interdisciplinary nature of
my time at Princeton. Peter Browns advice, encouragement, and generous spirit have
helped me at every stage of this work. Andrew Ford has ensured that one foot remains
in Classics. Stratis Papaioannou agreed to serve as an outside reader, and his
perspective and careful comments have helped immensely. Beyond my committee,
many at Princeton and beyond offered guidance and suggestions. My first stab at the
Vision of Dorotheus came about during a seminar taught by Constanze Gthenke,
and little did I know then the direction that paper would take me. Raffaella Cribiore
encouraged me to take on this project when I was a student at the Summer Seminar in
Papyrology sponsored by the American Society of Papyrologists (Columbia
University 2006); she has provided the much need papyrological expertise throughout
the process. AnneMarie Luijendijk, since her arrival at Princeton, has answered many
papyrological questions. Towards the end of the process, Eileen Reeves was
instrumental in answering procedural questions and helping me find teaching. Valerie
Kanka offered much needed assistance with administrative details.
vii
Support of various types, as well as continual inspiration, came from the
Program in Hellenic Studies at Princeton University. Hellenic Studies provided
financial support with a Stanley J. Seeger Fellowship as well as a home away from
home. I have also benefited from financial support in Comparative Literature with the
Joseph E. Croft 73 Summer Fellowship, (2004, 2005) and the Mary Cross Summer
Fellowship (2004). The Center for the Study of Religion, with their Graduate
Research Award, provided funding and a forum for presenting an earlier version of
Chapter Two. The Byzantine Studies Association of North America encouraged my
efforts with their Graduate Student Prize.
Numerous friends at Princeton also deserve my thanks. Matt Milliner
graciously read the entire dissertation and offered valuable feedback. Many have read
portions or offered feedback on various talks based on this dissertation. But most of
all it is the friendship that I cherish. My thanks go out to, among others: Craig
Caldwell, Jack Tannous, Richard Payne, Dan Schwartz, David Michelson, Petre
Guran, Nebojsa Stankovic, Scott Moringiello, Leah Whittington, Dawn LaValle,
Alana Shilling, Nick Marinides, Andrew Hui, and Christian Kaesser.
Most of all I wish to thank my family. My parents, in addition to all the
support and love they have offered, instilled in me the sense of dedication and
perseverance to see this project to its conclusion. To them and to my siblings I offer
my thanks. My wife Erin has learned more about early Christian poetry than she ever
wanted to know. Her love, support, and editorial expertise have made all of this a
reality. My daughter Elizabeth has helped in ways she can barely imagine. Much of
this was written as we awaited her birth. Since then, she has offered much need
viii
diversions and a reminder that scholarship needs to be balanced with time playing
outside. To Erin and Elizabeth I dedicate this work.
ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................................. III
ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................................................................... V
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .....................................................................................................................VI
TABLE OF CONTENTS.........................................................................................................................IX
CHAPTER ONE: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CODEX OF VISIONS FROM THE BODMER
PAPYRI AND THE MELDING OF LITERARY TRADITIONS.......................................................... 10
CHAPTER TWO: A TRIP TO HEAVEN RETOLD IN HOMERIC VERSE BY A ROMAN
IMPERIAL GUARD: THE VISION OF DOROTHEUS (P.BODM. 29)............................................ 31
CHAPTER THREE: VISUALIZING DIALOGUES: THE IMAGINED SPEECHES OF ABRAHAM,
ISAAC, AND SARAH IN TO ABRAHAM (P. BODM. 30) .............................................................. 66
CHAPTER FOUR: GIVING A VOICE TO THE DEAD: ETHOPOIIA IN THE POEMS ON CAIN
AND ABEL (P. BODM. 33 AND 35) ................................................................................................... 119
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................... 156
APPENDIX ONE................................................................................................................................... 168
WORKS CITED..................................................................................................................................... 169
10

CHAPTER ONE: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CODEX OF VISIONS
FROM THE BODMER PAPYRI AND THE MELDING OF LITERARY
TRADITIONS

HOMERS ISLAND OF CALYPSO AND THE CHRISTIAN PARADISE
In an anonymous poem from the Bodmer Papyri addressed to the righteous
(!"#$ %&'()*+$), the life of Christian virtue is recommended because it will bring the
faithful follower to paradise. God himself, so writes the poet, has brought the
unnamed martyr whom he loves to Ogygia, the Homeric island where Calypso dwelt:
1

,- .[)/0]0[-]
2
10#$ *2*- 3.4"!(50 '() 6 7'8&550
-9:[5*-] 7$ ;9<9+9<)=- 0>-0'( ("?+")=$,
@0"#- 7$] !(9["A]%0&5*- B<C- D"=5?*E*
3
7.0?FC-
G- H[-0]'0-9 [1-]:95'0- !/4"=$ 7- 5*.)=&.
[that one alone, whom God loves, he snatched eagerly away and carried

1
ll. 1-4. For the text of the poem, see Andr Hurst and Jean Rudhardt, Codex des Visions: Pomes
Divers, Papyrus Bodmer 30-37 (Munich: Saur, 1999).
2
Hurst and Rudhardt suggest as an alternative I- .[&/F]0&9, which makes more sense.
3
It is standard in these poems to spell Christ with an eta, something that will be discussed further in
Chapter Two.
11
to the island Ogygia, on account of (his) martyrdom,
leading (him) to the holy paradise; for the sake of Christs commands
he died, he who was plentiful in wisdom.]
It comes at first as a surprise to see the Christian paradise linked with an island that in
Homer is a sensuous paradise. Ogygia is the island where Odysseus spends a few
years with the nymph Calypso before finally returning home. This poem from the
Bodmer Papyri, with its use of elegiac distichs and archaizing diction, attempts to
create a classicizing piece of Christian writing. Thus, the reference to Calypsos
island may be the classicizing impulse gone too far. Tertullian famously asked what
Athens has to do with Jerusalem; we might wonder what Ogygia has to do with
paradise.
This poem from the Bodmer Papyri is not the only example of Ogygia taking
on different meanings. Ogygia takes on a range of possible meanings in post-
classical Greek. Among Christian authors, it can mean simply immense, as in Basil
of Seleuciensis: J// 7!0&%K '(L ?M ?N- O"<C- ;<P<&( (because of the greatness
of the deeds).
4
It also comes to mean archaic or primitive, because of a primeval
and antediluvian king Ogygus, who was sometimes associated with Thebes in Egypt
(but also Athens and Boeotia). Ignatius the Deacon,
5
in his life of Nicephorus I,
Patriarch of Constantinople, says: %F*- ?# ?:$ !("(%850C$ Q<P<&*-

4
Basil of Seleuciensis, Sermones, ed. J.-P. Migne, vol. 85, Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series
Graeca (PG) (Paris: 1857-66), 461 line 51.
5
born ca.77080, died after 845
12
7-5?0"-)5(51(& 5FR($ (one must embrace the ancient worship of tradition).
6

According to a tradition handed down via the Hellenistic poet Lycophron and his 12
th

century Byzantine commentator Tzetzes and recounted by the editors of this poem,
Ogygia was also associated with the Isles of the Blessed where heroes went after their
deaths.
7
The tradition that Tzetzes recalls is a complicated one; suffice it to say, some
ancient sources placed Ogygia in the West, and thus associated it with the Isles of the
Blessed, which were also placed in the far West. There is no indication that Tzetzes
knew the poems from the Bodmer Papyri, but clearly a tradition of exegesis
transmitted this seemingly obscure understanding of Homers Ogygia as a stand-in for
paradise. The poem from the Bodmer Papyri offers our earliest evidence of this
Christian reading of Ogygia.
As these few examples suggest, by Late Antiquity the island of Calypso had
come to mean something different from what it meant in Homer. This poem expects a
knowledge of mythological interpretation and exegesis on the part of the reader or
auditor. When this poem from the Bodmer Papyri uses Ogygia, it is something more
than a poor attempt to write classicizing Christian poetry or a misunderstanding of
source texts. The imagery and allusions at work in this poem, while at first baffling,
demonstrate a sophisticated reading of both pagan and Christian literature. One could

6
See Ignatius the Deacon, Vita Nicephori, ed. Carl De Boor, Opuscula Historica (Lipsiae: Teubner,
1880), 165.
7
Hurst and Rudhardt, Codex des Visions: Pomes Divers, 97. In addition, see the recent edition of
Lycophron and in particular the notes to ll. 1204 and 1206 in Lycophron, Alexandra, ed. Andr
Hurst and Antje Kolde (Paris: Belles lettres, 2008).
13
even call such obscure language deliberate obscurity, perhaps a kenning; it forces one
to pause and work out how Ogygia can stand in for the Christian paradise.
This brief moment from one of the poems from the Bodmer Papyri highlights
the issues to be covered in this dissertation. These poems from the Bodmer Papyri
meld the classical tradition with Biblical exegesis; a Christian heaven is talked about
but in the language and meter of the pagan past. Seemingly obscure references and
imagery turn out to convey a tradition of interpretation. The verse form and frame of
reference is classicizing, but the poets nonetheless write about Christian themes.
THE CODEX OF VISIONS AS A NEW CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF
CLASSICIZING GREEK POETRY
The history of Christian poetry composed in classical forms is a long and
varied story. When the emperor Julian (361-363) forbade Christians from teaching in
the schools, the Apolinarii (father and son) recast Scripture into classical formsor so
the historians Sozomen and Socrates tell us.
8
While Julians ban may have given the

8
Sozomen, Historia ecclesiastica V.18; Socrates Historia ecclesiastica III.16. For more on this see
Michael Roberts, Biblical Epic and Rhetorical Paraphrase in Late Antiquity (Liverpool: Francis
Cairns, 1985), 4; K. Thraede, "Epos," in Reallexikon fr Antike und Christentum, 999ff. The works
of the Apolinarii do not survive; the Homeric Psalter attributed to Apollinaris is a fifth-century
work. See Joseph Golega, Der homerische Psalter. Studien ber die dem Apolinarios von Laodikeia
zugeschriebene Psalmenparaphrase (Ettal: Buch-Kunstverl, 1960). Eusebius and Clement of
Alexandria mention Hellenistic Jewish paraphrases; the Exagoge of Ezekiel the Tragedian survives
in part. See Ezekiel, The Exagoge of Ezekiel, ed. Howard Jacobson (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1983).
14
initial motivation, it cannot explain the entire phenomenon, especially as these
classicizing Christian poems continued to be written well after Julians brief reign.
Latin poets led the way in this literary phenomenon of the Biblical epic with Juvencus,
the first we know of who recast portions of the Bible as epic poetry.
9
Following suit,
the Greek authors (ps.) Apollinaris,
10
Nonnos, and Eudocia
11
all engage in this
practice. Certainly by the fifth century there is a real vogue for composing epic poems
based on portions of the Bible in Homeric or Vergilian meters. In addition, late
antique authors were not the only ones to attempt to meld classical forms and
Christian narrative in their poetry. This tradition continues at least until Paradise
Lost, John Miltons monumental poem that intertwines the classical tradition of epic
with the Christian narrative of salvation history.
Although this history of classicizing poetry has been recounted many times,
poems from the Bodmer Papyri provide a new chapterand perhaps one of the
earliest chapters. The Bodmer Papyri itself is a unique collection. This group of papyri
codices was discovered in upper Egypt in 1952, though its precise provenance remains

9
Roberts, Biblical Epic and Rhetorical Paraphrase in Late Antiquity. See also Roger Green, Latin
Epics of the New Testament: Juvencus, Sedulius, Arator (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006);
Carl P. E. Springer, The Gospel as Epic in Late Antiquity (Leiden: Brill, 1988).
10
Golega, Der homerische Psalter.
11
Mary Whitby, "The Bible Hellenized: Nonnus' Paraphrase of St John's Gospel and 'Eudocia's'
Homeric Centos," in Texts and Culture in Late Antiquity, ed. J. H. D. Scourfield (Swansea: Classical
Press of Wales, 2007).
15
unknown.
12
It has the pagan Greek classicsparts of the Iliad and plays by
Menanderas well as scriptural texts (both Old and New Testament books),
apocryphal texts (Shepherd of Hermas, Nativity of Mary, St. Pauls third letter to the
Corinthians), and other Christian literature. One codex in particular from the Bodmer
Papyri, known as the Codex of Visions, presents previously unknown Christian poems
all composed in classical meters.
This anthology of anonymous poems, the Codex of Visions, forms the basis for
the present study. I specifically address those poems that engage in narrative and
paraphrase; the other poems, of a hortatory and didactic nature, will be the subject of
future work. Paleographic criteria and the format of the codex puts the papyrus at the
second half of the fourth century or the beginning of the fifth century, but the six
different hands make it difficult to be more precise.
13
The papyrus is not the
autograph copy of the poets: for example, corrections are made above certain lines,
which suggests the scribes knew other versions of the poems. Although the text

12
For an overview of the contents of the Bodmer Papyri, as well as details concerning the date and
possible provenance of this collection, see Rodolphe Kasser, "Bodmer Papyri," in The Coptic
Encyclopedia, ed. A. S. Atiya (New York: 1991); Rodolphe Kasser, "Introduction," in Bibliotheca
Bodmeriana: The collection of the Bodmer Papyri (Munich: K. G. Saur, 2000).
13
Rodolphe Kasser, Guglielmo Cavallo, and Joseph Van Haelst, "Nouvelle description du Codex des
Visions," in Papyrus Bodmer 38, ed. A. Carlini (Cologny-Genve: Foundation Martin Bodmer,
1991), 123-24. Cavallo suggest the beginning of the 5
th
century, while Van Haelst argues for the
second half of the 4
th
century.
16
survives in Egypt, it could have been written elsewhere and then circulated and was
copied in Egypt.
These poems have only recently appeared in print and their interpretation has
only just begun. In 1984 Hurst, Reverdin, and Rudhardt published the Vision of
Dorotheus (P. Bodm. 29)
14
a narrative poem recounting the vision of heaven
experienced by a poet called Dorotheus. His vision imagines a heaven with God,
Christ, and angels, but the heavenly realm look suspiciously like the Roman imperial
court. In 1999 Hurst and Rudhardt published the remaining poems from the codex,
giving it the title Codex of Visions.
15
Many of the poems from the Codex of Visions
recast Biblical episodes. These poems take part in Christian exegesis, but they do this
in classical meters and use archaic diction. One poem (To Abraham, P. Bodm. 30)
imagines what Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac might have said before the sacrifice. Two
separate poems imagine the speeches of Cain and Abel (What would Cain have said
having slain Abel, P. Bodm. 33, and What would Abel have said after being slain
P. Bodm. 35). With the publication of these poems, an early and formative stage in
this encounter between Christian exegesis and classical poetry has been recovered. I

14
Andr Hurst, O. Reverdin, and Jean Rudhardt, Papyrus Bodmer 29: Vision de Dorothos, Papyrus
Bodmer 29 (Cologny-Genve: Foundation Martin Bodmer, 1984).
15
Hurst and Rudhardt, Codex des Visions: Pomes Divers. On account of the two vision narratives, the
Vision of Dorotheus and the first three visions of the Shepherd of Hermas, the editors have called
it the Codex of Visions. While 70% of the codex is vision narratives, this title does not account for
the other poems. These shorter pieces often are concerned more with the underworld than with
heaven.
17
intend to show what this encounter looked like and the ways in which these new
poems change our understanding of Christian poetry in Late Antiquity.
While these poems are similar to the Biblical epics in style and meter, they are
shorter pieces and focus on one particular episode; or, as is the case with the Vision
of Dorotheus, they apply the style of Biblical epic to the unlikely genre of vision
narratives. Since the poems on Cain and Abel present themselves as rhetorical
exercisesthe practice of characterization (ethopoiia)some have suggested that this
codex was either produced or used in a school setting.
16
In addition, the six different
scribal hands, something that one does not often find, argue for this provenance.
Joseph Van Haelst first suggested the idea of the text coming from a school of
advanced learning in Panopolis.
17
Raffaella Cribiore points out that advanced students
and scholars who could not afford more expensive copies would copy entire works in
their own hands:
The Bodmer papyri exemplify this tendency: whole codices containing
Christian works and Menanders comedies were copied, with mistakes
and corruptions of every kind, by studentsor perhaps sometimes by
teachersin fluent but somewhat unprofessional handwriting. These
texts originated in a Christian school of advanced learning in Panopolis,

16
Jean-Luc Fournet, "Une thope de Can dans le Codex des Visions de la Fondation Bodmer,"
Zeitschrift fr Papyrologie und Epigraphik 92 (1992).
17
Kasser, Cavallo, and Van Haelst, "Nouvelle description du Codex des Visions," 108, 18, 24.
18
where religious works were studied side by side with traditional
authors.
18

Kasser concurs with this hypothesis, suggesting that the likely owner of this codex
would no doubt be a scriptorium teacher, progressively building up a respectable and
varied library to suit the needs and tastes of his customers and pupils.
19

Others have seen these poems as coming from a religious community. The
case for the Bodmer Papyri coming from a monastic setting was made most strongly
by James Robinson.
20
This interpretation has been accepted and promulgated in
various works,
21
even while the editors of the Bodmer Papyri have raised serious
objections on a number of accounts.
22
As Jean-Luc Fournet observed in his discussion

18
Raffaella Cribiore, Gymnastics of the Mind. Greek Education in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt.
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001), 200.
19
Kasser, "Introduction," LV.
20
James M. Robinson, The Pachomian Monastic Library at the Chester Beatty Library and the
Bibliothque Bodmer (Claremont: Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, the Claremont Graduate
School, 1990).
21
Eldon J. Epp, "New Testament Papyri and the Transmission of the New Testament," in Oxyrhynchus:
A City and Its Texts, ed. A. K. Bowman (London: Egypt Exploration Society, 2007), 323; Harry Y.
Gamble, Books and Readers in the Early Church: A History of Early Christian Texts (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1995), 173.
22
See Kasser, "Bodmer Papyri," 49. See also the refutation of Robinsons views in Kasser, Cavallo,
and Van Haelst, "Nouvelle description du Codex des Visions," 105 note 5.
19
of the Cain and Abel poems, these poems, as examples of ethopoiia exercises, argue
against the idea of the codex coming from a monastic setting.
23

The context for these texts does not have to be either a school or a monastery.
Another option is that this collection belonged to a wealthy collector. Kasser suggests
that the collector might have been a Martin Bodmer of Late Antiquity (the collector
after whom the collection is named), a rich landowner, with a taste for old favorites
and the new writings of the time. Gianfranco Agosti argues that these compositions
are not like the usual school texts, especially since ethopoiia is used for exegesis; he
suggests that they may be from a community interested in pagan paideia as well as
Christian culture.
24
Based on the archaic language of the poems and the use of learned
allusions to both classical authors and contemporary ones, we can assume that these
texts were produced and enjoyed by an audience that would appreciate and understand
the display of paideia evident in the poems. While we know little about how poetry
was performed or circulated during this period, we do have one revealing anecdote.
When Arator held a public recital of his retelling of the Acts of the Apostles in
Vergilian hexameters, it lasted four days because of the constant repetitions that they
demanded with manifold applause.
25
The crowd, consisting of religious, lay, and

23
See Fournet, "Une thope de Can dans le Codex des Visions de la Fondation Bodmer," 253.
24
Gianfranco Agosti, "L'etopea nella poesia greca tardoantica," in !thopoiia: la reprsentation de
caractres entre fiction scolaire et ralit vivante l'poque impriale et tardive, ed. Eugenio
Amato and Jacques Schamp (Salerne: 2005), 45.
25
For the Latin text recounting this episode and father discussion, see Green, Latin Epics of the New
Testament: Juvencus, Sedulius, Arator, 391-92.
20
even various people from the congregation, gathered in the church of St. Peter ad
Vincula for this poetry reading. Evidently people enjoyed this kind of poetry and its
performance could take place in settings outside of the school, even in a churchbut,
notably, not as part of a liturgical service.
RHETORIC, THE SCHOOL ROOM, AND POETRY
Whether or not this codex was the product of a school, the typical exercises of
the schoolroom inform how one reads these poems. The poems on Cain and Abel
most directly show how the practices of the schoolroom shaped the crafting of verse,
but all of the narrative poems exhibit traces of the rhetorical school to some degree.
The preliminary exercises called progymnasmata formed the minds of students. As
Cribiore has said, the progymnasmata were meant to warm up his muscles, stretch his
power of discourse, and build his vigor.
26
The student encountered these exercises at
the advanced level, the rhetorical school. The list and sequence of exercises differ in
the various surviving handbooks, but among the exercises we find the following:
fable (mythos), narrative (digma, digsis), anecdote (khreia), maxim (gnm),
refutation (anaskeu), confirmation (kataskeu), common-place (topos), encomion
(enkmion), invective (psogos), comparison (synkrisis), characterization (ethopoiia,

26
See Cribiore, Gymnastics of the Mind. Greek Education in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt., 222.
Handbooks on progymnasmata are collected and translated in George Alexander Kennedy,
Progymnasmata: Greek Textbooks of Prose Composition and Rhetoric (Leiden: Brill, 2003).
21
prospopoeia), description (ekphrasis) thesis or proposition (thesis), law (nomos) and
paraphrase (paraphrasis).
27

Since the structure of education in antiquity has been dealt with thoroughly
elsewhere,
28
I will turn instead to the role of poetry in the schoolroom. As students
advanced to the rhetorical school, the final stage in ones education, the emphasis was
supposed to turn to prose. The purpose of rhetorical training, after all, was to prepare
to take part in civic life in the public sphere, where oratory predominated. Creating
poets was not the primary goal of the school system. Yet, as Cribiore observes, poetry
was more common in schools than once thought.
29
In another place she dispels the
idea that the use of poetry in the rhetorical school was only an Egyptian phenomenon:
Far from pointing to an eccentric phenomenon and to the exclusive
predilection of the Egyptians from poetry, they are symptomatic of the
fact that poetry was cultivated in schools of rhetoric anywhere, even
though school examples outside of Egypt are hard to come by.
30


27
Kennedy, Progymnasmata: Greek Textbooks of Prose Composition and Rhetoric, xiii. Paraphrase is
not mentioned in Kennedys discussion here, but paraphrase is used in Theon.
28
See Raffaella Cribiore, Writing, Teachers, and Students in Graeco-Roman Egypt (Atlanta: Scholars
Press, 1996); Cribiore, Gymnastics of the Mind. Greek Education in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt.
See also Teresa Morgan, Literate Education in the Hellenistic and Roman Worlds (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1998).
29
Cribiore, Gymnastics of the Mind. Greek Education in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt., 230.
30
Raffaella Cribiore, The School of Libanius in Late Antique Antioch (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 2007), 162.
22
A recent collection of essays on ethopoiia corroborates Cribiores point. Ethopoiia
changes from a rhetorical exercise limited to the schoolroom to a device common to
poetry. Agosti traces the ways in which poetic ethopoiia begins to appear already in
the first and second centuries AD;
31
furthermore, one finds this exercise in
characterization at work in many longer poems.
32

That this rhetorical device in particular should give rise to poetic compositions
should come as no surprise. Aelius Theon, in his Progymnasmata
33
says that
prospopoeia (the term he uses to cover all types of characterization exercises) are
good practice for writing a variety of works: characterization is not only practice for
writing history, but it is also useful for oratory, for dialogues, and for poetry; even in
our daily life it is most useful for our conversation with others. It is extremely helpful
for understanding prose writings.
34
The practice of composing imagined speeches
serves as a training ground for an array of uses from the literary to the quotidian. The

31
Agosti, "L'etopea nella poesia greca tardoantica," 36ff.
32
Ibid., 45ff.
33
Aelius Theon, Progymnasmata, ed. Michel Patillon and Giancarlo Bolognesi (Paris: Belles Lettres,
1997). Previously, Theon was considered the earliest, but recent work has suggested a later date (1
st

century AD or later); see Malcolm Heath, "Theon and the history of the progymnasmata," Greek,
Roman and Byzantine Studies 43 (2003/2004).
34
Theon, Progymnasmata, 60.19-31. See also Ruth Webb, "The Progymnasmata as Practice," in
Education in Greek and Roman Antiquity, ed. Yun Lee Too (Leiden: Brill, 2001), 306.
23
progymnasmata are not ends in themselves, but instead they form the thoughts and the
languagethat is, they shape how students think about literary composition.
35

The Cain and Abel poems use the device of ethopoiia for the crafting of
monologues; these poems represent only one voice and take on the persona of the
Biblical character. In To Abraham, multiple voices are imagined. As Theon
observed, the practice of imagining isolated speeches prepares one for writing
dialogues. To Abraham conjoins imagined speeches of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac.
We see Theons words put into action as ethopoiia leads to the construction of a
dialogue. But the dialogue is not fully developed; since little back and forth occurs
between the speakers, it might be better to call this dialogized ethopoiia. Even the
Vision of Dorotheus incorporates elements of ethopoiia as it imagines what a
Roman imperial guard would have said if transported to heaven.
POETRY IN LATE ANTIQUITY
After a decline in the production of poetry in the second and third century, a
revival of poetry occurred in Late Antiquity.
36
Poetry even takes over areas that were

35
Webb, "The Progymnasmata as Practice," 290.
36
Much of the following discussion is indebted to Alan Cameron, "Poetry and Literary Culture in Late
Antiquity," in Approaching Late Antiquity. The Transformation from Early to Late Empire, ed.
Simon Swain and Mark Edwards (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 328. A recent book
situates the poems from the Codex of Visions within the context of late antique poetry from Egypt;
unfortunately it came out too late to incorporate in the present study. See Laura Migulez Cavero,
24
once the domain of prose. Louis Robert shows that dedications composed in prose
during the second and third centuries came to be composed in classicizing elegiacs or
hexameters in the fourth century.
37
Why this resurgence of interest in poetry? For one
thing, poetry was a means to preserve culture; and, perhaps more importantly, it was
also a way to manifest culture (paideia). As Alan Cameron states, poetry was
paideia in its most concentrated form.
38

In the late fourth century, Gregory of Nazianzus produced a massive amount of
poetrymuch of it autobiographical, some of it didactic, some hortatoryand almost
all of it in ancient meters.
39
A prolific writer, Gregory of Nazianzus wrote poems in
almost every ancient meter and genre, and so he is a fitting point of comparison when
investigating late antique Greek Christian poetry. Although he was not the only poet
around, his writings came to dominate in the Byzantine school curriculum.
40


Poems in Context: Greek Poetry in the Egyptian Thebaid 200-600 AD (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter,
2008).
37
Cameron, "Poetry and Literary Culture in Late Antiquity," 331.
38
Ibid., 345.
39
Most of Gregorys poetry comes from the 380s. See Brian Daley, Gregory of Nazianzus, The Early
Church Fathers (London: Routledge, 2006); John Anthony Mcguckin, St. Gregory of Nazianzus: An
Intellectual Biography (Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2001).
40
On the early reception of Gregory, see Jennifer Nimmo Smith, A Christian's guide to Greek culture:
the Pseudo-Nonnus commentaries on sermons 4, 5, 39 and 43 by Gregory of Nazainzus, Translated
texts for historians v. 37 (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2001), xxxiii. On the Byzantine
reception, see Robert Browning, "Homer in Byzantium," Viator 6 (1975): 16-17.
25
Subsequently, he offers the modern scholar the greatest resources for comparison
since so much of his poetry survives. Gregory is often known, at least in modern
scholarship, for his autobiographical poems,
41
but he also composed many classicizing
poems on Biblical themes. Among his Dogmatic Poems,
42
one finds poems that
recount the Decalogue of Moses (in dactylic hexameters, PG 37.476), the miracles of
Elijah and Elisha (in iambic trimesters, PG 37.477), and the genealogy of Christ (in
dactylic hexameters, PG 37.480), as well as many others.
Gregorys poetry also highlights important aspects of the transformation of
poetry in this period. His poems on Biblical subjects are but one example of this
transformation. His avoidance of strict adherence to classical strictures on prosody is
another indication. Cameron summarizes the issue as follows:

41
The way Gregory is read today and how he was read in Byzantine differ significantly, as modern
scholarship has been more interested in the autobiographical elements. For a good discussion of the
changing ways Gregory has been read, see the introduction in Preston Edwards, "'Epistamenois
agoreuso: on the Christian Alexandrianism of Gregory of Nazianzus" (Dissertation, Brown
University, 2003).
42
I follow the classification given in the only complete edition of Gregorys works to date, although a
new complete edition is in process. See Gregory of Nazianzus, Carmina, ed. J.-P. Migne, vol. 37-
38, Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Graeca (PG) (Paris: 1857-66). These divisions are a
modern construction; references will include both volume/column from Migne and the traditional
breakdown of Poemata Theologica (Book 1), which contains Poemata Dogmatica (1.1) and
Carmina Moralia (1.2) and Poemata Historica (Book 2), which contains Carmina De Seipso (2.1)
and Poemata Quae Spectant Ad Alios (2.2).
26
Yet given the fact that in everything but prosody Gregory shows
considerable technical competence, his false quantities (a
characterization that reveals our own classicizing perspective) are not
really likely to be the result of ignorance. The explanation of the
paradox is surely that he deliberately ignored classical quantities when
it suited him.
43

Gregorys willingness to diverge from the traditions of the past serves as a model for
what the poets from the Codex of Visions are doing. Moreover, Camerons way of
discussing Gregorys false quantities indicates a major change in approaches to the
literature of this period. No longer is all change and transformation viewed as
deviation. Whitmarsh, in discussing the creation of canons of taste, notes how in
previous scholarship all post-classical literature was perceived to be derivative.
44

Recent scholarship has taken a different approach, and new models have provided

43
Cameron, "Poetry and Literary Culture in Late Antiquity," 338-39.
44
Tim Whitmarsh, Ancient Greek Literature (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2004), 12. Scourfield sums up
the situation as follows: the view from the twenty-first century reveals in the fourth a period that in
its variety, creative experiment, and, above all, productivity, can only be regarded as flourishing.
Modern scholarship has nonetheless displayed a tendency to regard the literature of Late Antiquity
as something essentially second-rate. J. H. D. Scourfield and Anna Chahoud, Texts and Culture in
Late Antiquity: Inheritance, Authority, and Change (Swansea: Classical Press of Wales, 2007), 2.
27
ways to approach late antique literature without the blinders of nineteenth-century
classicism.
45

At issue in these poems from the Codex of Visions, as with much of late
antique poetry, is the question of originality and imitation. Often the very terminology
is colored with notions of this literature being derivative, as when words such as
plunder, pastiche, or mere imitation are used. I suggest that an apt and fitting term
for this convergence of traditions and the emergence of new forms and new
vocabulary is melding. This term, itself a combination of two different terms
melt and weldvividly demonstrates what these poets do in their compositions.
Different words come together in new combinations to give birth to previously
unheard-of phrases, and formerly pagan terms are invested with Christian meaning.
Poetic forms like epic meter become the vehicle for mediations on Biblical episodes.
Moreover, melding offers a more symbiotic model that avoids the problems of
unidirectional influence and dependence.
IMPORTANCE OF CODEX OF VISIONS
What then is the significance of the Codex of Visions? While other poets from
the periodsuch as Gregory of Nazianzus and Nonnospresent us with polished,
refined verse that has had a long manuscript history, these poems provide something
else. The sometimes imperfect use of archaic verse and the oftentimes perplexing

45
On this change in methods, see Jakov Ljubarskij, "Quellenforschung and/or Literary Criticism:
Narrative Structures in Byzantine Historical Writings," Symbolae Osloenses 74 (1999).
28
imagery are among the many qualities that make the Codex of Visions so interesting:
these poems show the tradition of classicizing Christian poetry at its early,
experimental stage. Since these poems survive only in this codex, they present us with
access to the imaginative world of late antique poets feeling their ways towards new
poetic traditions. We know almost nothing of the identity of the author or authors, the
date of composition, where the poems where written, or the context in which these
poems were read or performed or studied. But we have the poems. Thus any
discussion must give heed to the poems as poems since they hide from us so much
else.
Consequently, my primary purpose in this dissertation is to unpack the
meaning of these poems by exploring the poetic language. I focus on the ways in
which metaphor and imagery work and how the poets weave a web of allusions and
intertextual borrowings. Likewise, I examine the ways in which exegesis and
paraphrase operate within a poetical text. My approach is, following Geoffrey Hill,
to trace and find out the whole drift, and occasion, and contexture of the speech, as
well as the words themselves.
46
I present an analysis and interpretation of four
poems from the codex. The Codex of Visions presents poems (and one work of prose)
of varying types, but my concern here is with the narrative poems. While the other
poems, primarily of a didactic character, also deserve further exploration, they are
only used as comparanda in the present work. I draw attention to the hybrid nature of

46
Geoffrey Hill, The Enemy's Country: Words, Contexture and Other Circumstances of Language
(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991), 23. Hill is himself quoting from Hobbes, On Human
Nature.
29
the poems. Although composed in epic verse and written in a deliberately archaizing
fashion, these poems also engage in the exegesis of Biblical texts. Likewise, these
poems reveal characteristics usually associated with liturgical poetry. In addition, I
situate the poems from the Codex of Visions within the broader story of Christian
poetry in Late Antiquity. One new argument presented in this dissertation is that these
poets knew the poetry of Gregory of Nazianzus. A number of complex allusions
demonstrate that these poets may be called the first school of Gregory.
A standard view of Greek Christian poetry goes like this. In the fourth and
fifth centuries, Christian poets like Gregory of Nazianzus, Synesius, and the school of
Biblical epic poets attempted to unite the classical and Christian spirit in their verse.
This is how Maas and Trypanis describe it in their edition of Romanos.
47
After this
failed attempt, classical poetry was abandoned as a model for religious poetry
though it remained part of elite literary cultureand other influences gave rise to the
great flowering of hymnody in the sixth century, seen especially in the work of
Romanos the Melodist.
48
This portrayal is obviously a straw man, but the assumptions
behind it color many discussions of Greek poetry in Late Antiquity. Certainly the
vogue for writing in classical meters petered out amongst religious poets, and Syriac
poetry played an undeniably significant role in the shaping of Byzantine hymnody.

47
Romanus, Cantica, ed. Paul Maas and C. A. Trypanis (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963), xiii.
48
For the texts of Romanus, see Ibid; Romanus, Hymnes, ed. Jos Grosdidier De Matons (Paris:
Editions du Cerf, 1964). On the place of Romanus in the history of liturgical poetry, see Jos
Grosdidier De Matons, Romanos le Mlode et les origines de la posie religieuse Byzance,
Beauchesne Religions (Paris: Beauchesne, 1977).
30
But was the chasm so vast between someone like Gregory of Nazianzus and
Romanos? It would be surprising if there were not some hybrid forms and poetic
experiments that came in between these two bookends.
The poems from the Codex of Visions show characteristics of both of these
traditions. They use classical forms, but they also use devices common to liturgical
poetry: acrostics, imagined speeches of Biblical characters, and paraphrases of the
Psalms. Biblical texts are often their starting point, but then they improvise from there.
These poems look backwards and forwards: the classical tradition is retained but also
transformed, while Biblical episodes are rewritten in fresh and playful ways. In these
poems we see the first inklings of poetic developments that will become the hallmark
of medieval literature. Allegorical exegesis gives rise to readings of Biblical scenes
that at first seem obscure; indeed the poets take delight in that which is difficult and
requires work. Likewise, chronology is not adhered to, but a poetics of prolepsis is at
work. Future events are seen as already having occurred. Indeed, these poems, as
hybrid forms, serve as a bridge between the two traditions of classicizing and liturgical
poetry. By crossing this chasm, the story of Christian poetry changes. The poems
from the Codex of Visions challenge us to rethink how Christian poetry developed.
31

CHAPTER TWO: A TRIP TO HEAVEN RETOLD IN HOMERIC VERSE BY
A ROMAN IMPERIAL GUARD: THE VISION OF DOROTHEUS
(P.BODM. 29)
INTRODUCTION
Religious vision narratives are nothing new in the world of late antique
literature.
49
In this regard, the Vision of Dorotheus (P.Bodm. 29) from the Bodmer
Papyri seems like yet another vision of a trip to heaven. Except this trip is told by a
Roman soldier who describes a heaven that does not look much different from the late
Roman imperial court. Moreover, the poem employs archaizing verse, making the
Vision of Dorotheus one of the earliest surviving examples of a Greek Christian
poem composed in the meter and language of classical epic. The fragmentary text
contains many gaps (of 343 lines, only 22 are fully intact), and questions concerning
authorship, date, or provenance remain difficult to answer. Part of the Bodmer Papyri
discovered in 1952,
50
the Vision of Dorotheus was first published in 1984,
51
and a

49
See Martha Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1993). More recently, RaAnan S. Boustan and Annette Yoshiko Reed, Heavenly
Realms and Earthly Realities in Late Antique Religions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2004).
50
See Chapter One for more on the Bodmer Papyri and the Codex of Visions.
51
Hurst, Reverdin, and Rudhardt, Papyrus Bodmer 29: Vision de Dorothos.
32
revised edition appeared in 1987.
52
Recent scholarship, though arriving at this by
different means, places the Vision of Dorotheus in the mid to late fourth century.
53

With the recognition that we are limited in what we can know for certain about
the date and provenance of the poem, I want to leave aside these issues for the moment
and proceed to other aspects of the poem that have not been discussed. This chapter
will explore instead the literary aspects of the poem.
54
Authorship has been a concern
in previous scholarship, but only in so far as scholars have attempted to correlate the
Dorotheus of the poem with a known person from the period. Instead I will show how
Dorotheus can be read as a literary character, a fictive I retelling his vision.
Connections with Gregory of Nazianzus reveal how the poet was part of a broader
tradition, and these moments of intertextuality may suggest other ways to situate the
poem in its historical context.

52
P. W. Van Der Horst and A. H. M. Kessels, "The Vision of Dorotheus (Pap. Bodmer 29)," Vigiliae
Christianae 41 (1987): 313-59. Because of the improvements made to the text, quotations will be
from this edition, but translations will be my own, unless otherwise noted.
53
For a summary of previous scholarship on the date of the poem, see Jan N. Bremmer, The Rise and
Fall of the Afterlife: The 1995 Read-Tuckwell Lectures at the University of Bristol (London:
Routledge, 2002), Appendix 3.
54
Here I am indebted to Gianfranco Agosti, who has led the way in studying the Vision of Dorotheus
in its literary context. In particular, the following has proved extremely useful: Gianfranco Agosti,
"I poemetti del Codice Bodmer e il loro ruolo nella storia della poesia tardoantica," in Le Codex des
Visions, ed. Andr Hurst and Jean Rudhart (Genve: Librairie Droz, 2002).
33
Finally, I will argue that the poem contains previously unnoticed elements of
parody. The impulse to archaize was a common drive amongst poets of all stripes
from Hellenistic times and beyond. But the Vision of Dorotheus uses archaic verse
to relate a vision of heaven, and ascents to heaven were not traditionally topics for
epic verse. It is not strictly a cento or biblical paraphrase, since it is not constructed
entirely of verses from Homer nor does it take for its subject matter an episode from
the Bible. It also differs from the work of Gregory, whose poetry deals with many
topics but not dream visions. Even so, it works within the same milieu as Gregory and
the biblical epic poets. Straddling these different genres, the Vision of Dorotheus
creates a hybrid by adapting the formal structure of epic poetry for the unlikely
purpose of relating a vision narrative. At a time when Homeric centos where on the
rise and Christian poets were taking up the poetry of the past, the Vision of
Dorotheus uses archaizing verse for an unlikely purpose. This mixing of an archaic
verse form with an unusual vision of heaven raises the question: can a vision narrative
of a Christian heaven be told in the meter and language of Homer? Or does such an
attempt instead result in parody? Indeed, it seems that the poem parodies vision
narratives, in particular Gnostic ascents to heaven.
LITERARY CONTEXT
Even with the fragmentary text, one can see the lineaments of the narrative.
55

The narrator of the poem, a certain imperial functionary whose name we later learn to
be Dorotheus, tells of how he was at his post as a gatekeeper at the imperial palace

55
I follow the summary and the edited version of Kessels and Van der Horst for my account.
34
when sleep overcame him. A vision comes to the sleepy soldier, who now finds
himself in a palace again as the gatekeeper, but it is a heavenly palace: the court of a
Roman emperor is transferred to heaven. The characters one expects to find in
heaven are thereChrist, Gabriel, and other angelsbut it is an unusual heaven. The
heavenly ranks do not look all that different from the late Roman military. Heaven is
populated with ranks such as praepositus, domesticus, tiro, biarchus, ostiarius and
primicerius. The narrator here shows his familiarity with late Roman military and
administrative offices. Dorotheus undergoes a transformation and receives a position
of honor. He becomes a tiro (recruit) among the praepositi at the palace near the
biarchoi (commissary-generals): !9["(&!*]5)?*&5& %8*&5&- O=- ?)"C- B<S&
R&A"SC- (l. 43). After Dorotheus receives this position of honor, he becomes overly
proud and goes beyond the doorway that he is supposed to guard. Here the text is
especially corrupt, but we gather that Dorotheus falsely accuses an old man before
Christ. He regrets his mistake and asks for the dream to stop. Christ, smiling,
chastises Dorotheus for forsaking his position at the gate and orders him to be
punished by scourging. Dorotheus is placed in prison, and Gabriel supervises the
gruesome scourging of Dorotheus. After the flagellation, Christ brings Dorotheus
back to his previous position at the gate. Because of the blood that covers him,
Dorotheus must wash himself. Then Christ instructs him to be baptized, and
Dorotheus chooses the name Andreas because he wants to make up for his lack of
courage. The following section is difficult to reconstruct, but after instruction from
Christ, Dorotheus is again placed as guardian of the gate although he asks God that he
be made a veredus (l.310)i.e. he asks to be sent far way. At the end Dorotheus
35
returns to his original earthly position as gatekeeper, though he is now clothed with a
cloak, an orarium, a glittering girdle or belt, and he wears breeches (ll. 332-3). The
vision ends and the poet tells how all this was placed on his heart so that he should
sing of it year after year.
In the first few lines of the narrative, one already sees how Homeric language
interweaves with Christian theology:
T A/( *& ?U 3/&?"U 3!V*W"(-81[0- 10]#$ X<-#$
D"=5?8-, B<(/( Y*E*, %E*- .A*$ Z![(50 '85][,
>0"*- 7- 5?41055& %&%*\$ S(")055([- 7!V ]&]=-. (lines 1-3)
[To me, a sinner, the holy God sent from Heaven
Christ, his image, the brilliant light sent to the world
who put the charming desire for song in my breast]
The second line evokes the Gospel of St. John (^- ?# .N$ ?# 3/=1&-8-, I .C?)_0&
!A-?( B-1"C!*-, 7"S80-*- 0`$ ?#- '85*- John 1:9), but in the Vision of
Dorotheus the light is not the standard Koine .N$ but the archaic Aeolic form,
.A*$. Moreover, this poem uniquely combines two epic words (%E*- .A*$) to
render St. Johns ?# .N$ ?# 3/=1&-8-. The pure God (10#$ X<-#$) has dispatched
Christ from heavenChrist the image of God, a divine light to the world for me
(the narrator), a sinner. Again, with the phrase B<(/( Y*E* a Christian idea is
rephrased in the language of epic. St. Paul describes Christ as the image of God,
0`'a- ?*b 10*b (2 Corinthians 4:4). In the Vision of Dorotheus, Christ is an
36
B<(/( Y*E*, an image of him [God], which looks archaic and proper to epic
because of the old form of the pronoun (78$) and the form of the archaic genitive
ending (-*E*). The word B<(/( as a term for image, however, is not common to
classical epic but rather to later prose.
56

Much of the seemingly archaic diction in this poem is actually based on
Hellenistic models, such as Apollonius of Rhodes or even Quintus of Smyrna. The
poem is full of such combinations of genuinely archaic epic forms alongside newer
formulations (such as the seemingly epic adverb ?*)C$, which is found in late epic
writers such as Apollonius of Rhodes, but not in Homer). Even though the poet does
not hesitate to incorporate Roman military terms, the actual words of the New
Testament are virtually absent: here the poet seems determined to depict God in the
language of epic. The Vision of Dorotheus is hard to classify: on the one hand, it is
highly imitative and archaizing; on the other hand, it is very contemporary and
innovative.
When the poet of the Vision of Dorotheus describes in the first line how God
sent Christ to him, a sinner ( T A/( *& ?U 3/&?"U 3!V*W"(-81[0- 10]#$
X<-#$), is the word 3/&?"8$ used rather than the term more common to Christian
literature, X("?C/8$, simply because one is found in Homer and the other appears
later? No Christian author before Gregory of Nazianzus uses 3/&?"8$,
57
but it

56
B<(/( is not used in reference to Christ. It is used on occasion to refer to the divine image in
man. See PGL.
57
The adjective 3/&?4"&*$ is used by some patristic authors: see examples in the PGL.
37
occurs frequently in Gregorys poetry.
58
In his poem Peri Tou Patros (the first of the
Poemata Arcana) he writes .0P<0?0, c5?&$ 3/&?"8$(l.9). This phrase is itself an
allusion to Callimachus Hymn to Apollo, Y'M$ Y'M$ c5?&$ 3/&?"8$ (In Apollinem
l.2).
59
After Gregory J/&?"8$, a word uncommon in the New Testament and early
Christian literature, then becomes a word loaded with significance among the
Christian poets paraphrasing the Bible in epic verse. It is almost a catchword marking
their work as part of the tradition of Greek Christian poets. The first line of the
Metaphrasis Psaltorum (attributed to Apollinarus), though it looks rather unlike the
Septuagint translation (d('A"&*$ 3-4", I$ *W' 7!*"0P1= 7- R*+/e 350RN-)
highlights how the word becomes part of the tradition of Biblical epics: f/R&*$, c$
?&$ 3-K" 3<*"K- %V *W -)550?V 3/&?"N-.
60
In turn, Nonnus uses it in his
Paraphrase of St. John a number of times, as in the following example: 1-=?#$ 3-K"

58
A search on the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae produces some 49 citations from Gregory of
Nazianzuss poetry.
59
Gregory of Nazianzus, Poemata arcana, ed. Claudio Moreschini and D. A. Sykes (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1997), 81. The phrase occurs again in Poemata Arcana 3.52, where the words are
in the same metrical position as in Callimachus (Commentary, 131).
60
Psalm 1.1 Apollinaris of Laodicea, Apolinarii Metaphrasis Psalmorum, ed. Arthur Ludwich (Leipzig:
Teubner, 1912). Though attributed to the fourth century father and son duo, the Apolinarii, who
famously attempted to render the whole of the Bible into Classical forms during the reign of Julian,
this paraphrase is likely a fifth century work. See Golega, Der homerische Psalter.
38
'(L 3/&?"8$.
61
As this Homeric word enters the lexicon of the Greek poets, does it
remain simply an allusion to its classical past? The Vision of Dorotheus gives an
early instance, alongside Gregory of Nazianzus, of how the word transforms.
62
This
line in the Vision of Dorotheus is not an isolated instance: it appears a number of
times in various forms both in the Vision of Dorotheus and in the other poems of the
codex.
63
J/&?"8$ no longer means jerk (the closest equivalent to its sense in
Homer); now it takes on the significance of sinner with all the implications of
Christian theology. When the poet of the Vision of Dorotheus writes of God
sending Christ to him, a sinner, the tenor of 3/&?"8$ has undergone a change.
In tracing the transformation of this one word, one must ask: is the poet
alluding to any poetic ancestors (Gregory of Nazianzusmore like a contemporary,
Callimachus, or even Homer) or is the poet a passive receptacle of previous poetry?
Or put another way, are these instances accidental parallels coming from a poet
steeped in the school curriculum, or does the poet manipulate the material in order to
draw attention to how these references are refashioned? Take for instance the

61
9.83. Nonnus, Paraphrasis S. Evangelii Ioannei, ed. Augustin Scheindler (1881). A team of Italian
scholars is preparing new editions of Nonnuss paraphrase, many of which have already appeared,
though not for the section in question.
62
A similar point is made by Hurst, Reverdin, and Rudhardt, Papyrus Bodmer 29: Vision de Dorothos,
38. The editors do not, however, take into account how other Christian poets make use of this word.
63
Vision of Dorotheus ll. 1, 96; Le Seigneur ceux qui sofffrent 10; Eloge] du Seigneu Jsus 6;
Adresse aux Justes 98. For the other poems from the codex, see Hurst and Rudhardt, Codex des
Visions: Pomes Divers.
39
flagellation of Dorotheus. The poet describes Christs anger as Dorotheus is put into
prison. While Christ sits in a court like a Roman emperor, he acts with rage, more in
line with the heroes in Homer. Not one but two interwoven Homeric similes illustrate
Christs rage:
O5?=] %V g5[?0] /FC- '"(%)=- <-(1*E5& ?(-P55($
14<]C9- /0+'#- h%8-?V, iV 7'F'/0?* V 7R(/F051(&
[He stood there like a lion straining its wrath, with his jaws
whetting his white fangshe then ordered that I be thrown in]
(ll. 140-141)
Kessels and van der Horst observe in their commentary that the first simile, of
the lions jaws, recalls Od. 16.175, when Athena transforms Odysseus from his
beggarly appearance and sets straight his jaw (<-(1*L %V 7?A-+510-). The
following image, of the lion grinding his teeth, comes from a depiction in the Iliad of a
boar whetting his tusks in anticipation of an attack (14<C- /0+'#- h%8-?( 0?M
<-(!?e5& <F-+55&-, whetting his white fangs with his bent jaws Il. 11.416).
Kessels and van der Horst suggest that the poet has degenerated the line from the
Odyssey and mingled it with the description of the boar from the Iliad; at another point
they call this method the thoughtless reception of a Homeric passage.
64
But is there
another way to approach this? It seems unlikely that this melding of images results
from thoughtless reception and that these parallels emerge without intention.

64
Van Der Horst and Kessels, "The Vision of Dorotheus (Pap. Bodmer 29)," 352 n. 140, 358 n, 295.
40
Specifying when allusion occurs and what the poet intends by an allusion always rests
on shaky ground; however, it is clear that the poet is not passively rehashing these
lines from Homer. The poets use of these lines does more than show that Homer was
a source and a repository for filling out the verse. Homers words are building blocks
for the poet to craft a new scene.
It may appear that the poem is solely concerned with things like flagellations
and that the language of the poem relies strictly on epic, but the poem also has
moments that sound liturgical. Two passages stand out, and these demonstrate how
the poetry of the past is being transformed for new ends. Likewise, these passages
suggest that the chasm between Christian liturgical poetry and classicizing poetry may
not have been as deep as once thought. First, as Dorotheus first describes the imperial
palace and his impression of the Lord, he slides into praise:
3R"85&*- !(-A?&'?*- 7-L 0<A"[*&5&- B-('?(
(W?*.+:. ?# j- *k?&$ 7!F%"('0- c55[V7!L <()l
*k?0 50/=-()= *k1V m/&*$ *k?0 '(L B[5]?9"(.
*W -\n *W -0.F/= 7!&!)/-(?(& oS& %[&]*!?K"
7--()0& !A-?l p"8C- (`q-&*$ B-(n.
[(I saw) the immortal, wholly unbegotten and self-originate Lord
in the palace; the one whom no thing can behold. Nothing on the earth,
nor the moon, nor the sun, nor the stars,
neither night nor cloud approach where dwells
41
the one who sees all, the everlasting Lord who sees in every direction]
ll. 11-15
The first thing to notice is the use of anaphora, a common characteristic in Greek
hymnody of all varieties. As the poet puts the inexpressible into words, unusual terms
must be fashioned: the adjective !(-A?&'?*- is only found in this poem. Along
with (W?*.+:, these terms highlight the uncreated and self-originate status of the
Lord.

MacCoull claims that these terms are Gnostic and that !(-A?&'?*- is
synonymous with the word 3<F--=?*$, a word that appears in the Nag Hammadi
text Eugnostos. This word, however, is also found in the works of Gregory of
Nazianzus when he discusses the un-begotten Father (De Filio, oration 29, section
12).
65
The poet here seems to be describing God the Father, for in line 19 Christ and
the Father are both mentioned. The idea of the God who sees all things and whom no
one can approach is common in both Platonic and Christian thought.
Later as Dorotheus asks Christs mercy after his transgression (ll. 102-04), he
again invokes the idea of the Lord who sees all (%[&]*!?K", l.14):
@/(1) *& !A-?l !("0a- '(L !A-?l 3'*9P9C-

65
L. S. B. Maccoull, "A Note on Panatiktos in Visio Dorothei 11," Ibid.43 (1989): 293-95. Bremmer
likewise challenges MacCoulls claims and shows how this language may be found in Stoic texts as
well; see Bremmer, The Rise and Fall of the Afterlife: The 1995 Read-Tuckwell Lectures at the
University of Bristol, 131. The word also appears in Ignatius, Letter to the Ephesians. 7.2, for which
see John Behr, The Way to Nicaea (Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2001),
90.
42
?=/0.(-: <(EA- ?0 '(L *W"(-#- 0W"\ 09("!q$
*W -\n *W -0.F/= &- c!l 10#- O[5?]&- p"r591(&.
[Have mercy one me, thou who art everywhere and hearest all,
who taketh hold of the conspicuous earth and the wide sky,
neither night nor cloud is able to see God himself by any means.
(ll. 102-04).
The repetition of !A-?l, followed by two different verbs but with the same ending,
gives the passage a hymn-like quality. The initial phrase ( @/(1) *&) could come
from Callimachus or Gregory of Nazianzus
66
, who both use this construction with
frequency. As in the previous example, Dorotheus entreats the Lord with a description
of the inaccessible dwelling place of the Divine, again using the phrase neither night
nor cloud. Moreover, no one is able to see God himself. This phrase has a parallel
in one of Gregory of Nazianzuss poems: s(L !/*b?*- !0-)=- ?0 '(L 0`$ t0#- *2*-
p"r51(&.
67
Both poets use t0#- and p"r51(& in the same metrical position.
While this in itself is not remarkable, the number of parallels with Gregorys poetry
continues to increase and suggests that these are more than parallels.

66
See Fragment 638 in Callimachus, "Fragmenta incertae sedis," in Works, volume 1, ed. Rudolf
Pfeiffer (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1949). Also l. 138 in Callimachus, "In Cerem," in Works, volume
2, ed. Rudolf Pfeiffer (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1953).. See Gregory of Nazianzus, PG 37.765.1.
In addition, see Synesius, Sinesio di Cirene. Inni., ed. Antonio Dell'era (Roma: Tumminelli, 1968).
Hymn 1 line 114 ff.
67
PG 37.1532
43
The emergence of Greek Christian liturgical poetry is a complex process, and
both the poet of the Vision of Dorotheus and Gregory of Nazianzus display elements
of liturgical poetry. Take for instance the way that Dorotheus describes God as being
everywhere present and hearing all things (!A-?l !("0a- '(L !A-?l 3'*9P9C-).
This line may allude to a line from the Odyssey. When Odysseus is praising the bard
Demodocus, he says that the singer was present and heard it all (g$ ?F !*+ u (W?#$
!("0a- u B//*+ 3'*P5($ 8. 491). This Homeric passage, certainly not a hymn,
contains the same two verbs but lacks the anaphoric construction. Whereas in Homer
this line refers to a bard, in the Vision of Dorotheus it refers to the Lord. In the
comic poet Philemon (4
th
or 3
rd
century BC) similar phrasing occurs that plays with
this repetition: 7- vE- !r5&- *W' O5?&- ?8!*$,/ *w 4 5?&- J4" p %j !("a-
X!(-?(S*b / !A-? 7n 3-A<'=$ *2%0 !(-?(S*b !("q-.
68
In a moment of
surprising cultural interchange, Christian authors adapt what Philemon says about J4"
to depict God. In the Acta Ioannis we find a rhetorical flourish on this phrase (p 30L
p"N- ?M !A-?C- '(L 7- !r5&- x- '(L !(-?(S*b !("a- '(L ?M !A-?( !0"&FSC-
'(L !/="N- ?M !A-?( D"&5?j y=5*b 10j 'P"&0).
69
This same language appears
again in a sermon of Gregory Thaumaturgos: '(L !810- <M" !*b 0?(5?450?(& p
!(-?(S*b !("a-, '(L ?M !A-?( !/="N-, '(L 7- ?e S0&"L 5+-FSC- ?M ['85*+]

68
T. Kock, Comicorum Atticorum fragmenta, vol. 2 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1884). Fragment 91 l. 10.
69
Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha ed. Richard A. Lipsius, Max Bonnet, and Heinz Kraft (Hildesheim:
Olms 1959 (repr)), 108.8.
44
!F"(?(;
70
Eventually this works its way into the prayer to the Holy Spirit that
begins many services in the Byzantine office: z(5&/0b *W"A-&0, {("A'/=?0, ?#
{-0b( ?:$ 3/=10)($, p !(-?(S*b !("q- '(L ?M !A-?( !/="N-
71
The poet
of the Vision of Dorotheus can be seen as part of the process by which liturgical
prayers are fashioned out of the long tradition of Greek literature. From Homer to
comedy to sermons, elements are melded together to form something new.
Dorotheus prayer (!A-?l !("0a- '(L !A-?l 3'*9P9C-) resonates with this
popular prayer of the Byzantine officea prayer so popular that even Satan knows it,
according to a kontakion of St. Romanos. O thou who art everywhere present and
fillest all things (p !(-?(S*b !("q- '(L ?M !A-?( !/="N-) cries out Satan to his
companions when he beholds the crucifixion.
72

DOROTHEUS THE POET AND HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Central to the poem is the conceit that Dorotheus is recounting a vision. Line
300 (| ?*E8$ 75?&- p s+-?&A%=$ }C"810*$) raises the question of Dorotheuss
identity. Some have assumed that the poet was a member of the religious community

70
Gregory Thaumaturgos, Sermo in omnes sanctos, ed. J.-P. Migne, vol. 10, Patrologiae Cursus
Completus, series Graeca (PG) (Paris: 1857-66), 1201.38.
71
One of the opening prayers at many of the liturgical offices. See for instance the beginning of
Akolouthia Mesonyktikou in the Hrologion to mega, (Athens: Phs, 2005).
72
Romanus, Cantica, kontakion 21.
45
that assembled this library of papyri texts,
73
but such a view is based on speculation
and the assumption that the poet must be the narrator and that the papyri came from a
monastery. At the end of the poem, the subscription states ?F/*$ ?:$ p"A50C$ /
}C"*1F*+ s+)-?*+ !*&=?*b9. This line can be read in various ways: most have
taken it to mean the end of the vision of Dorotheus, son of Quintus the Poet. Livrea
argues that it could also read end of the vision of Dorotheus Quintus, the Poet.
74

Another reading would be the end of the vision of Dorotheus, by Quintus the poet.
Each reading seems equally plausible. There is a danger, however, if we read
Dorotheus the son of Quintus and assume that this signifies a filial relation. Often
son simply means student or disciple in both literary and religious contexts.
75

Neither Dorotheus nor Quintus are uncommon names, so there is little to go on.
The poet has laid a successful trap and caused readers to assume that the I of
the poem signifies that the narration is a unambiguous autobiography.
76
Previous
readings have proceeded from the assumption that what the poet describes must reflect

73
Dorotheus is mentioned in other poems in the codex, but it remains unclear whether this Dorotheus is
someone actually known by the authors of the other poems. See Hurst and Rudhardt, Codex des
Visions: Pomes Divers, 13ff.
74
Enrico Livrea, "Vision de Dorothos," Gnomon 58 (1986): 688.
75
St. Paul addresses Timothy as his son (1 Cor 1.2) and Libanius refers to his pupils as sons. See
Cribiore, The School of Libanius in Late Antique Antioch, 58.
76
On the difficulties of autobiography and rhetorical constructions of the self in Greek literature, see
Tim Whitmarsh, The Second Sophistic (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 79ff.
46
the actual experience of the poet.
77
As a vision narrative, the Vision of Dorotheus
presents a fictional I with the conceit that this I is the actual person who
experienced the vision. Martha Himmelfarb, who discusses the abundant Jewish and
Christian vision narratives, writes the following concerning the I of these accounts:
I argue that the apocalypses are best understood not as literary adaptations of
personal experiences but as imaginative literature.
78
Her conclusions about the
literary aspects of these narratives certainly apply to the Vision of Dorotheus.
Lessons learned from medieval literature, which is full of vision narratives, pertain to
late antique literature as well: just as Dante the poet is distinct from Dante the pilgrim,
so too is the narrator of the Vision of Dorotheus distinct from the poet.
79
The

77
Livrea claims without hesitation: Il protagonista-narratore, che senza dubbio da identificare con
lautore. . . Livrea, "Vision de Dorothos," 687. Bremmer, though less assertively, asks Did the
poet describe a personal experience? Jan N. Bremmer, "The Vision of Dorotheus," in Early
Christian Poetry. A Collection of Essays, ed. J. Den Boeft and A. Hilhorst (Leiden: Brill, 1993),
261. Gelzer is the only one to see the I of the poem as an example of ethopoiia and cautions
against correlating the I of the poem with the author. Thomas Gelzer, "Zur Visio Dorothei: Pap.
Bodmer 29," Museum Helveticum 45 (1988): 250. See his more developed discussion of the author
in Thomas Gelzer, "Zur Frage des Verfassers der Visio Dorothei," in Le Codex des Visions, ed.
Andr Hurst and Jean Rudhardt (Genve: Librairie Droz, 2002).
78
Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses.
79
Many of the strongest figures in the tradition of medieval criticism have maintained, for a number of
different reasons, that the literary I is not the sign of an actual being but, rather, a specifically
poetic figure. Daniel Heller-Roazen, Fortune's Faces: the Roman de la Rose and the Poetics of
Contingency (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003), 30.
47
Vision of Dorotheus is more properly read as a rhetorical exercise that imagines
what a Roman soldier, a certain Dorotheus who sleeps on the job but whose mind is
full of Homeric verse, might say after an ascent to heaven.
If identifying Dorotheus with one of the many known people (and specifically
poets) proves to be a dead end, then other avenues for dating the poem must be
explored. Often Gregory of Nazianzus is considered the fount and source of the Greek
Christian poetic tradition.
80
Gregory himself tells us that he is not the only one
composing verse; in fact, he depicts a world overrun with poets: Seeing many people
in this present age writing / words without measure which flow forth easily.
81
Most
of Gregorys poetry comes from late in his life (380s), which raises an interesting
possibility: did Gregory know the Vision of Dorotheus, thus giving a better sense of
the date of the poem? Or does the poet of the Vision of Dorotheus know Gregorys
poetry, which would suggest that the poem is from the close of the 4
th
century at the
earliest? Certainly they are both part of the same tradition, as is evident from the
many parallels brought to light in this chapter.
The following moment of intertextuality suggests that the poet of the Vision
of Dorotheus may indeed have known Gregorys poetry. As the flagellation of
Dorotheus continues, Christ commands that Dorotheus be thrown into prison and

80
Jan Sajdak, De Gregorio Nazianzeno, poetarum christianorum fonte (Cracoviae: 1917). Gregory is
seen as source for both the Metraphrasis Psaltorum and the Paraphrase of St. John.
81
To his own verses, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nazianzus: Autobiographical Poems, trans.
Carolinne White (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 3.
48
whipped: h5?&A"<&*>- 5)<-*&5& R(/a- !/=<e5& %A(55*- (l. 131). He then
explains why in the next line: Dorotheus abandoned the gate, trusting in his own
wickedness ( c$ 1+["F=]- '(?F/0&!0- 3?(51(/)l5& !&145($ l.132). As the editors
of the editio princeps note, these two lines have a parallel in Quintus Smyrnaeus:
60E( %F &- }&#$ +@#$ v!# !/=<e5& %(A55($ (Posthomerica 6.265); *~A 0
!4(?V O*"<($ 3?(51(/)l5& !&145($ (Posthomerica 10.317). Quintus, in the line
from book 6, is evoking a passage in Od. 4: (W?8- &- !/=<e5&- 30&'0/)l5&
%(A55($ (Od. 4.244). Since the poet of the Vision of Dorotheus has the words in
the same metrical position, it would appear that he is using Quintus, but he may also
have the Odyssey in mind. What the editors have not noticed, however, is that
Gregory Nazianzus reworks the same Homeric passage, on two different occasions
and in two different ways.
82
In the first instance, he quotes the line almost exactly:
s(L !=/*b V3%F?*&*, '(L `<P!?*&* R("0)=$ / 7n0"P5(&$, !/=<e5&- 30&'0/)l5&
%(A55($ / %+50-F($, /0)=- %j !8"*&$ p%8- (and may you free me from the loose
and burdensome clay of Egypt, overcoming my enemies with injurious blows, while
providing me with an easy road).
83
Here the allusion functions in such a manner that
it seems to signal to the reader, Im quoting from Homer! In another poem (PG
37.1366.14) Gregory talks about God punishing him to draw him closer to God. He
writes: '(L <A" 0 !/=<e5&- 3?(51(/F*-?( %(A_C- (even when he

82
Both were pointed out, but without further discussion, in Enrico Livrea, "Ancora sulla 'Visione' di
Dorotea," Eikasmos 1 (1990): 186.
83
PG 37.1281.6.
49
overcomes me in my wickedness with blows). Here the allusion is more veiled. Two
words remain in the same metrical position (!/=<e5&- and %(A_C-), though the
latter appears in a different morphological form. The similarities between these lines
from Gregory and the lines from the Vision of Dorotheus are striking. Both poets
end the line with a form of the verb %(A_C and use the same dative to express the
means by which they were overcome.
Many echoes of Gregorys poetry are found in the Vision of Dorotheus
beyond this one (see for instance the liturgical passages discussed above).
Furthermore, Gregorys two different re-workings of this Homeric passage suggest
that he was melding the Homeric language and that the poet of the Vision of
Dorotheus was following in his footsteps. Other Christian poets follow in Gregorys
powerful wake. Nonnus, in his paraphrase of the Gospel of John, seems to have
Gregory in mind when he writes: 0` %j '(/N$ '(?F/0n(, ?) 0 !/=<e5& %(A_0&$;
(18.111). The poet of the Vision of Dorotheus may be the first of the followers of
Gregory; if the codex does in fact come from Panopolis, then the poet may be the first
flowering of the great school of poets that emerged from Panopolis in the fifth century.
PASTICHE OR PARODY?
These examples show that the poet of the Vision of Dorotheus melds,
refashions, and has creative control over the inherited tradition; the poet does not
merely receive the tradition passively. Is there also an element of playfulness going
on in the reworking of previous texts? Is the poet, in fact, creating a parody by yoking
epic verse with its heroic ideals to a vision narrative of heaven? Often parody evokes
50
the idea of burlesque or satiric pastiche, but there are many degrees and many types of
parody.
84
Mikhail Bakhtin recognized the importance of parody in the literature of the
Middle Ages, and his observations hold true for the literature of Late Antiquity as
well. Indeed Bakhtin saw that a central component of parody was the quoted words of
others; the stylistic problem of deciphering the direct, half-hidden and completely
hidden quotations leads to further questions about whether these quotations should be
taken seriously or not. As Bakhtin asks, is the author quoting with reverence or on
the contrary with irony, with a smirk?
85
The same could be said for the Vision of
Dorotheus. Is the poet quoting Homer with reverence? Or does the poet aim for
different ends? Likewise, as Grard Genette has shown in Palimpsests, an
investigation of transtextuality (an overarching category that includes within it
intertextuality), rewriting and imitation frequently tend towards parody. And this is
particularly the case with epic poetry:
In truth the epic style, by its formulaic stereotypicality, isnt simply a
designated target for jocular imitation and parodic reversal; it is
constantly liable, indeed exposed, to involuntary self-parody and
pastiche the comic is only the tragic seen from behind.
86


84
See Margaret A. Rose, Parody: Ancient, Modern, and Post-modern (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1993).
85
M. M. Bakhtin, The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays, ed. Michael Holquist, trans. Caryl Emerson
and Michael Holquist (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981), 68-69.
86
Grard Genette, Palimpsests: Literature in the Second Degree, trans. Channa Newman and Claude
Doubinsky (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997), 15.
51
Whereas one expects the reworking of an older text or the imitation of a particular
style to contain an element of playfulness and a certain degree of parody when reading
Geoffrey Chaucer or Alexander Pope, no one has raised this possibility for the Vision
of Dorotheus.
We should recall just how strange it is to have a Christian vision narrative in
Homeric verse. Classicizing Christian poetry was becoming increasingly common in
the fourth and fifth centuries. Even so, among these classicizing Christian poets, none
wrote vision narratives of a trip to heaven. In Hellenistic Judaism and early
Christianity, vision narratives abound. But none of these invoke the high-style of epic
verse. Visions are also an essential aspect of apocalyptic writing, as in the Revelation
of St. John as well as other apocryphal apocalyptic accounts.
87
The Shepherd of
Hermas, which begins with a series of visions,
88
is even part of the same codex as the
Vision of Dorotheus. The two, however, could not be more different in style or
content.
89
The visions in the Shepherd are narrated in a simpler koine, in prose not

87
See for instance Visio Pauli. This as well as other revelation accounts are collected in J. K. Elliot,
ed., The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993).
88
The first part of the Shepherd of Hermas is a series of visions. Bart D. Ehrman, The Apostolic
Fathers, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003). In fact the
portion of the Shepherd of Hermas in the Codex of Visions consists only of visions. See Hermas, Il
Pastore (Ia-IIIa visione), ed. Antonio Carlini, Papyrus Bodmer 38 (Cologny-Genve: Fondation
Martin Bodmer, 1991).
89
Livrea argues that the Shepherd of Hermas is Gnostic and lends support to the idea that the Vision is
also Gnostic: Livrea, "Ancora sulla 'Visione' di Dorotea," 186. Yet this points to the difficulty of
52
verse, and without allusions to Homer. Himmelfarbs work shows how the Vision of
Dorotheus shares many structural similarities with other vision narratives: the
narrator is taken up to heaven, made part of the angelic ranks, taken to the inner
courts, and re-clothed in special garments.
90
Yet aside from the structural similarities,
the Vision of Dorotheus departs from what one would expect from ascent narratives:
this heaven is very Roman, and the narrator speaks like someone who has been
studying Homer and other epic poets. Granted, Hesiod recounts how the Muses visit
him in the beginning of the Theogony, but a vision of heavenin which the narrator is
taken up to heaven and meets Christ and the archangel Gabrielis quite another
matter.
Of the ascent narratives discussed by Himmelfarb, the Vision of Dorotheus
seems most like the apocryphal 2
nd
Enoch. This, however, creates more problems than
it solves since the text of 2
nd
Enoch only survives in a fourteenth-century Old Church
Slavonic translation.
91
The similarities are at times striking: heaven in 2
nd
Enoch
contains fallen angels who are punished, armed ranks of angels, and giant angels, of
which Enoch becomes part (I looked at myself, and I was like one of the glorious

the term gnosticism, since the Shepherd was included as canonical by some Church Fathers and
was probably the most read Christian work outside of the New Testament canon. For more on this,
see Ehrmans introduction in Ehrman, The Apostolic Fathers, 162.
90
Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, 4, 36-40.
91
Ibid., 38.
53
ones, and there was no apparent difference).
92
The comparison with 2
nd
Enoch
suggests how we should read this poem. The Vision of Dorotheus takes a
recognized genre, that of vision narratives, and tells it in the style of another genre, the
heroic epicand this mixing of style with subject matter is one of the central
components of parody.
93

The first two lines of the Vision of Dorotheus, in which Christ is sent from
heaven as a bright light, give the reader the expectation that what follows will describe
how Christ came into the world to save sinners or redeem those who are lost. Instead,
Christ is a Muse sent from heaven to put the desire for song in the heart of Dorotheus
(>0"*- 7- 5?41055& %&%*\$ S(")055([- 7!V ]]=- l. 3). Later in the poem, Gabriel
puts a charming song into Dorotheuss heart (R(/a- S(")055(- 3*&[%K-] / 7-
5?41055&- 7*E5&- ll173-74). Remarkably, such language can be found in the epic
tradition, but in instances when a god casts strength (Il. 5. 513) or even erotic desire
into ones heart. In the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, Aphrodite puts desire into the

92
2
nd
Enoch 9:19 H. F. D. Sparks, The Apocryphal Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984).
Compare Dorotheus transformation: The long men, high as heaven, looked at me in astonishment
seeing the wondrous giant, the strong man (that I was). . . From afar the men looked at me in
astonishment, seeing how big I was and that I did not have simple clothing trans. Kessels and Van
der Horst , ll. 233-234, 328-329.
93
Genette, in discussing the different types of parody, says the following: the third [type], from the
application of a noble stylethe style of the epic in general or of the Homeric epic; indeed, if such
specification has a meaning, or a single work by Homer (the Iliad)to a vulgar or nonheroic
subject. Genette, Palimpsests: Literature in the Second Degree, 12.
54
hearts of beasts in the same way that Christ puts desire for song into the heart of
Dorotheus: '(L ?*E$ 7- 5?41055& RA/ >0"*-.
94
Dorotheus, therefore, receives this
vision not for the usual purpose of preaching repentance or gaining secret knowledge;
rather his vision of heaven gives him material for song, as the end of the poem relates:
'(L 7- 5?4[1055&- 3]*&%K9-9 (l. 340).
Furthermore, the vision comes to Dorotheus in the middle of the day while he
napsnot while he is praying: -4%+*$ !-*$ O!&!?0- 7!L R0/0.A"*&[5&-
7]*E5&- [sweet sleep fell upon my eyes]. Visions usually come to those praying or
weeping (such as the visions in the Shepherd of Hermas
95
), not those sleeping during
the middle of the dayespecially those whose job it is to keep watch. Evidently
Dorotheus forgot Christs response to the disciples when they fell asleep when they
were supposed to be keeping watch: What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
(Matt 26:40). Indeed, the midday hour is a common time for visions, as Livrea and
Bremmer have both observed,
96
but that misses the point: Dorotheus is supposed to be
on guard and awake when sleep overcomes him and he ascends to the heavenly palace.

94
l. 73. Andrew Faulkner, The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite: Introduction, Text, and Commentary
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 156.
95
{"*50+S*F-*+ %F *+ <*)<= p *W"(-8$ Shepherd of Hermas I.1, in Ehrman, The Apostolic
Fathers. See also the comments of Himmelfarb: In several of the ascent apocalypses the hero is
weeping or mourning as the angelic guide appears to summon him to ascend. Himmelfarb, Ascent
to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, 107.
96
Bremmer, The Rise and Fall of the Afterlife: The 1995 Read-Tuckwell Lectures at the University of
Bristol, 185, fn 5; Livrea, "Vision de Dorothos," 707.
55
The narrator himself is not the only unexpected character. It is odd enough to have a
vision narrative in Homeric verse with Christ as a muse; transfer the Roman
administration to heaven, and the parody becomes even more complex.
Even the spelling of Christ may contain an element of playfulness.
Throughout the poem, Christ is spelled with an eta (D"=5?8$) rather than an iota
(D"&5?8$). This could be a way for the author to deflect criticismthe poem is not
really about Christ, but some fictional Good one who runs a imaginary heaven that
looks an awful lot like the Roman imperial court. Some have seen this as evidence of
Gnostic influence on the poem, since it was common to use S"=5?8$ (useful, good)
rather than S"&5?8$ (the anointed one) among various Gnostic groups.
97
The claim
that the spelling S"=5?8$ signifies Gnostic influence rests on shaky ground. In the
earliest mention of a Christian in Egypt (early third century), the word Christian is
spelled with an eta rather than iota: O5?(&) }&85'*"*$ D"=5?&(-#$?.
98
At the same

97
Kessels and Van der Horst cite Alexander of Lycopolis for this information: see Alexander of
Lycopolis, An Alexandrian Platonist against Dualism: Alexander of Lycopolis' Treatise "Critique of
the doctrines of Manichaeus", trans. Pieter Willem Van Der Horst and Jaap Mansfeld (Leiden: Brill,
1974), 91 n. 378. Alexander tells us that the Manicheans change the iota to an eta; additionally, it
appears that the Marcionites also did this, according to Andr Villeys commentary, Alexander of
Lycopolis, Contre la doctrine de Mani, ed. Andr Villey, Sources gnostiques et manichennes; 2
(Paris: Cerf, 1985), 318. Both groups seem to emphasis the good one rather than the anointed to
distance themselves from the Old Testament.
98
Peter Van Minnen, "The Roots of Egyptian Christianity," Archiv fr Papyrusforschung 40 (1994):
71-85. The papyrus was published by P. J. Sijpesteijn, "List of nominations to liturgies," in
Miscelleanea papyrologica (Firenza: 1980), 341-47. and republished as SB XVI 12497.
56
time, there was a recognition amongst the early Christians of the similitude of Christ
(S"&5?8$) and goodness (S"=5?8$) as a linguistic pun that expressed a truth.
99

Thus, this alternate spellingwhich could easily happen since both iota and
eta were pronounced the same by this periodis not unusual nor is it an indication of
Gnostic influence. Another fourth-century papyrus text, from the Barcelona papyri,
also uses S"=5?8$ but without any suggestion of Gnosticism.
100
Furthermore, a
Homeric parody from a recently published papyrus also plays with this homophone.
101

Worp, the editor and translator of this parody, acknowledges the difficulties in making
sense of this brief poem; nevertheless, he leaves the reader with the tantalizing
suggestion of some resonances to Christian liturgy. He asks, for instance, if the
penultimate line 0b !A?0", B"?*- *& %#$ ?+")*- h!?#- playfully invokes
the Lords Prayer: !A?0" N- . . . ?#- B"?*- N- ?#- 7!&*P5&*- %#$ E-
540"*-. Not only here, but earlier (line 10), the cook in the parody, having caught
and prepared the rooster, cries out, D"=5?8-, (Its good!) which to fourth-century
ears would have sound identical to D"&5?8- (Its Christ!). This brings to mind the

99
Tertullian records how the pagans, upon seeing the affection the Christians had for one another,
called them not christiani but chrestiani, Apologia 3.39. See the discussion of S"=5?8$ / S"&5?8$
(along with additional bibliography) in Ceslas Spicq and James D. Ernest, Theological Lexicon of
the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), v. 3, 511-16.
100
See Ramn Roca-Puig, Casta oblaci: P. de Barc. inv. nm. 157ab (Barcelona: 1992), pps. 6-7.
101
Colin A. Hope and K. A. Worp, "Miniature Codices from Kellis," Mnemosyne LIX, no. 2 (2006).
57
psalm verse interpreted by Christians as referring to the Eucharist: taste and see that
the Lord is good (Psalm 33:9 [LXX] <0P5(510 '(L %0?0 ]?& S"45?*$ p sP"&*$).
To clarify these questions, we need other fourth-century parodies for
comparison. Fortunately, an unmistakable parody was published only in 2006.
102
Not
only does it come from the same time period (fourth century), but it also comes from
Upper Egypt. In fact it comes from Kellis, a town in the Dakhlah oasis, and most
likely from a school. If Homeric parodies were being written in village schools in
oasis towns, then we have evidence that parody was a widespread phenomenon, not
something limited to urbane writers from elite circles in the major cities. The parody
is written on wooden boards assembled as a codex, and the parody has been written
over an erased text
103
thus this text is a re-writing both in the literal and the figural
sense. In this short parody (fifteen lines of hexameter), the language of Homer is
altered and used to narrate a less exalted story. The parodic playfulness becomes
apparent starting with line 8, when a Homeric phrase seems to call for Hector (g$
0`!a- !+/FC- 7nF55+?* .()%&*$ '?C" Il. 6.1) but instead we get a rooster (g$
0`!a- !+/FC- 7nF55+?* !"#$#$ 3/F'?C"). Not only does the rooster sit in the
metrical place that we expect Hector, but it plays upon the homophony of '?C" /
3/F'?C". This example captures the tone of this particular parody: it uses a stock
Homeric phrase but throws in an unexpected word or phrase at the end. The effect is
to move from the grandiose to the silly. A few lines later we see the same movement.

102
Ibid.
103
The publication includes a detailed physical description and photographs.
58
The line begins with the Homeric formula 3-F"0$ O5?0, .)/*&, -45(510 %j
[friends, be brave, and remember. . .] but the verse ends in an unexpected way
A!!(- 7-0<'0E- [. . .remember to bring a napkin] rather than the Homeric ending
1*P"&%*$ 3/':$ [. . .remember your battle-ready prowess].
104
A napkin is about as
un-heroic as it gets, especially when the word is a Latin loan-word.
Returning to the scene of Dorotheuss flagellation, we see how parody
provides a way of reading this scene. The first oddity is that Christ is smiling as he
interrogates Dorotheus: 0&%&8C- 7!V 70E* '(?=[<*"FC- !"*]59F909&9!90- (he smiled
at me and, interrogating me, said l.111 cf 218, 315). The poem then goes on to
describe Christs anger as Dorotheus is put into prison. His smile turns to rage:
SC*F-*+] %V B5R05?*- 7!L R/0.A"*&$ 'FS+?V 3S/+$
39[S-+F-*]+, F-0*$ %j F<( ."F-0$ 3.&F/(&-(&
!9[)!/](9-9?9]V, ]5]50 %F p& !+"L /(!0?8C-?& 7'?=-.
ll.137-139
[with his anger inextinguishable there spread a mist over his eyes,
in his grief his heart was filled with great dark rage on both sides
and his eyes were blazing like fire]
These lines may suit Agamemnon when, full of rage, he responds to Chalcas in book
one of the Iliad (1.103-4), but they seem out of place here. Fourth-century paideia
taught the ruling elite the necessity of restraint and self-controlDirect physical

104
For parallels, see Hope and Worp, "Miniature Codices from Kellis," 242.
59
violence was to be as unbecoming to them as incoherent speech.
105
The heavenly
emperor here is not acting much like a good emperor, who was expected to restrain his
rage and present an image of impassibility.
106
If the show of violence was unbecoming
to fourth-century elites, then it would seem even more ill-suited in a depiction of
Christ. How can Christ be likened to a vengeful Agamemnon? A central function of
parody is the sense of disorientation that occurs when the language of one text (the
source text) gets applied to a character or situation completely unlike the source text.
This helps to explain the linking of Christ with Agamemnon. The comparison with
Agamemnon is a challenge to heroic ideals and calls into question the suitability of
heroic ideals to a Christian narrative.
To complicate matters, the Vision of Dorotheus is not unique in transposing
these lines from the Iliad. In the fifth-century Homerocentones of the Empress
Eudocia, these lines describe Judas:
'/)('( %V v=/K- '(?0R45(?* ?*E* %8*&*,
SC80-*$ F-0*$ %j F<( ."F-0$ 3.L F/(&-(&
!)!/(-?V ]550 %F *@ !+"L /(!0?8C-?& 7'?=-

105
Peter Brown, Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity: Towards a Christian Empire (Madison:
University of Wisconsin Press, 1992), 49. See also 48-58.
106
As Peter Brown pointed out to me, however, a passage in Sozomen speaks of Theodosius learning
to assume a mild or a formidable aspect as the occasion might require. See Sozomen,
Ecclesiastical History, vol. 2, A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian
Church. Second Series (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983-86 (repr)), 9.1.
60
[He climbed down the ladder in the house
Full of rage, and fury about his black soul
Swelled, and his eyes burned as bright as fire]
107

With both the Vision of Dorotheus and the Homerocentones of Eudocia applying
the same Homeric passage, but to such diametrically opposed figures, one sees why
some have been suspicious of centos for their ability to rework passages in a radical
way. Eudocia applies the heroic sense of wrath to Judas, adding another dimension to
an already reviled character. But Dorotheus uses this passage in reference to the Lord.
On another occasion, when Dorotheus receives instructions from God, and Dorotheus
is described as famous among the heroes and praised among those yet to come
('P%&*- "qC- '(L 3*)%&*- 755*F-*&5[&-.] l.272), these ideals appear misplaced
at best, even jarring: parody operates here and throughout the poem by creating this
sense of incongruity.
Toward the end of the poem, Dorotheus receives new garments, and here again
parody is at work. This scene has attracted the attention of scholars for various
reasons. Some want to date the poem based on the types of clothes,
108
while others

107
ll. 1473-4. Text from Mark David Usher, Homeric stitchings: The Homeric Centos of the Empress
Eudocia (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1998).
108
Jan N. Bremmer, "An Imperial Palace Guard in Heaven: The Date of the Vision of Dorotheus,"
Zeitschrift fr Papyrologie und Epigraphik 75 (1988): 86; Bremmer, The Rise and Fall of the
Afterlife: The 1995 Read-Tuckwell Lectures at the University of Bristol.
61
see this as a sign of the Gnostic background to the poem.
109
When Dorotheus is
described as clothed not with heavenly or mystical garments but with earthly
garments, the high style of epic and the loftiness of the mystical vision intertwine with
the more mundane. Investiture happens frequently and with symbolic meaning in
many ascent narratives, but like the peculiarity of having a Roman soldier in heaven,
these other clothing ceremonies do not involve military dress.
110
Dorotheus is dressed
in a cloak (S/(E-(-), has an orarium around his neck (;"(")*&*), wears a glittering
girdle (_C5?:"( !(-()/*-), but also wears breeches (R"A'0( ll.33-334). This word,
a rare occurrence of the Latin braces in Greek,
111
does not seem to fit with the other
grand garments. While the tone seems serious when the cloak and girdle are
mentioned, with the presence of breechesa Latin loan-word ill-suited to epicthe
tone quickly transitions to a less serious key. These are the clothes of contemporary
Roman soldiers, even if reserved for elite guards, but certainly not heavenly vestures.
These lines read more as a parody of clothing symbolism. Is it any wonder that the
people have asked in disbelief (and I would argue in jest): Is this really Dorotheus,

109
Livrea, "Vision de Dorothos," 692-94.
110
Himmelfarb points out that the clothing given to the narrator in ascent narratives has clear priestly
symbolism. See Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, 30. The
moments of investiture in these ascent narratives seems much closer to what happens in the Vision
than the loose associations Livrea makes with the clothing in the Hymn of the Pearl.
111
Hesychius offers some guidance here: R"A'0$ 3-(n+")%0$. Breeches= trousers. Hesychius,
Lexicon, ed. Joannes Alberti, Moriz Wilhelm Constantin Schmidt, and Rudolf Menge (Ienae: 1858),
394.
62
the son of Quintus? (| ?*E8$ 75?&- p s+-?&A%=$ }C"810*$; l. 300). Granted, the
next line suggests that the Dorotheus has become god-like ([o D"=5?#]$ %*S0E 02-(&
c?0+ SA"&$ H5!0?(& (W?U). A disconnect occurs as epic poetry descends to the level
of Roman military garb. Dorotheus ascends to heaven, and all he received was the
clothing of the Roman imperial guard? One would expect a bit more from a trip to
heaven, like perhaps a prophecy or the key to salvation.
CONCLUSION
Parody does not mean that the text is simply a whimsical game and lacks any
deeper significance; instead, it shows how complex the Christian negotiation with
classical texts was in this period.
112
The Vision of Dorotheus is still a serious poem
and not simply a farcesee for instance the moral instructions at line 240 and
followingbut the conceit of the poem is a parody. There is an unwillingness in

112
Reading parody in Christian texts remains a problem throughout the Middle Ages, as Bakhtin shows:
Here a whole spectrum of possible relationships toward this word comes to light, beginning at one
pole with the pious and inert quotation that is isolated and set off like an icon, and ending at the
other pole with the most ambiguous, disrespectful, parodic-travestying use of a quotation. The
transitions between various nuances on this spectrum are to such an extent flexible, vacillating and
ambiguous that it is often difficult to decide whether we are confronting a reverent use of a sacred
word or a more familiar, even parodic playing with it; if that latter, then it is often difficult to
determine the degree of license permitted in that play. Bakhtin, The Dialogic Imagination: Four
Essays, 69-70.
63
scholarship to entertain the idea that pious Christians could have a lighter side.
113
The
presence of Menanders comedies amongst such serious works as the Bible and
Christian homilies in the Bodmer papyri continues to trouble scholars. Kasser asks,
one wonders what Menanders light-hearted comedies would be doing in an austere
Pachomian monastery.
114
The content of the collection shows a more sophisticated
engagement with classical texts than scholars are willing to imagine. Instead of asking
how they could be reading Menander, we should ask why it is so hard for us to
imagine reading Menander alongside the Bible?
115
Clearly it was not an issue for the
author of the Vision of Dorotheus, nor for the other poets whose work survives in
the Bodmer Papyri and whose poems draw both upon the Bible and pagan Greek
literature.

113
See Bremmers comments on why the collection could not have been for the use of the monks: the
collection contains some comedies of Menander, and Egyptian monks were not really that
frivolous! Bremmer, "The Vision of Dorotheus," 252.
114
Kasser, "Introduction," liv-lv.
115
Bishop Kallistos Ware recounts a story of Fr Nikon, a highly educated Russian monk on Mt. Athos,
a pious and severe monastic community, who had in his cell a complete edition of P. G. Wodehouse,
an author whose writings are anything but severe. See Graham Speake, "A Friend of Mount Athos,"
in Abba: The Tradition of Orthodoxy in the West. Festschrift for Bishop Kallistos (Ware) of
Diokleia, ed. John Behr, Andrew Louth, and Dimitri E. Conomos (Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir's
Seminary Press, 2003). Thus it should not come as a surprise that parodiesand Wodehouse is one
of the masters in this genrecan have a place in a monastic sphere.
64
The Vision of Dorotheus does more than simply apply classical style to
Christian content and render a religious narrative in an archaic verse form. Instead,
the poem creatively melds a traditional type of Christian narrative with a form of
poetry previously unassociated with Christian narratives. But it is not a happy
marriage. In its use of archaic poetry, the poem also highlights the uneasy conjunction
of epic ideals and Christian theology. Parody arises as epic poetry becomes the
medium for recounting an ascent to heaven. For a parody to work, it requires a long-
standing and well-known tradition to mock; parodies often seem to arise when a genre
becomes well-worn and overused. The vision narrative would fit this bill in the
fourth-century. There may even be some parodying of Gnostic mystical ascents:
Dorotheus undergoes a whipping by angels and a transformation, but his
transformation leads to his being dressed as an imperial guard. For the Vision of
Dorotheus, parody is a means for playing with the excesses found in vision
narratives. Certainly a poem in which a sleepy Roman soldier discovers himself in a
Roman heaven with a Christ given to torture, and who then returns to earth to sing of
this experience year after year in pseudo-Homeric versein his fancy new clothes of
course!cannot be read without some sense of parody.
Consequently, the classical tradition was not, on the one hand, something to be
dismissed outright; nor, on the other hand, was it something to be admired and adapted
whole-heartedly. Many Christian apologists from the early church talk about Athens
and Jerusalem and the place of Greek culture within Christianity; this poem,
however, shows us what it was like on the ground and how poets made use of the
poetry of the past.
65
66
CHAPTER THREE: VISUALIZING DIALOGUES: THE IMAGINED
SPEECHES OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND SARAH IN TO ABRAHAM (P.
BODM. 30)
INTRODUCTION
After the Vision of Dorotheus, the next poem in the codex presents a
retelling of Abrahams Sacrifice of his son Isaac. It is not a vision narrative; in fact,
the name that the editors have given the codex (Codex of Visions) may be misleading
here, since only the first and last texts are vision narratives (Vision of Dorotheus and
the first three visions from the Shepherd of Hermas.) Although the poem is a
paraphrase, it does present a vision of sorts: it imagines what Abraham, Sarah, and
Isaac might have said before the sacrifice. The first part of the poem imagines this
dialogue before proceeding to a narration of the sacrifice itself and the subsitutional
offering. Like the other poems in the codex, this one imitates classical modes of verse
as it uses dactylic hexameter and archaic diction. Yet it is also a hymn in praise of
Abraham.
In this chapter I provide a new reading of To Abraham and offer an
interpretation of its symbolism. I will focus on two difficult and as yet unexplained
passages. First, the depiction of Isaac as a bride (rather than a groom) going to his
wedding, and second, the imagery of the apple amongst the trees which Abraham
chooses for a sacrifice in place of his son. As I will show, these passages reveal a
complex allegorical reading that is at the heart of understanding the poem.
67
THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC IN JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN ART AND
LITERATURE
Genesis 22, referred to variously as the Aqedah (the binding of Isaac) or the
Sacrifice of Isaac, stands as a central narrative in both Jewish and Christian traditions.
The story of Abrahams supreme test of faith when he is called upon to sacrifice his
son Isaac has been retold and refashioned in literature and art; commentators,
exegetes, and homilists have returned to it again and again. Kierkegaard to Auerbach
attest to its continuing importance in the modern age. The potential interpretations
and readings of the brief narrative seem to be endless. Surveys have taken account of
the various ways the Sacrifice has been used: Kundert and Lerch, in particular, provide
extensive overviews.
116
In addition, Sebastian Brocks article on the Syriac tradition
highlights this tradition as well as Jewish and Greek patristic interpretations.
117
He
also explores the various ways Sarah is represented and presents new editions and
translations of Syriac texts on the Sacrifice.
118
Other recent scholarship has taken a

116
Lukas Kundert, Die Opferung/Bindung Isaaks. 1. Gen 22, 1 - 19 im Alten Testament, im
Frhjudentum und im Neuen Testament (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1998); Lukas
Kundert, Die Opferung/Bindung Isaaks. 2. Gen 22, 1 - 19 in frhen rabbinischen Texten (Neukirchen-
Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1998); David Lerch, Isaaks Opferung christlich gedeutet: Eine
auslegungsgeschichtliche Untersuchung (Tbingen: Mohr, 1950).
117
Sebastian P. Brock, "Genesis 22 in Syriac Tradition," in Mlanges Dominique Barthlemy, ed. Pierre
Casetti, Othmar Kell, and Adrian Schenker (Gttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1981).
118
, "Sarah and the Aqedah," Le Muson 87 (1974); Sebastian P. Brock, "Two Syriac verse
homilies on the binding of Isaac," Le Museon 99 (1986).
68
comparative approach and examined Genesis 22 in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic
traditions.
119

The Bodmer Papyri present yet another take on the narrative. To Abraham
(P.Bodm. 30) explores the meaning of Genesis 22 and offers a reading of the episode
in an unusual and veiling manner. Furthermore, the poem stands among the earliest
examples of Christian poems that recast a Biblical narrative in the forms of the Greek
classical tradition. With so many re-readings, visual imaginings, and theological
interpretations of the Sacrifice of Isaac, it is astonishing that this poem from the
Bodmer Papyri offers yet another distinct and original interpretation of Genesis 22. Its
interpretation is not the only aspect of the poem that is unusual. The poems structure
melds various traditions. First of all, it seems to be an encomion in verse. Encomia,
the praises of heroes and of men (and later mythological characters), were traditionally
done in prose, while poetry was reserved for the praise of the gods. These categories
became permeable with Aelius Aristides hymns,
120
in which a genre traditionally
associated with poetry is done in prose. In like manner this poem takes a prose

119
Mishael Caspi and Sascha Benjamin Cohen, The Binding (Aqedah) and its Transformations in
Judaism and Islam: The Lambs of God (Lewiston, NY: Mellen Biblical Press, 1995); Robin M.
Jensen, "The Offering of Isaac in Jewish and Christian Tradition," Biblical Interpretation 2, no. 1
(1994); Edward Kessler, Bound by the Bible: Jews, Christians, and the sacrifice of Isaac
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004); Edward Noort and Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar, The
sacrifice of Isaac: the Aqedah (Genesis 22) and its interpretations (Leiden: Brill, 2002).
120
J.M. Bremer, "Menander Rhetor on Hymns," in Greek Literary Theory after Aristotle, ed. J. G. J.
Abbenes, S. R. Slings, and I. Sluiter (Amsterdam: VU University Press, 1995).
69
exercise and recasts it in verse. After a three-line proem, the poem then follows an
alphabetic acrostic. A three-line summary completes the poem. The acrostic helps in
reconstructing the poem. Two lines (' and /) are missing, but otherwise the papyrus is
in fairly good shape. But the meaning of the poem remains ambiguous.
Since its first publication, only a few scholars have explored this poem and it
has only recently begun to appear in broader discussions of the Sacrifice of Isaac.
Andr Hurst and Jean Rudhardt published the text (under the auspices of the
Foundation Martin Bodmer, which owns the papyri) in 1999.
121
Their edition, with an
introduction, commentary, and translation into French, provides the basis for any
further study. A version of the poem was published prior to this by Enrico Livrea,
though controversy surrounds the unauthorized publication of this text.
122
In 2002
Pieter van der Horst and F. G. Parmentier published a translation into English with a
discussion that situates the poem in the larger context of Christian and Jewish

121
Hurst and Rudhardt, Codex des Visions: Pomes Divers.
122
Enrico Livrea, "Un Poema Inedito di Dorotheos: Ad Abramo," Zeitschrift fr Papyrologie und
Epigraphik 100 (1994). Livrea, who had been consulting with Hurst and Rudhardt on the poem,
published the poem without the permission of the Bodmer Foundation. For more on the
controversy, see Hans E. Braun, "Mitteilung der Bibliotheca Bodmeriana " Zeitschrift fr
Papyrologie und Epigraphik 103 (1994). Livrea refers to HR in his notes but these readings
predate the edition of Hurst and Rudhard in 1999; additionally, Hurst and Rudhardt refer to readings
as Livrea in their notes but these often differ from Livreas readings in his article.
70
traditions.
123
The same year saw another translation into English by Tom Hilhorst,
who discusses further parallels.
124
While these editions and commentaries make
strides towards solving the problems of the text and its meaning, much remains
unclear. In their translation and commentary, van der Horst and Parmentier close by
mentioning the aspects that make the poem original, citing among other things Isaac
asking for his hair to be braided and the play on words with sheep/apple. They
conclude by point out that these motifs deserve further research.
125
Hilhorst, in the
most recent publication on To Abraham, likewise calls attention to the need for
further study. Concerning the question of whether the poems origins are Christian or
Jewish, he writes: what we need is a convincing explanation of how the images
function with the present poem. In the meantime, I would prefer to leave the question
open.
126
What is lacking, therefore, is a sense of the poem as a whole, a unified
understanding of how the images, metaphors, and allusions work together. Evidently
much remains to be done.
One could add further parallels or possible sources. But the danger lies in
accumulating parallels without an attempt to explain how these sources are used, or

123
Pieter Van Der Horst and F. G. Parmentier, "A New Early Christian Poem on the Sacrifice of Isaac,"
in Le Codex des Visions, ed. Andr Hurst and Jean Rudhardt (Genve: Librairie Droz, 2002).
124
A. Hilhorst, "The Bodmer Poem on the Sacrifice of Abraham," in The Sacrifice of Isaac. The Aqedah
(Genesis 22) and its Interpretations, ed. Ed Noort and Eibert Tigchelaar (Leiden: Brill, 2002).
125
Van Der Horst and Parmentier, "A New Early Christian Poem on the Sacrifice of Isaac," 172.
126
Hilhorst, "The Bodmer Poem on the Sacrifice of Abraham," 107-08.
71
how these parallels illuminate the poemwhat others have called parallelomania.
Kessler offers sound caution:
However, parallels do not, in themselves, prove the existence of an
exegetical encounter in the writings of the church fathers and rabbis
because they might have resulted from earlier writings, such as those of
Philo and Josephus, or might be found in the Apocrypha and
Pseudepigrapha. Parallels might also have arisen as a result of similar
methods and presuppositions in the interpretation of the same biblical
text. Sandmel [1961 Parallelomania Journal of Biblical Literature
80:1-13] has warned against parallelomania, which he defines as an
extravagance among scholars, which first overdoes the supposed
similarity in passages and then proceeds to describe source and
derivation as if implying literary connection flowing from an inevitable
or predetermined direction.
127

Parallels will not explain everything. At the other extreme, originality is not limited to
the moments when the poet relies on no source but the imagination.
128
The creative
adaptation of sources is not second-rate to some supposed originality as the chief of
poetic virtues. The purpose of this chapter is not simply to augment the previous

127
Kessler, Bound by the Bible: Jews, Christians, and the sacrifice of Isaac, 9-10.
128
But there are also differences [from Genesis 22] which seem to indicate a certain originality of our
Christian poet. Van Der Horst and Parmentier, "A New Early Christian Poem on the Sacrifice of
Isaac," 172.
72
editions, although I will suggest some further parallels, and more importantly, some
allusions. In this chapter I attempt to unpack the images, metaphors, and allusions in
an attempt to unveil the larger meaning of the poem. I will demonstrate how the
obscure images work together cohesively. The difficult passages cannot be explained
away by other texts, but a reading of other texts can shed light on the imaginative
world at work in this poem. Therefore, this chapter draws on the writings of Gregory
of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa, not to suggest that their writings are sources for
the poem, but rather in an attempt to clarify some of the more obscure passages.
TEXT AND TRANSLATION
TEXT FROM HURST AND RUDHARDT
The critical apparatus presented here records variant readings by Hurst and Rudhardt
1999 [hereafter HR]
129
and those of Livrea 1994 [Liv]; the apparatus simply records
variant readings, not sources and parallels.

129
Hurst and Rudhart mention in their apparatus B but it is not clear what this refers to.
73

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6Fn(& Y#- .)/*- +~( ?0/=F55=- Y'(?8R=-.

'(?M 5?*&S0E*-
(W?)'( %V $ n+-F='0- 7S4"(?* !"8."*-& 1+9[N&
5 R: %V 0- 0` !0!)1*&0- 3<('/0&?K- !("A'*&[?&-
<P-(& 74, !*1F0& 10#$ BR"*?*$ ]."( '*[)55C
%E*- V5(', F<( %N"*- O9=9[-] 79!9L9 <4"(*[$ *]W9%9[N&
7'<0-F?=$ ?0/F50&0- ?9[N& <0 10*b ?# 1F/]=99[(
_0PnC 7#- !*?L RC[#]-9 h9"9[0<-\$ +@#-] B919&['?*-.
10 Pn(?* %V ;$ !0!P10[5]'0 <+-[K] !90!-+F9[-( RA_0&]-9
1A"50&, 7#- .)/0 ?F'-9*9- 7![0L] A'(" O![/0* 5\ _]N-
V5(9['] 7N- 0/FC- ?9[F'*$ ] .'/. [
['
[/ (?*':($ vel sim.)
15 0)/&S(] '(<S(/8C- !"*50.q-00 .()%&*$ +@8$
-+[.)]%&9*- 1(/0"#- 1A/(*- ?0Pn(510 ?*':0$,
n(-[1]4- *& !/*'A*&5& '8=- !/Fn(510 !*/E?(&,
].["V @0"]K9- ?0/F5(&& SA"&- 0<(/4?*"& 1+N&.
!9[b" (W]?9M" !0"L RC#- 7?0)S&5(- 5?*"0$ 3.)$,

20 69[*)R%=]50- %j 1A/(55( !0"L ./8<(, ?K- 6M d*5K$


7. O9=9[-] 79!9L9 <4"(*[$ *]W9%9[N& HR: 799[*]b9 [7]!9L <4"(*$9 [*]W%N& Liv|| 8. 7'<0-F?=$ : fort. 7' <0-0?:$
HR|| ?9[N& <0 '?/ : fort. !9[r- c?& *> ?# 1F/]=99[( vel !9[r- 10*b ?# 1F/]=99[( HR || 10.
]!90!-+F9[-( RA_0&]-9 HR: ]!90!-+F9[-*- +@8]-9 Liv || 11. 7![0L] A'(" '?/ HR: 7!9[{0}L 5]\9
('A"?9[(?*$ B//]C- Liv || 12. ?F'*$ vel ?8'*$ HR || 15. 0)/&S( HR: 4?0"( Liv || 18.
].[" @0"]K9- : vel ].[" k]&9- HR: ].[" v]E9- Liv || 19. !9[b" (W]?9M" HR: !9[+"K-] <9M" Liv
74
59[S)50]& JR"(M +~( !*?&n+-(0)"0?* 'b(
?9[#- %V O].0"0- 1+80-?( !(?K", S()"*-?( %j RCN&


v810]- .()5?*&* %0&%)5'0?*, 1P-(?* %V hn\
.A5<(-*]- (WSF-0*$ !*?&10&-F0- 3//M 10*E*
25 S0L" K- 3].0?A-+5?* .A-05'0 <M" 7<<P1& :/*-
:/0- %V JR"](M, +~( 5qC-, 3-M %F-%"0( '("!#-
G5?0 !"*51]F90-*$ ?8 6V 7/Fn(?* %(E?( !*-0E51(&.

?M /*&!]M !"8510?(
(9W9?9[)'( 5P, ] 90<A1+0, /AS*&$ <F"($ B//* '(?V(W?#
S)/&([ ?F'-( 5]0 ?*E*- 7!(+<A5(& 3-1080-?(
30 %C"*[%8?=]-9 !9(-A"&5?*- 7!0R0R(N?V 7!L !P"<C&.


20. 69[*)R%=]50- : vel 69[*)_=50- HR || 21. 59[S)50]& HR: 59[S)_0]-9 Liv ||23. v810]- Liv ||
%0&%)5'0?* : %&%&5'0?* B || 25. init. suppl. Liv || 26. :/0- : &/8-? 0+5?4-? 0+%F(? HR||
28. (9W9?9[)'( HR: '9P9"9[&F *+] Liv || 29. [?F'-( 5]0 ?*E*- HR: ['P"&]0, ?*E*- Liv || 30.
%C"*[%8?=]-9 HR: }C"8[10*]-9 Liv
75

TRANSLATION
To Abraham
Proem
He who joined together the world, both heaven and the sea
sent to Abraham from the heavenly realm a swift messenger,
instructing him to sacrifice his beloved son as a perfect sacrifice.
According to the alphabet
As soon as he learned he rejoiced with a ready heart
And he went to see if he could convince his renowned wife.
my wife, the immortal God desires that I should carry away
brilliant Isaac, the great gift given us in our old age,
our child. May he accomplish Gods will.
130

With my hand outstretched I shall bind my unblemished son to the altar.
As soon as Sarah learned this, she began to wax poetic in her encouragement:

130
The reading of this line is uncertain. Hilhorst (99) translates it as my offspring. May Gods will be
fulfilled for him. van der Horst and Parmentier (157) translate it as this descendant. Let him
execute Gods will and add in a note that One could read the word 7'0-F?=$ (descendant) also as
7' <0-0?:$ (from his birth). They continue, explaining that with the lacuna in the line one cannot
tell with certainty what is the subject of ?0/F50&0- and suggest that it may read Let our descendant
fulfill Gods will.
76
Be brave, my beloved son, because youve been happy in this life
Isaac, the child of my loins,
[two lines missing]
Rejoicing greatly the bright-shining son spoke these soothing words:
My parents, make ready the blossoming bridal chamber,
let the people braid my radiant hair with braids,
so that I may complete with an eager spirit the holy sacrifice
At once experienced men built a fire around the altar,
the sea gushed forth around the flame, the sea that Moses would part;
A wave raised up the son of Abraham
The father brought his son, smelling of incense; the son rejoiced at the altar
while the father introduced his son above Hephaistos;
131

Abraham was rushing to strike the sharp sword against his neck
but the hand of God restrained himfor nearby there appeared an apple/sheep.
Abraham, saving his son, plucked from among the trees the fruit,
he proceeded to choose the fruit for preparing the feast

131
This line remains uncertain; Hilhorst (99) translates it as he presented him above Hephaestus and
van der Horst and Parmentier translate it similarly: He welcomed him on top of the fire. It is
unclear how the poet understands %0&%)5'0?*.
77

Conclusion
At once, O man of great soul, may you receive another reward for this,
a thousand flowering children, to illumine you
the all-worthy giver of gifts, who climbed upon the tower.
132


EXPERIMENTING WITH FORMS
A distinguishing characteristic of this poem is its acrostic. In their edition,
Hurst and Rudhart mention a few other acrostic hymns
133
. Acrostics functioned in a
variety of poetic genres in antiquity, and its use in To Abraham signals how late
antique poets were adapting and using this formal structure. Few poetic forms are
older or more widely attested in various languages. This device can be traced back to

132
This reading relies on conjectures because of the significant lacunae in this passage. I would also
propose the following reading, which requires that we supply ?0 in place of 50 (see below for more
on this):
May you receive at once another reward for this:
a thousand flowering children, and to behold
the all-worthy giver of gifts, who climbed upon the tower.
133
Hurst and Rudhardt, Codex des Visions: Pomes Divers, 37-8.
78
Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian literature.
134
Acrostic poetry, whether spelling a
name or construed following the alphabet, was used for a variety of purposes:
didactic, mystical/magical, liturgical, oracular, and literary. Jewish literature contains
examples of didactic and liturgical acrostics.
135
Hellenistic Greek poetry uses acrostics
to highlight the written nature of poetry, often sealing the poem with the poets
name.
136
The Sibyllene oracles contain an acrostic prophecying Christ.
137
Christian
poetry in Latin, Greek, and Syriac is fond of acrostics.
138

The categories, however, are overlapping and prevent an easy taxonomy.
Indeed, early Christian poems with acrostics often display divergences from the
classical tradition. In Latin, we have the poems of Commodianus
139
and, in a similar

134
Ralph Marcus, "Alphabetic Acrostics in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods," Journal of Near
Eastern Studies 6, no. 2 (1947). See also E. Stemplinger, "Akrostichis," in Reallexicon fr Antike
und Christentum.
135
for example, various psalms (the most extensive being Psalm 118 LXX) and the first four chapters of
Lamentations.
136
OCD s.v.
137
the acrostic spells out y=5*b$ S"&5?#$ 10*b +@#$ 5C?K" 5?(+"8$ (Bk viii. 217-43).
138
For a general discussion of acrostics in late antique Christian poetry, see Derek Krueger, Writing and
Holiness: The Practice of Authorship in the early Christian East (Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 2004), 169ff.
139
Commodianus, Carmina Commodiani, ed. Joseph Martin, vol. 128, Corpus Christianorum Series
Latina (Turnholt: Brepols, 1960).
79
vein, Augustines Poem against the Donatists.
140
Among the papyri examples we have
the acrostic hymn in the Amherst Papyri, where the acrostic functions even within the
line (i.e. each phrase in the line begins with the letter of the alphabet). As the editors
point out, the meter is uncertain and shows tendencies of an accentual scansion.
141

But it would be rash to then assume that acrostic poetry is characteristic of a new style
of Christian hymnody that emerged in contact with outside influences.
142
The hymn at
the end of Methodius Symposium
143
(3
rd
century) is written according to an alphabetic
acrostic and provides an early example of a Christian hymn with an alphabetic acrostic
but also in conversation with Greek literary traditions. Gregory of Nazianzus
composed many acrostic poems, both alphabetic and word acrostics sealing the poem
with his name.
144
In an iambic poem, the acrostic spells out his name ("=<*")*+

140
Hermanus Bernardus Vroom, Le psaume abcdaire de Saint Augustin et la posie latine rhythmique
(Nijmegen: Dekker & van de Vegt en J. W. van Leeuwen, 1933).
141
Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt, eds., The Amherst Papry, vol. 1 (London: Henry Frowde,
1900).
142
William L. Petersen, "The Dependence of Romanos the Melodist upon the Syriac Ephrem: Its
Importance for the Origin of the Kontakion," Vigiliae Christianae 39, no. 2 (1985): 174-75. While
Ephrem and Syriac writers most likely inherited the use of acrostics from older semitic poetry, the
range of poetry in Late Antiquity composed with acrostics prevents any simple notion of uni-
directional influence of Ephrem on Romanos.
143
Methodius, Le Banquet, ed. Herbert Musurillo, trans. Victor-Henry Debidour, vol. 95, Sources
Chrtiennes (Paris: Les ditions du Cerf, 1963).
144
Alphabetic: PG 37. 907 (1.2.30). Another alphabet acrostic is also attributed to him: Gregory of
Nazianzus, Alphabeticum Paraeneticum 1 (e cod. Patm. 33), ed. I. Sakkelion, Patmiak Bibliothk
80
@0":*$ of the priest Gregory).
145
In addition, the acrostic forms an elegaic
coupletan Alexandrian tradition that both highlights the poets skill and signs the
poem. Gregorys acrostic poetry is often overlooked, as when Krueger assumes that
Romanos is the avatar of this practice: Around the same time, a number of Christian
Greek poets followed Romanoss practice of signing poems with name acrostics.
146

This device would continue among the composers of the kanones in the seventh and
eighth centuries.
147
The most prominent example in the Byzantine tradition of a hymn
with an alphabetic acrostic is the Akathist Hymn.
148
Yet acrostic poetry was not just a
feature of hymns in Byzantium and was also used for collections of maxims, hortatory
works, as well as love songs.
149


(Athens: 1890). Acrostics sealing the poem with his name: PG. 37. 910 (1.2.31); PG 37.928
(1.2.33).
145
PG 37. 1244 (2.1.14).
146
Krueger, Writing and Holiness: The Practice of Authorship in the early Christian East, 171.
147
see for example the kanones for Pentecost and Theophany attributed to John of Damascus.
148
In the early Byzantine period, Romanos own era, acrostic composition flourished. The twenty-
four stanzas of the fifth-century Akathistos Hymn form an alphabetic acrostic. Krueger, Writing
and Holiness: The Practice of Authorship in the early Christian East, 171.
149
ODB s.v. See also Herbert Hunger, Byzantin" Logotechnia, trans. I. V. Anastasiou L. G. Benaki, G.
X. Makri, 3 vols., (Athens: Morph%tiko idryma ethnik&s trapez&s, 2001), 2.491; Karl Krumbacher,
"Die Akrostichis in der griechischen Kirckenpoesie," SBAW (1903); W. Weyh, "Die Akrostichis in
der byzantinischen Kanonesdichtung," Byzantinische Zeitschrift 17 (1908).
81
Moreover, examples from papyri contemporary with To Abraham
demonstrate the popularity of acrostic poetry.
150
A similar poem on the sacrifice of
Isaac, also composed according to an alphabetic acrostic, was recently published and
suggests interesting connections.
151
Roca-Puig published this poem, calling it Casta
Oblaci. Although it appeared too late for Hurst and Rudhart to incorporate it into
their discussion, they do make mention of some parallels. Dioscorus of Aphrodito,
writing in the 6
th
century, also employed an acrostic for a poetic encomion.
152

The use of an alphabetic acrostic connects To Abraham to a wider poetic
tradition. With the wide variety of ways that acrostic poetry is used, one cannot easily
classify acrostic poems as being of one type. Thus, the formal structure of To
Abraham connects it both to the classicizing poetry of Gregory of Nazianzus as well
as the liturgical poetry of the emerging Christian church. This formal quality is not
the only feature it has in common with liturgical poetry. The poem also rewrites a
Biblical episodea common technique in Christian hymnody. In addition, its use of
dialogue and imagined speeches connects it with hymns of the period, especially those
coming from the Syriac tradition.

150
The Codex of Visions contains two other acrostic poems: Hymn to the Lord and To Those Who
Suffer.
151
Roca-Puig, Casta oblaci: P. de Barc. inv. nm. 157ab; Ramn Roca-Puig, Anfora de Barcelona i
altres pregries (Missa del segle IV), 2. ed. (Barcelona: s.n., 1996), 117-26.
152
Jean-Luc Fournet, Hellnisme dans l'gypte du VIe sicle: la bibliothque et l'oeuvre de Dioscore
d'Aphrodit (Le Caire: Institut Franais d'Archologie Orientale, 1999).
82
A DIALOGUE BETWEEN ABRAHAM, SARAH, AND ISAAC
Aelius Theon, in the preface to his work on the progymnasmata exercises,
spells out the usefulness of ethopoiia exercises and claims that they are good practice
for writing a variety of works: characterization is not only practice for writing
history, but it is also useful for oratory, for dialogues, and for poetry; even in our daily
life it is most useful for our conversation with others. It is extremely helpful for
understanding prose writings.
153
As Theon explains, the device of imagining
speeches appropriate to a certain character serves as a training ground for an array of
uses, from the literary to the quotidian. The progymnasmata, it should be
remembered, are not ends in themselves, but instead they form the thoughts and the
languagethat is, they shape how students think about literary composition (see
chapter 1). The Cain and Abel poems, the subject of the next chapter, use the device
of ethopoiia for the crafting of monologues; these poems represent only one voice. In
To Abraham, multiple voices are imagined. As Theon observed, the practice of
imagining isolated speeches prepares one for writing dialogues. To Abraham
conjoins imagined speeches of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac. We see Theons words put
into action as ethopoiia leads to the construction of a dialogue. But the dialogue is not
fully developed; since little back and forth occurs between the speakers, it might be
better to call this dialogized ethopoiia.
Abraham, once he learns of Gods command, goes to tell his wife. She accepts
the news with joy and proceeds to encourage Isaac. Here in the poem there is a chain

153
Theon, Progymnasmata, 60.19-31. See also Webb, "The Progymnasmata as Practice," 306.
83
of announcements: the angel to Abraham, Abraham to Sarah, and Sarah to Isaac. To
Abraham presents each of the characters as joyous. Little fear or trepidation exists;
instead, they are delighted at the news of the sacrifice. Abraham rejoiced with a
ready heart 7S4"(?* !"8."*-& 1+9[N. It is not unusual for Abraham to be
imagined as joyful; what is unusual is to depict Sarah in this way.
154
Sarah greets the
news not with sorrow but with pride as she exhorts her son to be brave in this great
calling.
In To Abraham Sarah displays the same zeal and faith as Abraham. She
speaks a hortatory address to the child of her loins, encouraging him to be brave.
Unfortunately, two lines are missing from her speech. But the beginning of her speech
sets the tone: 1A"50&, 7#- .)/0 ?F'-9*9- 7![0L] A'(" O![/0* 5\ _]N-/ V5(9['] 7N-
0/FC- ?9[F'*$ ] (Be brave, my beloved son, Isaac, the child of my loins, because
youve been happy in this life). Just as Abraham had no second thoughts after the
angels message but went immediately to convey the news to Sarah, so too Sarah
immediately accepts the Lords bidding and encourages her son. Sarah in To
Abraham speaks with boldness and full understanding of what is to come. If the
reconstruction of the end of the line is correct, then she speaks like a Homeric hero:
Pn(?* %V ;$ !0!P10[5]'0 <+-[K] !90!-+F9[-( RA_0&]-9 (As soon as Sarah learned

154
Philo presents Abraham as glad and eager; Ephrem Syrus Commentary on Genesis presents a
similar image of a joyful Abraham. See Brock, "Genesis 22 in Syriac Tradition," 6.
84
this, she began to wax poetic in her encouragement).
155
Homer has Nestor speak in
the same way: 3?M" !0!-+-( R_0&$ (Il 9.58; also Meneleus at Od 4.206). The
first part of the word seems clear (!90!-+F9[-(); Livrea reconstructs it so that it refers
to Isaac (!90!-+F9[-*- +@8]-9) since the participle is also used as an epithet for
Telemachus. The first part of the line, however, leaves no question.
156
Sarah waxes
poetic (Pn(?*). Her speech is profuse or embellished.
Interestingly, Romanos, who writes in the sixth century, introduces the
imagined speech of Sarah in precisely the same way in his kontakion on Abraham and
Isaac. Her words are mediated through Abraham but with a twist. The narrator
interjects to express his amazement that Abraham did not respond with disbelief; this
device of expressing wonder at what was not said continues as the narrator is amazed
that Sarah did not say the words he then imagines. Thus it is an extended ethopoiia:
how would Abraham imagine the words Sarah would say? Although her speech is not
actual but imagined in the mind of Abraham, her words echo Sarahs in To
Abraham:
$ '*+50 ?M 64(?( ?*b p*_P<*+, <> A""( .=5)-
` 0`$ _C4- 50 1F/0&, _:5(& !"*5?An0&
31A-(?*$ v!A"SC- sP"&*$, *W K '?0)-0& 50

155
Livreas reconstruction suggests a different reading. The Homeric parallel cited by Hurst and
Rudhart works well, however.
156
van der Horst and Parmentier (156) suggest she began reading "n(?* in place of =kn(?*. The
papyrus does not support this, however, as it clearly supports Hurst and Rudharts reading.
85
-b- (WS45C, 5j !"*5An(5( %N"*-
7' '*&/&r$ *+ ?U %C"=5(F-[ 5*& ('(")_*(&.
157

[When Sarah heard the words of her spouse, she said:
if he wishes you to live, he will command that you live;
The Lord, being immortal, will not kill you.
Now I will boast. Having offered you from my womb as a gift
to the one who gave you as gift to me, I shall be blessed]
After Sarah hears what is to happen (or so Abraham imagines), she boasts ((WS45C),
whereas in To Abraham the narrator describes her becoming profuse (Pn(?*).
While it is not the same verbal form,
158
both words suggest the idea of amplifying
and exaggerating or even boasting; both use these words to signify the idea of
speaking profusely or with a flourish. Even beyond the verbal resonance, it is
significant that in both poems Sarah understands what is going on and encourages
Isaac to go willingly to his imminent death.
In Genesis 22, Sarah has no knowledge of what is about to occur. This silence
has led commentators and exegetes to imagine why she is absent. Sebastian Brock
discusses the role of Sarah in Syriac authors, and his discussion takes into
consideration Jewish and Greek Christian accounts as well, thereby providing a

157
Romanus, Hymnes, #3, stanza 14.
158
Indeed they have different etymology even with their graphic similarities. See Pierre Chantraine,
Dictionnaire tymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots (Paris: Klincksieck, 1999).
86
convenient summary of parallels.
159
When she is mentioned, she often serves as a
temptation. She is imagined as possibly hiding the child or ruining the sacrifice with
her excessive grief.
160
Sarah does speak to Abraham in some Syriac texts as well as
later Jewish Midrashic texts.
161
When Sarah does get to speak, the authors often
imagine what Sarah might have said to Abraham had he told herit then being
explained that, forseeing this, he did not tell her anything.
162

The question of what Abraham and Sarah might have said led to the creation of
imagined speechesin other words, ethopoiia.
163
In an anonymous Syriac dialogue
poem (soghitha)
164
and in two Syriac verse homilies (memre) published by Brock,
165


159
Brock, "Sarah and the Aqedah."; Sebastian P. Brock, "An Anomymous Syriac Verse Homily on
Abraham," Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica 12 (1981); Brock, "Genesis 22 in Syriac Tradition.";
Brock, "Two Syriac verse homilies on the binding of Isaac."
160
Brock, "Sarah and the Aqedah," 69.
161
, "Two Syriac verse homilies on the binding of Isaac," 68.
162
, "Sarah and the Aqedah," 69.
163
Such hypothetical speeches have their origin in the 1*!*&)( of the Greek rhetorical schools, where
a regular exercise was to devise ?)-($/!*)*+$ - 0!*& /8<*+$ N. . .The employment of ethopoiia
in what are largely otherwise largely unhellenized Syriac writings is a matter of some interest, for it
indicates something of the effect of Geerk cultural forms on Syriac culture in bilingual milieu.
, "An Anomymous Syriac Verse Homily on Abraham," 227-28.
164
B. Kirschner, "Alphabetische Akrosticha in der syrischen Kirchenpoesie," Oriens Christianus 6
(1906).
165
Brock, "Two Syriac verse homilies on the binding of Isaac."
87
there is dialogue between Abraham and Sarah. Whereas the dialogue poem presents
Sarahs speech negatively as a hindrance and temptation to Abraham,
166
in the memre
Sarah knows what is in store and sends off Isaac with words of encouragement.
167
In
the Greek tradition, Ephrem Graecus and Gregory of Nyssa cleverly imagine what
Abraham supposes Sarah would say.
168
In these texts we hear Sarahs words, but as

166
Sarah plays the stereotyped role of a frail women [sic], so familiar in much early Christian
literature. , "Sarah and the Aqedah," 75-76.
167
A further, and very bold, development is one that we find only in Memra II and in the second half
of Romanos kontakion: Sarah both knows of the intended sacrifice of her son, and she sends off
the child willingly, seeing that she shares in her husbands overriding love of, and faith in, God.
, "Two Syriac verse homilies on the binding of Isaac," 73.
168
For Ephrem Graecus, see Ephraem Graecus, S. Ephraem Syri Opera, ed. S. J. Mercati, vol. 1,
Monumenta Biblica et Ecclesiastica (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Insititute, 1915); Ephraem Graecus,
Sermo I in Abraham et Isaac, ed. K.G. Phrantzoles, 7 vols., vol. 7, Osiou Ephraim Tou Surou Erga
(Thessalonica: To Periboli Ts Panagias, 1998). and the translation by Ephrem Lash
<http://www.anastasis.org.uk/AbrIsaac.htm>. For Gregory of Nyssa, see Gregory of Nyssa, De
deitate filii et spiritus sancti et in Abraham, ed. E. Rhein, vol. 10, pt 2, Gregorii Nysseni Sermones
Pars III (Leiden: Brill, 1996). Brock thinks that Ephrem Graecus text must belong to the second
half of the fourth century since it is quoted by Gregory; but the Ephrem Graecus text could equally
be quoting from Gregory. For this argument, see Ephrem Lash, "The Greek Writings Attributed to
St Ephrem the Syrian," in Abba. The Tradition of Orthodoxy in the West, ed. John Behr, Andrew
Louth, and Dimitri Conomos (Crestwood, New York: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2003). Lash
considers the theological language of Ephrem Graecus to be later. Additionally, the only reason
previous scholars assumed Gregory must be borrowing is that they assumed Ephrem Graecus to be
Ephrem Syrus. The text of Ephrem Graecus follows the Septuagint, and not the Syriac Peshitta.
88
Abraham expects her to speak. Abraham, as he ponders whether to tell Sarah,
imagines her reaction. Subsequently, he decides not to tell her. Following in this
tradition are Basil of Seleucia, Amphilocius, John Chrysostom, Pseudo-Chrysostom,
and then finally Romanos. The example from Romanos is complicated, since it begins
as a hypothetical speech and then merges into an actual one.
169

Due to the rarity of direct speeches by Sarah, Brock sought to draw
connections between these Syriac memre and the few examples of direct speech in
Greek texts.
170
Notably, Sarah addresses Issac directly in only a few texts, namely
Amphilocius, Romanos, and the anonymous Syriac Memra II.
171
The following
quotation demonstrates how To Abraham changes the picture. Brock writing in
1986, before To Abraham was published, claimed:
That Sarah not only knew what Abraham intended to do, in obedience
to the divine command, but that she also shared willingly in this
supreme offering to God, is something which has no precedent in
Greek sources, but which Romanos could readily have found in Syriac.
. .Only in Romanos and Memra II that she sends him off both willingly
and in the knowledge of what God has commanded her husband.
172


169
Brock, "Sarah and the Aqedah," 69-70.
170
, "Two Syriac verse homilies on the binding of Isaac," 68.
171
Ibid.: 69.
172
Ibid.: 91-92. Emphasis added.
89
To Abraham complicates how we understand the interactions between literary
cultures in this period. Here Sarah speaks boldly and with full knowledge,
encouraging her son to take on this awesome task, something previously seen only in
Syriac texts and in Romanos. Now one can no longer assume that Romanos must
have found this in Syriac alone; To Abraham reveals one of the earliest Greek
examples of giving Sarah a voiceand a bold, heroic voice at that.
ISAAC THE BRIDE
When Sarah entreats Isaac to prepare with eagerness for sacrifice, he responds
by calling the altar of his sacrifice a blossoming wedding-chamber -+[.)]%&9*-
1(/0"#- 1A/(*-. This image of the blossoming wedding chamber is unique to the
poem;
173
the use of two trisyllabic words in conjunction, both beginning with 1(/-,
uses alliteration to good effect. Antigone likewise uses repetition of an initial sound to
link her tomb to a bridal chamber: ?PR*$, -+.0E*-, '(?(5'(.K$ /*'=5&$
30)."*+"*$ (Sophocles Ant. 890-891). As Mark Griffith observes in his commentary,
the tricolon crescendo with anaphora. . . emphasizing the oxymoron of the marriage
to death. . . the same room is tomb, bridal chamber, and permanent home.
174

1(/0"#- is used in reference to marriage (see Od 6.66), but it is usually used in
reference to persons (stout, sturdy, buxom LSJ). The 1A/(*-, on the other hand,

173
Apollonius of Rhodes (1.1031) has similar language, and Livrea lists further parallels, but in none of
these is the bridal chamber blossoming (1(/0"#-).
174
Sophocles, Antigone, ed. Mark Griffith, Cambridge Greek and Latin classics (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1999), 276.
90
signifies an inner room or chamber, usually a womans chamber; with -+[.)]%&9*- the
idea of a wedding chamber is clear. Yet 1A/(*- also has the sense of the grave. The
common chamber mentioned in Antigone (?#- !(<'*)?=- c1 p"N 1A/(*-
common chamber in which all come to lie)
175
may also suggest certain mystic
shrines (LSJ s.v.). To return to the poem, the implication is that the wedding-
chamber/bed will be Isaacs tomb. Isaac is not delusional, as one might expect from
someone who just heard that he is to be sacrificed. Instead, he seems to have classical
heroines in mind. He sounds like Iphigenia at Aulis awaiting her sacrifice
176
or
Antigone anticipating her death.
It is a common trope in Greek literature to associate the bridal chamber as a
tomb and to intertwine funerary laments with marriages. Margaret Alexiou gives the
fullest account in The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition.
177
In an article written with
Peter Dronke, Alexiou and Dronke trace this imagery specifically in Christian
literature. They observe that Isaac and the daughter of Jephtha are the subjects of

175
Ibid., 266.
176
cf Euripides Iphigenia 42. In a review of Kesslers Bound by the Bible van der Horst points out that
the connection between Isaac and Iphigenia is already in Josephus, Ant. Jud. 1:223. See P. W. Van
Der Horst, review of Bound by the Bible: Jews, Christians and the Sacrifice of Isaac, by Edward
Kessler, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2005.02.47 (2005).
177
Margaret Alexiou, Dimitrios Yatromanolakis, and Panagiotis Roilos, The Ritual Lament in Greek
Tradition, 2nd ed. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002). Additional parallels relevant
Christian texts are listed by Van Der Horst and Parmentier, "A New Early Christian Poem on the
Sacrifice of Isaac," 169.
91
ritual laments that employ the combined funeral and nuptial imagery.
178
In their
article, they point to Ephrem Graecus and Gregory of Nyssa as early examples of Isaac
depicted with nuptial and bridal imagery. The daughter of Jephtha and Isaac appear
together in the visual arts as well (see below).
The portrayal of Isaac in To Abraham presents another facet of this tradition.
Isaac here differs, though, and in two significant ways. First, Isaac does not speak a
lament in To Abraham; he is joyful and eager, not in despair like the tragic heroine.
Second, Isaac is the bride. Hilhorst notes the oddity of Isaac being depicted as a bride
rather than a groom, but he leaves the explaining for others: I wonder if Isaac here
features as a bride. This needs further research.
179
Indeed it does. When Isaac bids
his parents to prepare the bridal chamber, he says it with rejoicing: 0)/&S(]
'(<S(/8C- !"*50.q-00 .()%&*$ +@8$ [Rejoicing greatly the bright-shining son
spoke these soothing words]. Like his parents, Isaac is eager and joyful. The word
the poet chooses ('(<S(/8C-) is significant for a number of reasons. Gregory of
Nazianzus used the same verb and also in reference to a wedding. In a summary of
the parable of the father who held a wedding banquet for his son (Mt 22), Gregory
writes of how the father rejoiced:
5?& <A*$, ?#- !(&%L !(?K" .)/*$ 751/#$ 3")5?[
%()-+5& '(<S(/8C- *b %V 3-?&A5(&& O<C<0,

178
Margaret Alexiou and Peter Dronke, "The Lament of Jephtha's Daughter: Themes, Traditions,
Originality," Studi Medievali 12, no. 2 (1971).
179
Hilhorst, "The Bodmer Poem on the Sacrifice of Abraham," 106.
92
*b% 7<a 3-?&A5(&& '(L I$ .)/*$ 75?L- O*&<0!
180

[There is a wedding, for which the noble, good father gives a banquet
for his best son with delight. May even I partake of this wedding feast!
May I partake, and whoever is my friend!
For both poets to use the same word is not unusual; but both use the verb in its
participial form and in the same metrical position. Moreover, both use the word in
connection to marriage. One poet is certainly imitating the other, but at this point we
cannot tell who follows whom.
In another poem on the theme of marriage, Gregory uses the same word, but
this time it is the bride who is rejoicing. Although this poem is about a marriage, it is
a mystical and allegorical marriage. The groom is Christ and the bride is an
allegorical lady. Gregory describes Christ leading the chaste soul into the wedding
chamber:
D"&5?#$ % 3-F[n0 '(/P!?"=-,
s(L 1AR=50- `%a- '0%-K- !0"&'(//F( -P.=-,
51/K-, ("<(")055(-, 71"*-*-, v&'A"=-*-,
s() 50 '(/4- !0" 7*b5(-, O?& S(")055(- O1='0.
D"&5?#$ '(<S(/8C5(- YM !"#$ %q(? 3-An0&,

180
PG 37.501-2 (1.1.27) This poem summarizes the parables from the four Gospels. Gregory quotes
himself by using the same passage in another poem: see PG 37.609 (1.2.2), a poem giving advice to
virgins.
93
s(L 1450& 5*& %(E?( <(4/&*- 7- 0<A/*&5&-
JS"A-?*&5& S*"*E5&, '(L *W"(-)l5&- 3*&%(E$,
s(L 5?F0& S(")?055&- 30&1(/F055& 'A"=-*-,
s(L 5?450& '"=?:"( 01P5(?*$ %+!-8*&*,
s(L %0)n0& 5*.)=$ +5?4"&(, ?:$ 7- 758!?"[
`'8-($ 7-1A% p"N0-, 7?4?+( .N?( -8*&*
+-*?F"*+.
181

[Christ has opened the veil,
he is astounded, seeing the prized, exceedingly beautiful bride,
good, like a pearl, sitting gracefully, with a high brow;
although you are beautiful, yet he adds further charm.
Christ will lead you (the bride) rejoicing to his home,
and he will prepare for you a wedding banquet along with great,
spotless choirs singing heavenly songs.
And he will crown your head with ever-blooming graces,
and he will set forth a bowl full of a sweet drink,

181
PG 37.631 (1.2.2)
94
and he will reveal the mysteries of wisdom, the true lights of his
unclothed mindof which we see down here only the image in a
mirror ]
This epithalamion takes the conventions of the marriage song but applies them in an
allegorical manner. Gregory imagines what happens as Christ the bridegroom
encounters the pure soul, the bride, and leads it into the inner chamber. The soul
rejoices like Isaac, and a marriage banquet is laid out. As in the earlier example with
the father preparing a wedding banquet for his son, the background text is a parable,
that of the wise virgins (Mt 25). But the parable is clearly read allegorically. The
virgin espoused to Christ is a soul prepared to meet him; the passage is charged with
erotic language, but the bride and groom are imagined in a spiritual sense.
182

Gregorys poem enlightens the allegorical significance of To Abraham. Like the
virginal soul, Isaac is the bride; he is presented as a female figure. In fact the adjective
describing him, B1&'?*- untouched, i.e. chaste, also occurs in another Christian
epithalamion.
183

Now that we see that Isaac is the bride, another line begins to make sense.
Isaac asks for his radiant hair to be braided: n(-[1]4- *& !/*'A*&5& '8=-

182
Methodius Symposium presents a hymn with many of the same features: Thekla leads the chorus of
maidens in a wedding song (epithalamion) based on the parable of the wise virgins. In Methodius
the erotic imagery is also employed in an allegorical manner.
183
*b '(L _C=?8'*$ SA"&$ B1&'?*$, B?0<'?*$, 35!)/*+$ Methodius Symposium l. 93. See
Methodius, Le Banquet.
95
!/Fn(510 !*/E?(& [let the people plait my radiant hair with braids].
184
This word
for braided hair is rare, although it is used by archaic and Hellenistic poets. The
entire phrase is certainly unusual; one finds similar phrasing only in Gregory of
Nazianzus. In a poem in which he recounts his sister Gorgonias wedding, Gregory
describes her features as follows: . . .//*$ B0&50 / sA//*$ 7#-, n(-1*E5&- v!#
!/*'A*&5& F/(&-(- / ."\- v!0"?F//*+5(- v! 3"<+"Fl5& !("0&(E$.[Another
sang the beauty of my sister: below the radiant, braided hair her dark brow rising
above her silver cheeks. ]
185
Gregory again uses this language in an oration on his
sister, but with a different emphasis (*W n(-1(L !/*'()%0$ %&(.(&-80-() ?0 '(L
v!*.(&-80-(&)
186
and in another of his poems (*W n(-1(L !/*'(E%0$ v!j" -q?*&*
S+10E5(&).
187
Since Gregory has a tendency to recycle his own works, it appears that
he created this phrase radiant braids (n(-1(L !/*'()%0$). Consequently, it seems
that To Abraham is making a subtle allusion to Gregorys poetry, and not the other
way around.
While To Abraham alludes specifically to Gregory of Nazianzuss poetry,
the idea of the soul being the wise virgin awaiting its bridegroom is developed in
various early Christian texts. While some have thought that this imagery has Gnostic

184
I have chosen radiant as a translation to avoid questions of whether this means golden, fair, or
auburn.
185
PG 37.1494 (2.2.2).
186
In laudem sororis Gorgoniae PG 35.800
187
PG 37.1370 (2.1.45)
96
overtones,
188
such imagery was common in Christian literature from an early stage.
Nuptial symbolism is found in the Shepherd of Hermas, 2
nd
Clement, a fragment of
Melito, the Odes of Solomon, as well the second and third century fathers Hippolytus,
Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyprian, and Clement of Alexandria, as J. Christopher King has
shown.
189
Two sources give rise to the use of bridal imagery in Christian authors.
One source is the wedding parables in the Gospel of Matthew (already hinted at in
Gregory of Nazianzus): in the first parable, a king prepares a wedding feast for his son
(Mt 22) but has problems with the guest list: those invited are not ready and willing to
come. In the second parable, the wise virgins await the coming of the bridegroom (Mt
25). The virgins who are ready to meet the bridegroom are figures of the Church
awaiting its marriage to Christ, the bridgegroom. The earliest witness to this imagery
outside the New Testament comes, in fact, from another text in the Bodmer Papyri.
Bodmer Papyri 12 contains a brief hymn, likely by Melito of Sardis, in which Christ is
called the bridegroom: ?#- -+.)*- vN- D"&5?8-.
190
In the Shepherd of Hermas
the Church is depicted as a bride meeting her bridegroom.
191
As King observes,

188
Hurst and Rudhardt, Codex des Visions: Pomes Divers, 42.
189
J. Christopher King, Origen on the Song of Songs as the Spirit of Scripture: The Bridegroom's
Perfect Marriage-song (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 2ff.
190
Bibliotheca Bodmeriana: The collection of the Bodmer Papyri, (Mnchen: K.G. Saur, 2000). See
also King, Origen on the Song of Songs as the Spirit of Scripture: The Bridegroom's Perfect
Marriage-song.
191
Vision 23(iv.2): `%*\ v!(-? *& !("1F-*$ '0'*5=F-= $ 7' -+.N-*$ 7'!*"0+*F-=, c/= 7-
/0+'*E$ '(L v!*%4(5&- /0+'*E$, '(?('0'(/+F-= HC$ ?*b 0?q!*+, 7- )?" %j |-
97
among writings of the subapostolic period, the Shepherd of Hermas (c. 148) most
plainly shows the first evidence of an early openness to nuptial symbolism.
192

Another source for the nuptial imagery is the Song of Songs. Origens
commentary in particular connected the nuptial imagery of the New Testament with
the Song of Songs and set the pattern for later Christian exegetes.
193
The bride and the
bridgegroom were understood as the Church and Christ or as the soul and Godi.e.
some combination of a feminine entity (ekklesia, psyche) and a male figure. Origens
commentary does not survive in full; in Greek all that survives are fragments and
scholia.
194
Gregory of Nyssas commentary, which was influenced to some degree by
Origens, gives a more complete picture. Gregorys commentary demonstrates how
nuptial, even carnal, imagery can take on a spiritual sense. In his commentary the
bride signifies the soul who longs for God: What is described there is a marriage; but

'(?('A/+&$ (W?:$ 02S0- %j ?M$ ?")S($ (W?:$ /0+'A$.O<-C- 7<a 7' ?N- !"*?F"C-
p"(A?C- c?& ''/=5)( 75?)-. Unfortunately, this is not part of the Shepherd of Hermas
included in the Codex of Visions (which contains the first three visions).
192
King, Origen on the Song of Songs as the Spirit of Scripture: The Bridegroom's Perfect Marriage-
song, 2.
193
Before Origens great burst of creative engagement with the Song, this little book (libellum;
R&R/(")%&*-), as Origen calls it in the first line of the Commentary and onwards, received scant
attention from Christian thinkers. Ibid., 4.
194
Ibid., 12-13.
98
what is understood is the union of the human soul with God.
195
At the same time, the
bride is also understood as the Church. Following the line of thought developed by St.
Paul in Ephesians 5:31-32, Gregory of Nyssa explains how the virgin soul unites with
Christ:
In the same way, the great Apostle Paul joins us as virgins to Christ and
acts as an escort for the bride. He says that the clinging together of two
persons in the union of one body is a great mystery of Christs union
with the Church. For he said: The two shall be one flesh, and then he
added: This is a great mystery with reference to Christ and the
Church [Eph 5:31-2]. Because of this mystery, the virgin soul names
the union with God a bed.
196

St. Paul began the process of understanding the relationship between the
Church and Christ as a mystical and allegorical marriage. Gregory of Nyssa

195
Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on the Song of songs, trans. Casimir Mccambley (Brookline, MA:
Hellenic College Press, 1987), 47. 7- *~$ ?# j- v!*<"(.80-*- 7!&1(/A&8$ ?)$ 75?& %&(5'0+4,
?# %j -**P0-*- ?:$ 3-1"C!)-=$ +S:$ !"#$ ?# 10E8- 75?&- 3-A'"(5&$. Greek text from
Gregory of Nyssa, In Canticum Canticorum, ed. Werner Jaeger, vol. 6, Gregorii Nysenni Opera
(Leiden: Brill, 1952). References to the Greek will cite section marks from Jaeger [J]
196
Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on the Song of songs, 94. $ '(L p F<($ 3!85?*/*$ X"8_0?(&
?U D"&5?U ?K- !("1F-*-, r$, '(L -+.*5?*/0E [?K- +SK-] '(L ?K- !"*5'8//=5&- ?N- %P*
0`$ Y-#$ 5q(?*$ '*&-C-)(- ?# F<( +5?4"&*- 02-(& /F<0& ?:$ ?*b D"&5?*b !"#$ ?K-
7''/=5)(- Y-q50C$ 0`!a- <M" c?& 5*-?(& *@ %P* 0`$ 5A"'( )(- 7!4<(<0- c?& #
+5?4"&*- ?*b?* F<( 75?)-, 7<a %j /F<C 0`$ D"&5?#- '(L 0`$ ?K- 7''/=5)(-. %&M ?*b?* ?*)-+-
?# +5?4"&*- '/)-=- !("1F-*$ +SK ?K- !"#$ ?# 10E*- '*&-C-)(- ;-8(50-. J 108-9
99
applies this allegorical reading to the Song of Songs and thus allegorizes the
erotic language and imagery.
Gregory of Nyssas method seems paradoxical; a text that on the
surface is about erotic love instead becomes a text about virginity:
Enter the inner chamber of the chaste bridegroom and clothe yourselves
with the white garments of pure, chaste thoughts. Let no one bring
passionate, fleshly thoughts or a garment of conscience unsuitable for
the divine nuptials. Let no one be bound up in his own thoughts, or
drag the pure words of the bridegroom and the bride down into earthly,
irrational passions. . . Through the words of the Song the soul is
escorted to an incorporeal, spiritual, and pure union with God.
197

But Gregory is aware of this paradox and the manner in which erotic language
leads to divine union:
What could be more paradoxical than to make nature purify itself of its
own passions and teach detachment in words normally suggesting
passion? . . . he [Solomon] disposes the soul to be attentive to purity

197
Ibid., 43. v0E$ 7-?#$ <F-0510 ?*b 3'="A?*+ -+.N-*$ /0+S0&*-*b-?0$ ?*E$ '(1("*E$ ?0 '(L
3*/P-?*&$ -*4(5&-. 4 ?&$ 7!(1: '(L 5("'q%= /*<&5#- 7!(<80-*$ '(L K OSC- !"F!*-
?U 10)[ <A[ ?# ?:$ 5+-0&%450C$ O-%+( 5+-%01e ?*E$ `%)*&$ -*4(5&,?M$ 3'="A?*+$ ?*b
-+.)*+ ?0 '(L ?:$ -P.=$ .C-M$ 0`$ '?=-q%= '(L B/*<( '(1F/'C- !A1=. . .%&M <M" ?N-
7-?(b1( <0<"(F-C- -+.*5?*/0E?(& ?"8!*- ?&-M +SK !"#$ ?K- 35q(?8- ?0 '(L
!-0+(?&'K- '(L 38/+-?*- ?*b 10*b 5+_+<)(- J 15
100
through words which seem to indicate the complete opposite, and he
indicates a pure meaning through the use of sensuous language.
198

Gregory of Nyssas explication of the Song of Songs lays the foundation for
understanding Isaacs words of joy. Nuptial imagery, though cloaked in sensuous
language, can indicate something else, a chaste wedding.
Isaacs delight comes from his anticipated wedding to death, because at his
death he will meet his bridegroom. Like the purified soul, Isaac presents himself as a
pure and chaste offering. Nuptial imagery in this poem can be read in terms of the
mystical marriage as portrayed by Gregory of Nyssa. Whether the poet of To
Abraham knew Gregorys work is another matter, and one that can only rely on
conjecture since so little is known about the authorship or provenance of this poem.
The poet certainly knew the works of Gregory of Nazianzus, as the numerous
allusions and parallels demonstrate. One does not find, however, any striking verbal
parallels with the words of Gregory of Nyssa. This does not mean that the poet was
unaware of the broader allegorical tradition employed by Gregory of Nyssa. In this

198
Ibid., 50. ?) <M" - <F-*&?* ?*P?*+ !("(%*n8?0"*- u ?# (W?K- !*&:5(& ?K- .P5&- ?N- `%)C-
!(1=A?C- '(1A"5&*- %&M ?N- -*&_*F-C- 7!(1N- 6=A?C- ?K- 3!A10&(- -**10?*b5A-
?0 '(L !(&%0P*+5(-;. . .3// *?C %&F1='0 ?K- +S4-, $ %&M ?N- 3!0.()-0&- %*'*P-?C-
!"#$ ?K- '(1("8?=?( R/F!0&-, %&M ?N- 7!(1N- 6450C- ?K- 3'4"(?*- Y"=-0PC- %&A-*&(-.
J29
101
case, intertextuality, with its emphasis on the synchronic interrelation of social
phenomena,
199
provides a more useful model.
Thus the poet of To Abraham employs nuptial imagery in line with Gregory
of Nyssa, and the linked imagery from the Song of Songs and the parable of the Wise
Virgins unlock the mysteries of this poem. Isaac, therefore, represents the chaste soul
(+@#-] B919&['?*-) preparing for his marriage to Christ. He foreseesor maybe Sarah
suggests to himthat his sacrifice is a matter for rejoicing, since it means that he is
going to meet his beloved. Isaac is not a prefigurement or a type of Christ in this
poem, as he so often is in Christian literature. Rather, he is a virginal soul who
anticipates meeting Christ.
PLUCKING THE APPLE FROM AMONGST THE TREES
Christian exegetes frequently viewed Isaac as a type of Christ, the innocent
victim willing to be sacrificed. According to the patristic understanding of typology,
an imperfect type or prefigurement (often from the Hebrew Bible) finds its fulfillment
in Christ.
200
But for such a system of prefigurements to work, one needs an incomplete
type (Isaacs offering) and a complete fulfillment (Christs offering). Typological
readings of the Sacrifice of Isaac tend to describe the ram instead as a lamb, 3-8$, to

199
For a recent discussion of the differences between allusion and intertextuality, see George
Machacek, "Allusion," PMLA 112 (2007).
200
See Erich Auerbach, "Figura," in Scenes from the Drama of European Literature (Gloucester, MA:
Peter Smith, 1973), 28ff.
102
suggest Christ, the lamb of God.
201
In this poem, it is neither a '")*$ (the reading of
the LXX) or an 3-8$ but rather a :/*-: .A-05'0 <M" 7<<P1& :/*-. No other
version of the Sacrifice of Isaac uses this word. Why this unusual word?
In Genesis 22, the angel of the Lord stops Abraham and instructs him to offer a
ram instead; conveniently, there happens to be a ram caught in a bush nearby. The
poem imagines the scene differently. Here are the last two and a half lines of the
narrative:
.A-05'0 <M" 7<<P1& :/*-
:/0- %V JR"](M, +~( 5qC-, 3-M %F-%"0( '("!#-
G5?0 !"*51]F90-*$ ?8 6V 7/Fn(?* %(E?( !*-0E51(&.
[for nearby there appeared an apple/sheep.
Abraham, saving his son, plucked from among the trees the fruit,
he proceeded to chose the fruit for preparing the feast]
The poet discovered with :/*- a word full of ambiguity but also loaded with
potentiality. In good Alexandrian fashion, the poet of To Abraham finds a rare
word that points to other texts. The word :/*- can mean a sheep or goat or small
livestock in general (especially in Homer and archaic poetry), as one expects when
reading about the sacrifice of Isaac. But the word has a homophone. The word for
apple, originally r/*- (Doric and Aeolic; cf Latin mlum), came to have an eta in
Attic and appear and sound identical to :/*- sheep. Survival of this word with its

201
see Melito fragment on Genesis cited in Lampe s.v.
103
meaning apple (Modern Greek 4/*) suggests that apple become the more
common meaning. In a poem so consciously archaizing the older meaning sheep
cannot be overlooked. That the meaning apple cannot be ignored is made evident by
the trees from which it is plucked (and noticeably not a single tree, as some have
translated it). Only with the dual sense of this word does the following line make sense
with its reference to fruit. Abraham, saving his son, plucked from among the trees the
fruit (:/0- %V JR"](M, +~( 5qC-, 3-M %F-%"0( '("!#-). The first part of the
line is an editorial conjecture, but the one that makes the most sense,
202
while the end
of the line is clear from the papyrus. Only by understanding the sheep as also an apple
does the line make sense. Hurst and Rudhart try to explain away the difficulty by
suggesting the fruit should be taken in a general sense as any product of the earth.
203

But the fruit of the tree in this poem becomes an offering in place of Isaac from which
Abraham prepares a banquet.
An allusion is at work here that highlights the dual sense of :/*- and
prevents us from reading it simply as sheep or as a general product of the earth. To
Abraham imitates a passage in Hesiod. In the Theogony the apples of the Hesperides
are described as fruit among the trees:
5!0")%($ 1, (~$ :/( !F"=- '/+?*b Q'0(-*E*
S"P50( '(/M F/*+5& .F"*-?A ?0 %F-%"0( '("!8-

202
For other possible readings, see Hurst and Rudhardt, Codex des Visions: Pomes Divers, 55.
203
Ibid., 41.: Le mot dsigne tous les produits de la terre, directs et indirects, des produits animaux
tels que la laine; it peut sappliquer aux rsultats dune action
104
(and the Hesperides, who care for the golden, beautiful apples beyond glorious
Ocean and the trees bearing this fruit.)
204

To Abraham uses the phrase %F-%"0( '("!8- in the same metrical position at the
end of the line. The borrowing from Hesiod is more than an easy solution to fill out
the verse. The apples of the Hesperides in Hesiod seem to have suggested to the poet
of To Abraham the possibilities of the word play on :/*-. With the borrowing of
this line ending, the poet calls the readers attention to the echo. At first one is
tempted to read :/*- as sheep since we are, after all, dealing with a sacrifice. But
the allusion to Hesiod brings the sense of apple to the forefront.
Apples also held erotic significance in ancient Greek poetry. Throwing an
apple, a fruit associated with Aphrodite, was a declaration of love (=/*R0E-)
according to a ancient commentary on Aristophanes The Clouds.
205
Based on the
earlier use of nuptial imagery with Isaac as the bride, could we also see the apple as
conveying something sensuous? If Isaac is indeed going to meet his bridegroom, then
such erotic imagery would not seem out of placethough, as Gregory of Nyssa
explains with the Song of Songs, the poet may indicate a pure meaning through the
use of sensuous language (see above). Even so, Abraham is the one choosing the
apple from among the trees.

204
Hesiod, Theogony, ed. Glenn W. Most, trans. Glenn W. Most, 2 vols., vol. 1, Loeb Classical Library
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006), l.215.
205
=/*R*/0E- O/0<*- ?# 0`$ 3."*%)5&( %0/0A_0&-, 7!0L ?# :/*- J."*%)?=$ 75?L- @0"8-. Schola to
line 997. See D. Holwerda, ed., Scholia Vetera in Nubes (Groningen: Bouma's Boekhuis, 1977).
105
The reading that I am presenting of the apple/sheep may seem convoluted. It
may seem that all of this is simply breaking a butterfly upon a wheel. Yet the poet
of To Abraham is not the only one to play with the ambiguity of :/*-. Colluthus,
who flourished at the end of the 5
th
century and the beginning of the 6
th
century,
engages in the same word-play in his Rape of Helen.
206
Paris is called a herdsman
=/*R*?:"*$ (l. 5)and this word plays upon the first and older sense of :/*-.
Strife gets her inspiration for selecting an apple when she recalls the golden apples of
the Hesperides (%= % 5!0")%C- S"+5FC- 7-45(?* 4/C- l. 59). The apple of
strife (:/*- l. 61) will be chosen by the herder of sheep (=/*R*?:"*$) who tends
his flocks (-85.& %j R*5'*F-C- %&0F?"00 !q0( 4/C- l. 107). For Colluthus, the
multiple meanings of :/*- allows for clever word-play. One wonders if Colluthus
perhaps found this range of possibility from reading To Abraham?
207

But what does it mean for Abraham to choose an apple/sheep in place of his
son? The choice of :/*- indicates a further interpretive twist. In the Septuagint, the
word appears in only one bookthe Song of Songs.
208
The beloved compares her
lover to a fruit or fruit-tree in the midst of the trees of the forest (Song of Songs 2.3,

206
Colluthus, The Rape of Helen, ed. A. W. Mair, Loeb Classical Library (London: Heinemann, 1928).
Michael Paschalis brought to my attention this word play and the parallels in Colluthus.
207
Other parallels exist. To Abraham describes Isaac as fragrant ?9[#- %V O].0"0- 1+80-?( !(?K"
and this participle is rare; yet Colluthus uses the same word to describe the fragrant clasp of
Aphrodites veil:'(L !0"8-=- 1+80-?( %&(5?45(5( '*AC- (l. 83).
208
The connection to the Song of Songs is noted (but not explored fully) by Hurst and Rudhardt, Codex
des Visions: Pomes Divers, 41.
106
$ :/*- 7- ?*E$ nP/*&$ ?*b %"+*b, *?C$ 3%0/.&%8$ *+ 3-M F5*- ?N- +@N-
as the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons
KJV). Again Gregory of Nyssa guides us in how to interpret this. In his commentary
on the Song of Songs, he identifies the fruit-tree here with Christ:
What is it that the bride has seen? Holy Scripture usually names
wood the material side of human life overgrown with a multitude of
passions. . . Because of this, the apple tree grows in the thickets; being
made of wood, it has material similar to human nature and has been
tempted in every way while being without sin [Heb 4.15]. . . because as
light he is joy to our eyes, perfume to our scent, and life to those who
eat of him. The Gospel says, He who eats him shall live [Jn 6.58]. .
.Therefore, the purified soul looks to its bridegroom who is an apple
tree among the trees of the thicket.
209

In this interpretation, the fruit-tree itself is Christ; composed of material
similar to human nature but without sin, the fruit tree offers a fruit that
provides salvation (He who eats him shall live [Jn 6.58]). Earlier, Isaac

209
Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on the Song of songs, 98. ?) *- 75?&-, I ?01F(?(&; %"+#-
h-*A_0& 5+-41C$ 10)( <"(.K ?#- v/q%= ?N- 3-1"q!C- R)*- ?#- ?M !*&')/( 0%= ?N-
!(1=A?C- v/*(-45(-?(. . . %&M ?*b?* 7.P0?(& ?U %"+N-& ?# :/*-, I ?U j- nP/*-
02-(& ?:$ 3-1"C!)-=$ /=$ 75?L- p**P5&*- (7!0&"A51= <M" '(?M !A-?( '(1 p*&8?=?(
SC"L$ X("?)($). . . c?& 7'0E-*$ j- E- '(L h.1(/N- <)-0?(& SA"&$ .N$ <&-80-*$ '(L P"*-
[7-] ?e h5."450& '(L _CK ?*E$ 751)*+5&- (p <M" .(<a- (W?#- _450?(&, '(1q$ .=5) !*+ ?#
0W(<<F/&*-). . .}&M ?*b?* R/F!0& ?#- -+.)*- '0'(1("F-= +SK :/*- 7- ?*E$ ?*b %"+*b
nP/*&$ <0-80-*- [J 116-117]
107
spoke of his approaching sacrifice as a wedding. Now, continuing the imagery
of the bride and bridegroom, his bridegroom appears as a fruit-tree providing
life.
In a later passage, Gregory describes Christ not only as the fruit tree, but also
as the apple itself:
What, then, do I suggest? The one who has sprung up in the forest of
our human nature because of his love for mankind became an apple by
participation in our flesh and blood. Each of these (flesh and blood)
has a parallel in the colors of an apple. Its whiteness imitates the color
of flesh and its red exterior is related in appearance to the color of
blood.
210

Thus the apple has Christological qualities. Christ took on flesh and blood, and these
qualities are reflected in the colors of an apple. Gregory emphasizes the importance of
participation. In his reading of the Song of Songs, the apple signifies Christ who
took on flesh and dwelt amongst mankind. Such an explanation, as complex as it may
seem, was not limited to Gregory of Nyssa alone. Such an interpretation may even
seem esoteric. In fact this interpretation of the apple as Christ becomes
commonplace. In the catenae of Procopius of Gaza, this interpretation is explicit:

210
Ibid., 102. ?) *- 75?&- I 0`'A_*0-; p 7- ?U %"+N-& ?:$ .P50C$ N- v!# .&/(-1"C!)($
3-(R/(5?45($ %&M ?*b 0?(5S0E- 5("'8$ ?0 '(L (>(?*$ :/*- 7<F-0?* !"#$ Y'A?0"*- <M"
?*P?C- O5?&- `%0E- 7- ?e h!q" ?(P?l %&M ?:$ S"8($ ?K- p*)C5&- ?U j- <M"
v!*/0+'()-*-?& &0E?(& ?K- ?:$ 5("'#$ `%&8?=?(, ?# %j 7!&'0S"C5F-*- 7"P1=( 5+<<0-N$
OS0&- !"#$ ?K- ?*b (>(?*$ .P5&- %&M ?*b 0%*+$ ("?+"0E?(&. [J 125-6]
108
:/*- %j p D"&5?#$, %&M ?# /0+'#- ?:$ 5("'#$ '(L ?# 7"+1"#- ?*b (>(?*$, '(L
?K- ?*b '="P<(?*$ 0WC%)(- Christ is the apple, because of the whiteness of his
flesh and the redness of his blood, and the sweet-scent of his preaching.
211
This
interpretation becomes part of the tradition of the Eastern Christian Church and
continues to the present day. In canon for the Akathistos Hymnos, which is still in use
in the Byzantine tradition, we find the apple again. In this example, Mary bears the
apple:
8%*- ?# 3A"(-?*-, S(E"0, 8-= R/(5?45(5(
?# :/*- ?# 0k*5*-, S(E"0, ?Fn(5(
212

[Hail, from whom alone there springs the unfading Rose;
hail, for thou hast borne the sweet-smelling Apple.
Although in To Abraham the connection between Christ and the apple is at first
obscure, this obscurity becomes a trope in Byzantine hymnody. Indeed To
Abraham provides our earliest evidence of this interpretative trope being use in
poetry.
Now it becomes clear why Isaac anticipates his sacrifice as if it were a
wedding. He is going to meet the bridegroom Christ, who is the sacrificial apple

211
Procopius of Gaza, Catena in Canticum Canticorum, ed. J.-P. Migne, vol. 87, Patrologiae Cursus
Completus, Series Graeca (PG) (Paris: 1857-66), 1588. Cf PG 87.1581 line 39: p %j sP"&*$ $
:/*- <F<*-0- 7- %"+U'
212
Wilhelm Von Christ and Matthaios K. Paranikas, Anthologia graeca carminum christianorum
(Lipsiae: Teubner, 1871), 247. The canon is attributed to Joseph the Hymnographer
109
offered in place of him. In the last line of the narrative, the sacrifice is described as a
banquet: he proceeded to chose the fruit for preparing the feast. (G5?0
!"*51]F90-*$ ?8 6V 7/Fn(?* %(E?( !*-0E51(&.) The %(E?( here is surprising, as it
calls to mind Homeric feasts. Abraham, Sarah, and Isaacs joy earlier must have come
from their foreknowledge that the sacrifice would be a banquet, with a sheep/apple,
the fruit of the treein other words Christas the offering in place of Isaac. Christian
exegetes saw the sacrifice of Isaac as a type of Christs sacrifice; To Abraham does
not envision the sacrifice as a prefigurment, but, in a proleptic manner, as the
Eucharistic meal itself.
The poet creates a complex allusion, but one that forces a deeper understanding
of the symbolism. The substitutional offering is both a sheep and a fruit; Abraham
plucks the fruit from among the trees and sets forth a banquet. The typology falls
apart; no longer is the ram a symbol of what is to come. Instead, the poem engages in
a proleptic reading: a future event is understood as having already happened. The
poem assumes that one already knows the story of Gen 22. Few details are given
about the actual event. On one level, a sheep is offered in place of Isaac. But on
another level, the fruitthat is, the fruit under which the Church finds rest (Song of
Songs 2.3)is offered and provides nourishment, even a banquet, for the faithful like
Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac. As a sheep, Christ the groom is the offering in place of
Isaac; as an apple, Christ shows his nature as human and divine. Thus when Abraham
plucks the fruit and makes a feast, it is a paschal meal. Instead of feasting on a burnt
offering, they enjoy an apple.
110
When one compares the final lines of To Abraham with late antique
representations of the Sacrifice of Isaac in the visual arts, the Eucharistic message of
the poem becomes even more vivid.
213
Livrea mentions the fresco in the cathedral of
St. Sophia in Kiev,
214
where the Sacrifice of Isaac appears in the south choir alongside
frescoes of the Mystical Supper, the miracles of the loaves and fishes, as well as the
Hospitality of Abraham. All of these scenes reflect upon the Eucharist. Examples
exist closer in time to To Abraham as well. At St. Catherines Monastery on Mt.
Sinai the Sacrifice is paired with the sacrifice of Jephthas daughter; the two images
stand near the altar where the Eucharist takes place.
215
The mosaics in the sanctuary at
S. Vitale and S. Apollinare in Ravenna also include the Sacrifice of Isaac alongside
other Old Testament scenes, notably the offering of Abel and the offering of
Melchizadek. In all of these examples, the Sacrifice of Isaac is positioned in such as
way as to highlight its Eucharistic significance. These images anticipate what occurs
on the altar, but they are also eternally present; that is, the time that separates type
(Isaac, Abel, and Melchizadeks offering )and fulfillment (Christs sacrifice) breaks
down. These pictorial representations demonstrate a reading of the Sacrifice that

213
For an overview of visual representations from the early Christian period to the middle ages, see
Speyart Van Woerden, "The Iconography of the Sacrifice of Abraham," Vigiliae Christianae 15, no.
4 (1961).
214
Livrea, "Un Poema Inedito di Dorotheos: Ad Abramo," 187.
215
See Kurt Weitzman, "The Jephthah Panel in the Bema of the Church of St. Catherine's Monastery on
Mount Sinai," Dumbarton Oaks Papers 18 (1964). These encaustic paintings seem to be later than
the sixth century mosaics.
111
parallels the literary depiction in To Abraham, where past events are shown
alongside future events.
One thread runs through the poem, with other strands adding further
complexity. Isaac, the chaste soul, prepares for his wedding to Christ the groom; for a
wedding banquet Abraham prepares the sheep/applei.e. Christ, the substitutional
offering. This is the main thread. The allusion to Moses and the Red Sea brings forth
an expemplum: 69[*)R%=]50- %j 1A/(55( !0"L ./8<(, ?K- 6M d*5K$ / 59[S)50]&
[the sea (of fire?) gushed forth around the flamethe sea that Moses would part].
This line remains uncertain, as the poet seems to imagine the flames rushing like a
sea.
216
The general idea seems to be that Moses too went in faith and approached what
seemed like destruction (the Red Sea) but found instead salvation (the parting of the
waves). The mention of Moses also contributes to the rhythm of thought and
reinforces the idea of anticipation: the sacrifice of Isaac anticipates Moses crossing
of the Red Sea.
In the poem Casta Oblaci, also an acrostic poem on the Sacrifice of Isaac,
Moses appears in similar fashion. Moses embarks upon the waves with a roaring
sound, *&_45($ 7!L 'P(5& R()-0& d*+5=$.
217
Moses is brought in as an example of

216
Nicholas Marinides has pointed out to me that in the story of Elijah and the priests of Baal the altar
is called a 1A/(55(. See 3
rd
Kingdoms 18:32. In Rahlfs edition of the Septuagint this is listed as a
variant reading for the equally obscure 1((/(.
217
Roca-Puig, Anfora de Barcelona i altres pregries (Missa del segle IV), 119. This line, like many
others, is the result of significant emendation. As one can see from the diplomatic transcription, the
112
someone who had faith and thus was not burned: the sentence ends with the following
refrain: h+ 4 50 ?# !b" '(?('(P5l. Moses is likened to Christ ascending to
Heaven.
218
This poem has a clear message, even if the language may at times prove
perplexing: M- !)5?&- OSl$, 5C145l
219
(if you have faith, you will be saved).
Both this poem and To Abraham convey the same message as Isaiah 43:2: When
thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall
not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned;
neither shall the flame kindle upon thee (KJV). Hurst and Rudhart take the parting of
the Red Sea as symbolic of baptism,
220
while Livrea sees it as a lustral purification.
221

While certain Christian exegetes understand the passage through the Red Sea, this is
not the only way to understand it; nor does it make sense here. Rather the passage
through the sea demonstrates the reliance on faith. One must have faith to pass
through a sea that has parted and not stop to wonder if the sea might return as quickly

language of the poem is difficult: numerous mistakes in forms and orthography make it difficult to
perceive the meaning of the poem.
218
Ibid., 123.
219
Ibid., 119. see also 125 for Roca-Puigs comments on this refrain.
220
Hurst and Rudhardt, Codex des Visions: Pomes Divers, 54.
221
Hilhorst points out the difficulties of these interpretations and suggests that it could also refer to the
episode when Moses brings forth water from the rock by striking it. Hilhorst, "The Bodmer Poem
on the Sacrifice of Abraham," 101.
113
as it fled.
222
At work in the poem is the enactment of anticipation. Isaac is not a type
or prefigurement; he anticipates the salvation wrought by Christ. Similarly, the flames
around the altar anticipate the roaring of the Red Sea which Moses will divide.
ABRAHAMS FAITH AND REWARDS
In this poem, Abrahams rewards are two fold. First, he is blessed with
children as numerous as the sands of the sea or the stars in the sky for his faith
(following Genesis). These children illuminate their father Abraham:
(9W9?9[)'( 5P, ] 90<A1+0, /AS*&$ <F"($ B//* '(?V(W?#
S)/&([ ?F'-( 5]0 ?*E*- 7!(+<A5(& 3-1080-?(
%C"*[%8?=]-9 !9(-A"&5?*- 7!0R0R(N?V 7!L !P"<C&.
[At once, o man of great soul, may you receive another reward for this,
a thousand flowering children, to illumine you
the all-worthy giver of gifts, who climbed upon the tower. ll. 28-30]
If this reading is correctand much depends upon how the lacunae are filledthen
Abraham is the all-worthy giver of gifts who climbs upon the tower. Here the tower
seems to be not an actual tower but rather a symbolically high place, i.e. the mountain

222
The Read Sea is a very common type of baptism in patristic texts, as Danilou has shown [From
Shadows to Reality]. Is this what the new text hints at? Danilou also demonstrates that some
Jewish and some Christian sources link the sacrifice of Abraham and the exodus from Egypt
together. The Paschal Lamb and Abrahams sacrifice both have atoning value. Van Der Horst and
Parmentier, "A New Early Christian Poem on the Sacrifice of Isaac," 170.
114
Abraham climbed to sacrifice his son. Another way to read this passage is that
Abraham sees/ beholds the all-good giver of gifts. Perhaps the 50 in line 29 should
instead be read ?0 ; in other poems from the codex ?0 is used in this way as a simple
connective.
223
Then it might mean that the thousand flowering children and Abraham
will receive as their reward the chance to behold (7!(+<A5(& )
224
the all-worthy gift-
giver, who climbed upon the tower. The word all-good giver of gifts most often
refers to God;
225
if it is Christ, then the tower can be read either as the Church or the
mountain upon which the cross stood. Often towers were associated with mountains.
Thus a further parallel exists: just as Abraham ascended the mountain for the
sacrifice, so too Christ ascended Golgotha for the perfect sacrifice. This reading
combines the mention in Genesis of Abrahams naming the mountain (the Lord
seeth)
226
and the Gospel of Johns statement that Abraham saw my day and was
glad. Thus there is a nice ring composition: the beginning of the poem relates
Abrahams gladness, the end his seeing the day of Christ.

223
Hurst and Rudhardt, Codex des Visions: Pomes Divers, 35.
224
See LSJ s.v. A poem from the Greek Anthology (9.58.8) uses the verb in this manner.
225
See the PGL for instances of when it is used for God.
226
'(L 7'A/050- R"(( ?# ]-*( ?*b ?8!*+ 7'0)-*+ sP"&*$ 02%0-, >-( 0!C5&- 540"*- - ?U
]"0& 'P"&*$ Z.1=. And he called the name of that place, The Lord seeth. Whereupon even to this
day it is said: In the mountain the Lord will see (Douay-Rheims).
115
ALLUSION AND INTERTEXT
With a poem such as To Abraham a poem that survives anonymously, with
little known about its provenance or its circulationallusion is a tricky subject.
Allusion implies the intention of the author; it suggests that the poet is referring to
another text for the purpose of engaging with that text. Parallels may be accidental,
but allusions are more determined.
227
The matter of defining allusion and
differentiating between it and intertextuality remains a vexed issue.
228
But at times the
poem draws attention to its allusiveness, as when it uses rare words only found in
Gregory of Nazianzus, quotes part of a line from Hesiod, or uses a word for apple that
is used in the Septuagint only in the Song of Songs. The poem points the reader to
these other texts to make sense of the word-play on sheep/apple. Like the erudite
Alexandrian poets, this poet may be showing off his learning with these allusions to
significant phrases in Gregory of Nazianzuss poetry. Indeed, Gregory of Nazianzuss

227
See the relevent comments of Ricks: And although to speak of an allusion is always to predicate a
source (and you cannot call into play something of which you have never heard), a source may not
be an allusion, for it may not be called into play; it may be scaffolding such as went to the building
but does not constitute an part of the building. Readers always have to decideif they accept that
such- and such is indeed a source for certain lineswhether it is also more than a source, being part
not only of the making of the poem but of its meaning. Christopher B. Ricks, Allusion to the Poets
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 3-4.
228
A recent article attempted to clarify matters; see Machacek, "Allusion." But a response to the article
demonstrates the challenges inherit in this task. See Wallace Martin, "Defining Allusion," PMLA
123 (2008).
116
poetry is full of such learned allusions. So at the very least the poet of To Abraham
writes in the same tradition as Gregory of Nazianzus. Yet the poet also alludes to the
tradition of reading marriage between the bride and bridegroom as a mystical marriage
between Christ and the Church. Allusion itself suggests this sense of play (ludere).
At work in the poem may be an allusion to Gregory of Nyssas reading of the Song of
Songs as well. But here the concept of intertextuality might help. Intertextuality
includes the interactions not just between texts but between a wider array of social
phenomena; nor does it only look back to that past. Thus it helps our understanding of
the symbolic import of the poem, since this way of reading the Song of Songs may
have been circulating through other means than the written text of one individual.
Gregory of Nyssa gives us the clearest evidence of this strand of interpretation, but it
already existed in Origen (whose work does not survive intact) and it may have been
developed and adapted in schools, homilies, oral teaching, hymnody, etc., to which we
no longer have access.
The poet who composed To Abraham certainly had a fondness for
anticipation: the poem displays a proleptic poetics. The Sacrifice of Isaac looks
forward to and it anticipates the sacrifice of Christ. Prolepsis among the ancient
rhetoricians signified anticipation (LSJ s.v. Hermog. Meth. 10; Philo Mechanicus. I.
425; Iamb. Myst. 3.26). The poem does not read as a typology, nor is it simply an
allegory: that is, Isaac is not a type of Christ, and the poem is not simply about
something else. The poem imagines the sacrifice of Christ as having already taken
place, since Abraham finds an apple to take the place of his son.
117
CONCLUSION
So how does one say anything new about Gen 22? The poet of the To
Abraham interweaves Hesiod, the Song of Songs, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of
Nazianzus to challenge his reader to delve deeper into the polyvalent potentialities of
Genesis 22. The poets purpose is not to retell the narrative in order to make it more
intelligible; rather, the retelling makes it less immediately intelligible so that one must
pause and meditate upon it. The poem requires us to meditate on the connections, to
delve into these allusions and see how they play off one another. In the poets network
of allusions, other texts offer more than a witness to the poets learning. These
allusions unlock the symbolism of the poem. Isaacs portrayal as a bridean apparent
difficultybegins to make sense in the context of Gregory of Nazianzuss poem on
Christ leading the virgin rejoicing into the bridal chamber (Christ will lead you
rejoicing to his home and he will prepare for you a wedding banquet D"&5?#$
'(<S(/8C5(- YM !"#$ %q(? 3-An0&, /s(L 1450& 5*& %(E?( <(4/&*-)
229
and
Gregory of Nyssas allegorical commentary on the Song of Songs. Subsequently, the
fruit on the tree that Abraham plucksagain an apparent difficultyunpacks its
meaning when the allusion to the Song of Songs is followed through, mediated by
Gregory of Nyssas commentary. Hurst and Rudhart thought that the discovery of a
literary source would unlock the difficulties of this poem, either explaining the poems
divergences from Genesis 22 or showing that these came from the authors

229
PG 37.631 (1.2.2)
118
imagination.
230
But as van der Horst and Parmentier correctly observe, multiple
sources are at work in this poem. The poems relation to Genesis 22, however, should
not be seen as deviations.
231
Moreover, simply identifying the underlying sources or
the ways that the poem diverges from Genesis is not sufficient. Metaphorone of the
primary building blocks of poetryuses the familiar to explore the unfamiliar. It
employs comparisons to bring to light something otherwise inexplicable. To
Abraham takes the familiar, the Sacrifice of Isaac, and explores new ways to read it
through what seem at first unlikely comparisons. Familiar motifs, such as the tomb as
a bridal chamber, are charged with new significance as they are interwoven in an
unexpected manner with the familiar narrative. Even if one is well read in the
Cappadocians, what To Abraham does that is so surprising is that it takes this
nuptial imagery and applies it to Isaac; a poetic move unseen in other adaptations of
Genesis 22.

230
Hurst and Rudhardt, Codex des Visions: Pomes Divers, 43.
231
But there is not just one source littraire that can explain the deviations from the text of the Old
Testament, there are many of them, as was to be expected. Van Der Horst and Parmentier, "A New
Early Christian Poem on the Sacrifice of Isaac," 156.
119
CHAPTER FOUR: GIVING A VOICE TO THE DEAD: ETHOPOIIA IN
THE POEMS ON CAIN AND ABEL (P. BODM. 33 AND 35)
INTRODUCTION
While the previous chapters dealt with a narrative poem, this chapter addresses
poems that avoid narration. The poems seem well suited to narrativeone asks what
Cain would have said after killing Abel, the other what Abel would have said after
being slain. But these poems spend little time recounting the events of Genesis 4.
Instead, the tone of these poems calls to mind dramatic soliloquies. One hears Cain
and then Abel as they might have spoken. The first poem, P. Bodm. 33, What would
Cain have said having slain Abel? (hereafter Cains Speech), is a lament; Cain
realizes his guilt and looks to where he might flee. The second poem, though
separated by other poems in the codex, is clearly a companion to Cains Speech. In
this poem, P. Bodm. 35, What would Abel have said after being slain? (hereafter
Abels Response), Abel, in a surprising and prophetic manner, paraphrases Psalm
101. Why would Abel have this Psalm in mind after being slainfor that matter, why
would Abel have any Psalm in mind? These poems are not aiming for historical
accuracy or a simple retelling of the Genesis story. Instead, they attempt to retell the
Biblical episodes in the mode of archaic epic and in the form of the rhetorical exercise
of ethopoiia.
Usually such exercises ask what a person from myth or history (Homeric
characters are often the subject) would have said in a given situation. These poems
120
from the Codex of Visions present our earliest evidence of Christians adapting these
rhetorical exercises. They also exhibit many features in common with Christian
hymns, a fact overlooked in previous scholarship. In these poems one sees the
beginning of poetic devices that will become the mainstay of Byzantine hymnody
during its flourishing in the sixth century.
The foremost goal of this chapter is to present a discussion of P.Bodm. 33 and
35 and situate these poems in the history of Christian poetry and hymnody. A brief
survey of Cain and Abel in other early Christian writers will demonstrate how unique
these poems are. From here the chapter will examine these poems as rhetorical
devices and the implications of this transformation. One of the new interpretations
suggested in this chapter is that these poems, especially Abels Response, are part of
a larger trend of imagining what characters would have said in Hades. Furthermore,
Psalm 101 is interpreted in a typological manner, and this reading of the Psalm shows
how these poems also engage in exegesis. Moreover, this poem demonstrates how the
Psalms lead to the formation of Christian hymnodyin this example, the paraphrase
of a Psalm leads to a meditation on salvation. An excursus on the poetic tradition of
Christs journey to Hades and the representation of voices from the underworld will
connect these poems with a larger tradition.
Because the codex contains the Vision of Dorotheus as well as the visions of
the Shepherd of Hermas, the editors have named this codex the Codex of Visions. The
poems of Cain and Abel, as well as the Address to the Just (P. Bodm. 31) and the
Hymn to the Lord (P. Bodm. 32), suggest that the codex is just as concerned with
the descent to Hades as with the ascent to heaven. The name should not be changed,
121
but we should add a subtitle to emphasize the types of visions found therein. Thus the
Codex of Visions should be properly understood with the subtitle Visions of Heaven
and Hell.
ETHOPOIIA AND POETRY IN LATE ANTIQUITY
These poems are remarkable for many reasons. They provide extensive
evidence of how Christians were adapting rhetorical exercises for educational and
poetic purposes. These poems demonstrate the extent to which classical paideia
interacted with Christian culture, as the notes in Hurst and Rudhardts edition
demonstrate; yet these poems also point to new developments, in particular the use of
rhetorical devices and paraphrases as central components in hymnody. Jean-Luc
Fournet first drew attention to the poems in an article in 1992.
232
Both Cains
Speech and Abels Response are clearly examples of the progymnasmata exercise;
the headings in the papyrus (?) - 0!*& p s(&- 3!*'?0)-($ ?#[- JR=/; [) - 0!]*&
p R0/ 3-(&"=10L$ v!# ?*b s(&-;) reveal their genesis in school exercises.
233

Although school exercises may have provided the models for these poems, that does
not mean that they were necessarily composed in and for schools. Poems from the
Greek Anthology also use this same prompt.
234
Since Fournets article, the poems

232
Fournet, "Une thope de Can dans le Codex des Visions de la Fondation Bodmer."
233
See Ibid.: 255ff. for a classification of the various headings for these ethopoiia exercises.
234
The type found in these poems, ?) B- 0!*&, is found more often in poetic examples, such as book
nine of the Greek Anthology; in the rhetorical handbooks the headings are often ?)-($ B- 0!*&
/8<*+$ or !*)*+$ B- 0!*& /8<*+$. See Ibid.
122
have caught the attention of those working on education and literary culture in Late
Antiquity, yet few of these works are dedicated solely to the poems and their
interpretation.
235
At the same time, scholarsespecially in Italyhave argued for the
importance of ethopoiia as a literary device in late antique poetry. A recent collection
of essays on ethopoiia provides a much-needed introduction to the role of this
rhetorical device, and these essays further demonstrate how much remains to be
done.
236
As Fournet also points out, his work is not the last word on these poems but
rather the beginning of the discussion.
When Fournet first introduced these poems to the scholarly world, they had not
yet been published. Consequently, his focus is not on the meaning and implications of
the text but rather on the fact that these poems are ethopoiia exercises. As he points
out, these poems are our among our earliest witnesses to the phenomenon of Christian
ethopoiia in verse, something that was once thought to occur much later. Previously it

235
These poems receive a full discussion in Agosti, "L'etopea nella poesia greca tardoantica."; Cribiore,
Gymnastics of the Mind. Greek Education in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt; Mary Cunningham,
"Dramatic Device or Didactic Tool? The Function of Dialogue in Byzantine Preaching," in
Rhetoric in Byzantium, ed. Elizabeth Jeffreys (Aldershot: Ashgate 2003); Susan Ashbrook Harvey,
"Spoken Words, Voiced Silence: Biblical Women in Syriac Tradition," Journal of Early Christian
Studies 9, no. 1 (2001); Webb, "The Progymnasmata as Practice."
236
Eugenio Amato and Jacques Schamp, !thopoiia: la reprsentation de caractres entre fiction
scolaire et ralit vivante l'poque impriale et tardive (Salerno: Helios editrice, 2005). The
foundational work on ethopoiia is by Hans-Martin Hagen, thopoiia. Zur Geschichte eines
rhetorischen Begriffs (Erlangen-Nuremberg: 1966).
123
was thought that Christian ethopoiia emerged in the twelfth century with the
progymnasmata of Nikephoros Basilakes.
237
As Fournet points out, we must revise
this by seven centuries.
238
To see how radically these poems from the Bodmer Papyri
change previous ideas, consider how the great Byzantinist Herbert Hunger described
the Byzantine use of ethopoiia:
In few areas of Byzantine literature the pagan classical tradition
remained almost untouched by the spiritual revolutions of Late
Antiquity. The progymnasmata, equally important for the theory and
practice of rhetoric, were dominated by pagan classical motifs until
Middle Byzantine times: most topics come from Greek mythology,
followed by examples from history and fables. Christian themes found
their way into the progymnasmata only slowly and late.
239

This statement now needs major revision.

237
For a discussion of two of his rhetorical exercises, as well as further bibliography, see Stratis
Papaioannou, "On the Stage of Eros: Two Rhetorical Exercises by Nikephoros Basilakes," in
Theatron. Rhetorische Kultur in Sptantike und Mittelater, ed. M. Grnbart (Berlin and New York:
De Gruyter, 2007).
238
Fournet, "Une thope de Can dans le Codex des Visions de la Fondation Bodmer," 255, 60, 64.
239
Herbert Hunger, "The Classical Tradition in Byzantine Literature: the Importance of Rhetoric," in
Byzantium and the Classical Tradition, ed. Margaret Mullett and Roger Scott (Birmingham:
University of Birmingham, 1981), 39.
124
In Agostis article on ethopoiia and Greek poetry, he draws attention to other
examples of poetic ethopoiia in Late Antiquity.
240
In addition to school texts and
compositions showing the influence of the schoolroom (Agosti considers the Bodmer
poems of this typebased on school practices, but composed for other purposes),
Agosti shows how ethopoiia was common in longer poems. His primary example, the
Dionysiaca of Nonnos, proves how pervasive this rhetorical device was among late
antique poets. As evident from these examples, which range from papyrus texts to
poems preserved in the Greek Anthology to late Greek epic poetry, ethopoiia is indeed
a central device of late antique poetry.
241
Agostis earliest examples are from 1
st
and
2
nd
century,
242
which proves that the poems from the Codex of Visions are not the first
or an isolated phenomenon, although they do seem to be the first based on Biblical
episodes.
The authors of the rhetorical handbooks generally distinguish between three
types of characterization exercises: prospopoiia, ethopoiia, and eidolopoiia. While
Theon may not subdivide the types of characterization exercises, other writers define

240
In addition to the texts Agosti discusses, one should add PSI VI 722 and P.Flor. III 390, as noted in
Laura Migulez Cavero, review of Ethopoiia. La reprsentation de caractres entre fiction scolaire
et ralit vivante l'poque impriale et tardive, edited by E. Amato and J. Schamp, Bryn Mawr
Classical Review 2006.06.33 (2006).
241
Viljamaa makes similar claims, but in regards to encomiastic poetry and ethopoiia. See Toivo
Viljamaa, Studies in Greek Encomiastic Poetry of the Early Byzantine Period (Helsinki: 1968), 116-
24.
242
Agosti, "L'etopea nella poesia greca tardoantica," 36.
125
the types as follows. Prosoppoiia covers exercises in which the person is invented or
mythological. Ethopoiia involves exercises in which the person is a historical figure
in a particular situation. Eidolopoiia concerns those exercises in which the person had
died; that is, they are speeches from the underworld by a ghost of a known person.
243

Since Cain and Abel are as historical as Achilles or Phoenix, we might call these
poems examples of ethopoiia. At the same time, Abel barely had time to speak
between Cains fatal blow and his death, so it might be more suited to call this
eidolopoiia and imagine Abel uttering this lament in the underworld.
CAIN AND ABEL IN EARLY CHRISTIAN LITERATURE
Cain and Abel are frequently the subject of early Christian homilies, and they
were often discussed in exegetical works; in filling in the narrative gaps, Christian
authors were following in the tradition of haggadah, the stories surrounding Biblical
narratives in the Jewish tradition. John Chrysostom even suggests the Cain and Abel
are well suited for teaching purposes.
244
Cain and Abel were popular in early
Christian writings. Glenthj has catalogued the uses of Cain and Abel by Greek and

243
George A. Kennedy, A New History of Classical Rhetoric (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1994).This categorization follows the handbook of Apthonius. Some variation exists in how these
exercise are divided.
244
Fournet, "Une thope de Can dans le Codex des Visions de la Fondation Bodmer," 265. See John
Chrysostom, Sur la vaine gloire et l'ducation des enfants, ed. Anne Marie Malingrey, Sources
chrtiennes 188 (Paris: ditions du Cerf, 1972), 39.
126
Syriac writers of the fourth and fifth centuries.
245
His study shows that it was
common, especially in Syriac writers, to imagine what they might have said to each
other and to fill in the gaps in the narrative. Many of these writers also imagine what
would have taken place before and after the main event. Syriac writers likewise
imagine Adams response and Eves lament. According to the evidence available to
him, Glenthj concluded that dialogue is a particular Syriac trait. He makes mention
of ethopoiia and the Greek tradition of rhetorical speeches, but a firm distinction is
drawn between these two practices. The Syriac examples do take a particular delight
in dialogue, and especially dialogue to fill in the gaps of the Biblical narrative. Syriac
writers create dialogues between Cain and Abel and then also between Cain and his
parents. A number of laments, by Abels grief-stricken parents, are found in the
Syriac writers.
Glenthjs work was unable to consider the poems from the Codex of Visions
since they had not yet been published. Fournet described these poems in an article in
1992, and Glenthj mentions these poems based on Fournets description of one of the
poems, Cains Speech (Glenthjs book came out in 1997; the poems were first
published in 1999). Glenthjs survey is instructive because it shows how different
the poems from the Codex of Visions are in comparison to other uses of Cain and Abel
by early Christian writers. In addition, his conclusions show what was previously
thought about literary developments, particularly the use of speeches and dialogues.

245
Johannes Bartholdy Glenthj, Cain and Abel in Syriac and Greek Writers (4th-6th Centuries)
(Leuven: Peeters, 1997).
127
Now the Codex of Visions demands a re-appraisal of these conclusions. First, no other
author tries to tell the story of Cain and Abel or imagine their speeches in Homeric
verse. The other texts that deal with Cain and Abel are homilies or exegetical texts;
only the poems from the Codex of Visions display the trappings of the rhetorical
school. Furthermore, no other author imagines what Abel would have said after his
death. In fact some considered Abel to be in paradise, an option that does not appear
possible with our present poemor else why would he look forward to the coming of
his savior? While many Christian interpreters saw Abel as a typological figure, no
other examples present him as a prophet who eagerly awaits the rescue of those in
Hades. We have no other surviving text that imagines what Abel might have said
after being slain. Nor does anyone else connect Abel to Psalm 101. While other
writers imagine dialogues between Cain and Abel, the Codex of Visions never actually
shows them in dialogue. Indeed these poems from the Codex of Visions are
exceptional.

INTRODUCTION TO THE POEMS
Andr Hurst and Jean Rudhardt first published these poems in 1999.
246
Their
edition offers an excellent discussion of the papyrus and other technical matters, a text,
plates of the papyrus, a commentary, and a translation into French. Their textual notes
provide thorough evidence of how the poems make use of Homer and the Epic poets;
more could be said, however, about how these poems fit into the larger story of

246
Hurst and Rudhardt, Codex des Visions: Pomes Divers.
128
Christian poetry. Moreover, some fascinating links with the other poems of the Codex
of Visions and with later poetic developments fall outside the scope of their edition.
Any divergent readings from their text are noted. Since these poems employ archaic
diction and vocabulary unlike that spoken by contemporaries, I have tried to achieve a
similar effect with the translation to convey not only the meaning of the words but
something of their sense and connotation as well.
The first poem, Cains Speech, is nineteen lines long and in dactylic
hexameters. The poem gives little information about Genesis 4 and expects the
reader/auditor to already know the story. The poet imagines Cains lament as he tries
to determine where he can go to escape this great misdeed. Since the poem is short it
is quoted in full here.
CAINS SPEECH (P. BODM. 33)
?) - 0!*& p s(&- 3!*'?0)-($ ?#[- JR=/;
1 !:& !*/FC !:& .0Pn* B- F"(9 !9:& %j[ '(? **+$
v<":$ ?0 ?"(.0":$ ?0 7#-9[ ] . -9* . [ ]-( . [
|'( A/ u D1*-)= u //4 5![*-?*$ ]'90' . [
0>-0' 7K (1)= ?8% 7/A<S9[(-0 ]. C9[
5 O!/0? B.(" ?# .F"*&0- B.([-?-
<()= j- 6 3-F-0+50- 7#-[
'0P10&- *W% v!80&n0- 00[ ](9/(9 . . [ ] p"4-.
0` %F '0- 3?"+<F?*&* !*/+9[!]/9A<'?*&9[* 1(/A55=$
129
'8/!*- X/#$ !*?L RF-109[( ]. [ ]. . [ ]'0)-=
10 %Fn0?(& ?0 RFR(5?(& *?([ ] *WS v![
%)=$ X/#$ F<( /(E?( ?*/[ ]n(!*" . [
!0&"*- .*"F*+5( '(?('9[/P_*-]?9( 6F01"9[(
u- <A" (`1F"0*$ !*/+ . [ ]+(&-('[
0nC5&- .*"F051(& *+[ ]. +<05!90[
15 ;*) '(L %F '0- &5?*$ S[ ](9&9 S8/*-[ ] ]!(550[-
.1&*$ (`C-)*&*9[ B-(]n . . . . . [ ] . [ ].
c$ ?0 '('9*""F'?[=- 3]!*?)-+?(&, c$ '0- XA"?=&.
%= % *k?&- 7<a[ !"*?&]855*(& B[& ']F/0+1*-
A"?("( /*&!#- >'[05]10 '('*""(.)=[$] 3'8"=?*&.
TRANSLATION
1 Whither shall I go? Whither shall I flee? Through the air?
Across the track of the sea or the land? They know my crime.
Bit by bit the earth and the sea reject me.
Because my sin accuses me, my very savage sin.
247

5 If only it could be made to vanish forthwith!

247
(1)== 3(1)(, here understood as sin based on LSJ s.v. 3; it could also translate as willful
ignorance as in Euripides Bacchae 490, where Dionysus says to Pentheus: 5j % 3(1)($ <0
'350R*b-? 7$ ?#- 108-
130
Even the earth refuses to let me
Hide; it does not yield to my assault
And if the deep bosom of the salty, barren,
wide-roving sea
10 Receive or carry me [
The great depth of the divine sea [
Bearing the flowing deluge over the land
Or the air greatly [ ] me
I give up, being carried away
15 Alas! Even the Most-high pursues [ ]wrath
The powerful lord of the ages
Who requites the evil-doer, whoever transgresses;
Nor am I able to look upon any way out
Tartarus, who never has his fill of evil-doers, come for me!

Like a character in tragedy, Cain reflects upon his crime. He ponders a course
of action: Whither shall I go? Whither shall I flee? Through the air? /Across the
track of the sea or the land? The repeated use of !:& creates the sense of despair.
Romanos kontakion on Judas opens in a similar manner, as Judas asks which land or
131
sea or air might receive him.
248
Agosti notes further comparisons for this opening.
249

The repetition likewise gives Cains lament the feel of a hymn.
Indeed the style of this poem exhibits characteristics of ethopoiia exercises in
general. The rhetorical handbooks describe these exercises as pathetical or ethical,
i.e. laments or speculations about what one should do. Furthermore, the stylistic
qualities aimed for in these exercises are clarity, conciseness, floridity, lack of polish,
and absence of figures.
250
Cains lament is both concise and florid; his lament is less
than 20 lines, but when he ponders where to flee, the expression is florid. The lack of
polish and absence of figures lends an air of dramatic realism: in such a situation,
Cain does not use complicated figures or highly convoluted syntax.
Cain asks for Tartarus to come for him, and in this last line the Biblical
account enters the world of Greek mythology. Cain would prefer ravenous Tartarus to
a cursed life on earth. The concept of Tartarus does not appear in Genesis, but like the
other poems in the Codex of Visions, the underworld plays an important role, as
Abels Response will show.

248
Romanus, Cantica, #17 stanza (.
249
Amato and Schamp, !thopoiia, 58.
250
Kennedy, A New History of Classical Rhetoric, 206.
132
ABELS RESPONSE (P. BODM. 35)
Although separated in the codex by other poems, Abels Response, presents
the other side of the story. Abel responds by paraphrasing Psalm 101
251
. Since the
poem is a paraphrase of Psalm 101, it goes without saying that the poem exhibits
characteristics of a hymn. But as the Psalm is transformed into Homeric verse, subtle
(and not so subtle) changes occur. The poem begins as follows:
[) - 0!]*& p R0/ 3-(&"=10L$ v!# ?*b s(&-;
1 sF'/+[1) *&] !A5S*-?& !A?0" 10j %=&*0"<F, (1)
'(L .C[-:$ 7]!9A'*+5*- 7$ (`1F"( '0'/=<N?*$
. . . [ ]0- =%0 . . [.] . . . (9 . . . !9?9*9[
-85.&- 3!C5A9[0-]*$ ?0M .A0(, '(% %F *& (W%K (2-3)
5 7/[1]F?C 7$ A'("9[*$] ?90#- ? O( '=%*F-*&*.
<*+-*b() 50 B-([n, 5]\ %F (%0* '() 7/F=5[*-,
-] !*? 7!(+<A_=&51( ?0#- 10"A!*-?[A 6(] /+<"#9[-
3/]<F( *S1)_*-?(9[ '(L] (?& ?N&%[. . . ](9&9*-.
[Father God, Creator, hearken to me who suffers
and listen to the voice of my cry [rising] to heaven
[ ]
I who have been driven away from thy countenance.

251
the verse numbers of the Psalm are in parantheses in the right-hand margin
133
5 Let my voice of distress come to thy blessed ear.
I implore thee, Lord, have pity on me and have mercy on me,
If at any time thou hast illumined thy woeful servant,
who toils in woe, in the day [when I call upon thee hear me]

Elements of classical hymnody are present, particularly in line 7 ( -] !*?). The
formula if at any time is one not found in the Psalms but common to Greek
hymns.
252
The use of repetition is also common to hymns, both Christian and pagan.
This poem frequently employs parallel constructions, such as in line 6, I implore
thee, Lord, have pity on me and have mercy on me (5]\ %F (%0* '() 7/F=5[*-).
At times the repetition becomes excessive, as when lines begin with the same word:
*k-0'0- $ ]?0 '(!-#$ 79!9[F]//&!*- (? 70E*. / (*k-0' 70E* !F/*-?8 *&
F"(& P?0 '(!-8$ (because my days are consumed like when smoke/ because
my days have passed away like smoke 9-10). In this case, however, the repetition
may also be further evidence of this poem being an early draft: both lines render the
line from the Psalm in slightly different ways. Some of the language of praise looks
archaic while being instead language common in later poets. For instance, (W?M"
B-(n !*/P%C"0 !*/P//&?0 (9`9C9-9)9*9&9*9/ !A-?*? B" 70-F0&$ 5FR(5[. . . .]0* !r5& [
]. (5((-10&5 (But, O Lord of eternity, rich in gifts and much entreated, /thou
remainest for all time, holy [to all ?]29-30). The adjective !*/P//&?0 appears first

252
See for instance Sappho 31.
134
in Callimachus. This word then gets used frequently among Biblical paraphrasts: it is
found in Nonnos, Eudocia, and Ps. Apollinarius.
Why should Abel choose Psalm 101? And why should he use Homeric verse
as the medium into which he transposes the Psalm? These two questions will guide
the remainder of the analysis of this poem. This poem is not the only instance of the
Scriptures paraphrased into Homeric verse. A surprising number of similarities exist
between this paraphrase of Psalm 101 and the one attributed to Apollinaris, a
paraphrase of the Psalter into Homeric verse from the fourth or fifth century.
253
But
Pseudo-Apollinaris pays little attention to any Christian readings of this line, unlike
the present paraphrase.
The first thing to notice is how the poet uses the Psalm to give a voice to the
fallen Abel. After being slain by Cain, Abel has literally become invisible and mute
'(L 6 B&5?*$ B!+5?*$ O=- Y?A"*[&5&- i!(5&- (yea, to my friends I am invisible
and mute 22)since he is, after all, dead. The Psalm uses this language
metaphorically by comparing the supplicant to a pelican in the wilderness or an owl in
an abandoned house (I am become like to a pelican of the wilderness: I am like a
night raven in the house. I have watched, and am become as a sparrow all alone on
the housetop Psalm 101.7-8). But one wonders why Abel claims that he is the cause
of this grief: *-0' 70E*, .F"&5?0 B-(n, 7S*/[q5](* /)=-/ '(L O""=n($ ]!&510
R(/a- h%P-[=&5&]- *[. . . .]. ?0$ (on account of me, mighty Lord, thou hast been
exceedingly wroth, and hast shattered me, casting me to sorrows 25-6). Is Abel

253
See Appendix One.
135
displaying here his great humility? Although it was Cain who brought this upon him,
he nevertheless takes the blame.
Psalm 101 appears particularly well suited since it allows for the poet to play
with typology. In one sense, Abel becomes a type of Christ, an innocent sacrifice.
Yet in another sense, Abel becomes a prophet who utters a prophecy of the coming of
Christ. A further connection between Abel and Christ emerges when we recall that
Christ quoted a Psalm verse on the cross (My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Psalm 22:1). In moments of anguish, for both Christ and Abel, the words of the
Psalms come to their lips. The poet has already given Abel the prophetic ability to
know the Psalms before their time, in a reversal of the prisca theologia. According
to that model, ancient pagans had access to Divine revelation, but here the second
generation of mankind already has intimations of later Divine writings. It is only one
step further to imagine Abel having insight into the coming of Christ and salvation
even for those in Hades. Furthermore, this explains why the Lord responds in lines
57-59:
'/:959&9[-] Y*E !"*5F0&!0- 7!)."(5($ (?& ?N&%0 (24)
7"S*F-=- !"*!A"*&10 '('*""F'?=- 3!*?)-0&-
=% 7j <*+-A_=& ?F/0*$ !"*!A"*&1[0 %&'A]_09[&-. (25?)
[In that day, considering the entreaty coming to him
to atone the evil-doer before him, he says:
do not implore me to judge before the end!]
136
Abel needs to wait for the final judgment when Christ comes to judge the living and
the dead.
When Abel longs for the coming of his savior, he draws attention to the
Christological framework of this paraphrase. Psalm 101 is more guarded and less
direct; even so, Christian interpreters read this Psalm in a typological fashion. Abel
finds himself in the underworld, since there was no time to chant a hymn in the world
above. Why does he look forward to his saviors coming if he has already diedis it
not already too late? The poem seems to have in mind the tradition, common in the
early Church (and even this Codex), of Christs descent into Hades.
The poem proves itself to be an eidolopoiia in the following lines. Abel counts
himself among the slain in Hades waiting for the coming of salvation.
c?[& j-] 7n0'A/+0- 3! *W"(-*E* .8C5%0 (20)
5[C?:" c]- !"*F='0- 7- 3-1"q!*&5&- O5051(&
*-0]'0- (v?#$ B-(n 7n *W"(-*b 3. 7!L <(E(-
50 0-] g5?0 ."A5(&?* `%a- 5?*-(S4- ?0 !0-&S"N-,
'([L] 9*<F*-?[(]$ i!(-?($ %=- 5(*E % 7/0()"*&. (21)
'(L 5]*.[)]=- '(?F-0+50- YK- 7!L <(E(- h"0<-\$
[He hath unveiled from heaven the Light,
the Savior whom the Lord hath sent forth to be among mortals.
For this reason the Lord himself from heaven came down to the earth,
so as to observe the groaning of the paupers, so that
137
he might save and take pity on all the distressed in Hades.
And he hath consented to stretch forth his wisdom upon the earth, ll. 47-52]

The poet engages in a re-reading and re-interpretation of the Psalm most explicitly in
these lines. These lines are an expanded reading of verses 20 and 21 of the Psalm.
The Psalmist speaks of the Lord bending down from his holy place (7nF'+0-) and
looking upon the earth from heaven ('+")*$ 7n *W"(-*b). The poet expands upon
this: in his version, the Lord not only bends down but comes to earth: 7n0'A/+0- . .
. .8C$ 5C?4". First, the poet introduces the idea of the .N$, invoking St. Johns
Gospel (cf beginning of Vision of Dorotheus). As in other places in the poem, the
paraphrase relies on the hearing of the Psalm: 7nF'+0- and 7n0'A/+0- mean very
different things, and the poet must introduce something (the .8C$) to make sense of
the verb. While they mean two different things, they sound similar: both start with
7n0'- and end with -0-.
Line 48 is then undeniably a Christian reading: 5[C?:" c]- !"*F='0- 7-
3-1"q!*&5&- O5051(& [the Savior whom the Lord hath sent forth to be among
mortals]. When the idea of the savior is used in the Septuagint, it is often another
word for God describing him as savior or redeemer.
254
But here the savior is sent to
dwell among men; the poet alludes to a savior who is sent from heaven to be among
mortals. This line of the poem (48) in fact appears again in one of the other poems,

254
see Psalm 24 (25:5) p 10#$ p 5C?4" *+ cf Psalm 26 (27): 9; Mi 7:7
138
To Those Who Suffer [Le Seigneur ceux qui soffrent] l. 6, another Christological
poem from the Codex of Visions. As this example shows, the poem reads the Psalm
through the lens of Christian theology.
In the next two lines (49 and 50) we return to the Psalm (verses 20 and 21),
after this brief soteriological excursus. The Lord looks down upon the earth and hears
the cry of those in affliction. Again the paraphrase relies on auditory likeness:
5?0-(<8- = 5?*-(S4-, !0!0%=F-C- = !0-&S"N-.
255
Yet the Lord did not hear the
cry of Abel; rather the voice of his blood crieth out (Genesis 4.10). Certainly
Genesis gives no indication that Abel would be saved or redeemed. The next line,
however, indicates that the salvation Abel hopes for is not an earthly one. Here we see
for certain that Abel utters this hymn from the world below and that it is a proper
eidolopoiia. The Psalm says of the Lord: That he might hear the groans of them that
are in fetters: that he might release the children of the slain [Douay-Rheims] (?*b
3'*b5(& ?#- 5?0-(<#- ?N- !0!0%=F-C-, ?*b /b5(& ?*\$ +@*\$ ?N-
?01(-(?CF-C-.) Abel thus speaks as if he is one of those in fetters. Line 51
translates line 21 of the Psalm: '([L] 9*<F*-?[(]$ i!(-?($ %=- 5(*E %
7/0()"*& (and he might save and take pity on all the distressed in Hades). The editors
read } as the adverb B%=- fully. An equally plausible reading, which fits the
context, is %=- Hades. The use of the accusative for the dative would not be that

255
For a further discussion of the auditory nature of the paraphrase, see Hurst and Rudhardt, Codex des
Visions: Pomes Divers.
139
unusual. Since the dative was disappearing and finally did disappear, the accusative
replaced it and took over the function of the locative.
256
So we have the same here.
Without accents and with iota subscripts only written when they are necessary
for metrical reasons, the reading of this word remains uncertain. Two other poems in
the codex have similar readings that justify this reading. In these other instances of
} the editors recognize the two possible readings. The context leads the editors
to make this suggestion in the other poems (Address to the Just and the Hymn to
the Lord Jesus). Since these poems mention Tartarus and they choose %=- as a
more likely reading.
In lines 23-26 of the Address to the Just, the speaker talks about how the
righteous will flee Tartarus (7--()C- "0R*$ A"?("*- 3.&-F=&). In the next line
we have }, but the following line has (%=$:
257

*-0'( -=!+?)=&5&- B%=- [vel &%=-] '(?F-(550-[
(W?#$ <M" ?V J)%=$ O!/0?V7- 3-1"q!*&$
[wherefore he established Hades for the foolish
for Hades itself was among men]
At first it looks like } should be read as B%=- since it lacks the iota. But further
inspection shows that the iota subscript is only written in line 26 (and 83) for metrical
reasons. Iota subscripts are not written in this papyrus and it is only for metrical

256
Geoffrey C. Horrocks, Greek: A History of the Language and its Speakers (London: Longman,
1997), 58-59.
257
Text from Hurst and Rudhardt, Codex des Visions: Pomes Divers.
140
reasons (hence the diaresis above the iota) that i&%=$ is sometimes written with the
iota, sometimes without it. Epic writers of Late Antiquity used the adverb B%=-
(Quintus of Smyrna, for example); but with the context and the discussions of
Tartarus, i&%=$ is the better reading.
Indeed this is the way the editors read } in the Hymn to the Lord Jesus.
Here the context leads them to read the words as i&%=&.
258

D"=5?#$ B-(n, F< B<(/( 1085![*"*-
+SM$ % 7n "0R0+$ !*/F($ !"*F=['0 .8]C5%0
Q51= .A*$ (`-#- i&%=& -0'P[0]55& .[*":5(&].
[Christ the Lord, the great image of God
sent the light to go about the souls from Erebeus
The eternal light appeared in Hades to bear away the dead ll. 22-24]
The poem recounts Christs descent into Hades to preach the Gospel. The editors
rightly point out that there was a widespread belief among early Christians in this
extra-biblical account (although interpreted through biblical passages by Church
Fathers). What the editors do not notice is that connection to Abels Response. The
two poems complement each other. Abel is in Hades looking forward to the coming
of the Savior. The Hymn to the Lord recounts Christs descent into Hades. Thus it
is not a stretch to see Abels Response as conscious of this tradition. Abels speech

258
Text from Hurst and Rudhardt, Codex des Visions: Pomes Divers.
141
is also set in the underworld; therefore, a reading of %=$ there too makes the most
sense.
PSALM 101 AND THE HARROWING OF HELL
This paraphrase does not stand alone in reading Psalm 101 in such a fashion.
Christian exegetes read lines 20-21 of Psalm 101
259
as a prophecy of Christs
incarnation and descent to Hades. A Byzantine commentary by Neophytos Enkleistos
(1134-1214) even adds to hear the groans of those in fetters in Hades (?*b 3'*b5(&
?#- 5?0-(<#- 7- ?U %l ?N- !0!0%=F-C-).
260
Early Christian commentators
more frequently stress the incarnational interpretation. St. Athanasius seems to be one
of the earliest to make the connection between the Psalm and Christs incarnation,
although he makes no mention of Hades.
261

Although earlier Psalm commentaries, like those of Origen (who gives a more
allegorical reading of this passage), survive only in fragments, this paraphrase

259
That he might hear the groans of them that are in fetters: that he might release the children of the
slain [Douay-Rheims] (?*b 3'*b5(& ?#- 5?0-(<#- ?N- !0!0%=F-C-, ?*b /b5(& ?*\$ +@*\$
?N- ?01(-(?CF-C-.)
260
Neophytos Enkleistos, Hermneia tn dn, ed. Theochars Eustratiou Detoraks, 4 vols., Hagiou
Neophutou tou Enkleistou Syngrammata (Paphos: 2001).
261
?& 7nF'+0- 7n *+$ X<)*+ (W?*b. K- (`?)(- E- ?:$ '/450C$ ?N- 71-N- !("(?)10?(&.
?= %F 75?&- 7!&.A-0&( ?*b C?:"*$ N- D"&5?*b, - 7!*)=50 '/)-($ *W"(-*P$.
Athanasius, Expositiones in Psalmos, ed. J.-P. Migne, vol. 27, Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series
Graeca (PG) (Paris: 1857-66).
142
provides some of earliest information (alongside Athanasius) for reading the Psalm as
a foreshadowing of the Incarnation. In John Damascenes Exact Exposition of the
Orthodox Faith, one of the primary compendia of Orthodox doctrine from the
Byzantine world, he explains the Descent of Christ to Hades using Psalm 101. The
chapter entitled Concerning the Descent to Hades ({0"L ?:$ 7- ?U %l '(18%*+)
states:
The soul when it was deified descended into Hades. . . And thus after
He had freed those who had been bound for ages, straightway He rose
again from the dead, showing us the way of resurrection.
262

When John Damascene talks about freeing those who had been bound he alludes to
Psalm 101 (something editors of Damascene have not noticed): '(L *?C ?*\$ 3!
(`N-*$ /P5($ !0!0%=F-*+$ / ?*b 3'*b5(& ?#- 5?0-(<#- ?N- !0!0%=F-C-,
?*b /b5(& ?*\$ +@*\$ ?N- ?01(-(?CF-C-. (Psalm 101.21).
OTHER VOICES FROM THE DEAD
If we imagine Abel chanting his prophetic paraphrase in the underworld, then
new horizons open up. Now his anticipation of his saviors coming takes on new
meaning. Likewise, the poem then enters, or even inaugerates, a tradition of Christian

262
sA?0&5&- 0`$ %=- +SK ?010CF-=. . . '(L *?C ?*\$ 3! (`N-*$ /P5($ !0!0%=F-*+$ (1&$ 7'
-0'"N- 3-0.*)?=50- p%*!*&45($ E- ?K- 3-A5?(5&-. Section 73. John of Damascus, Die
Schriften des Johannes von Damaskos, ed. Bonifatius Kotter (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1969).Translation
from John of Damascus, "Exposition of the Orthodox Faith," in Post Nicene Fathers (Aberdeen:
1898).
143
poems imagining what certain persons might have seen or said in the underworld. The
Cain and Abel poems from the Codex of Visions, with their focus on the underworld,
must be situated within the larger context of writings on the descent to Hades and
imagined speeches in the underworld. Cain sees Tartarus as his only refuge. The
Address to the Just and the Hymn to the Lord both reveal a preoccupation with
Hades and Christs conquering of its power. These poems change previous
assumptions since they complicate previous narratives of how this tradition developed.
Romanos the Melodist, the great hymnodist from the sixth century, wrote many hymns
on the Descent to Hades.
263
In these hymns, a personified Hades and Satan, or Satan
and a personified Death, lament their defeat after the resurrection of Christ. Since
these poems are the first dramatic renderings of the descent in Greek poetry, they are
often connected to the Syriac tradition of dispute poems. The poems from the Codex
of Visions, however, suggest that a tradition of underworld speeches existed in Greek
already and that these poems are also part of the rhetorical tradition of eidolopoiia. So
the background is diverse: a tradition of underworld speeches exists in the dialogue
poems in the Syriac tradition; and the Apocryphal Gospels use similar devices, but it is
unclear which came first since no firm date exists for many of these apocryphal texts.
Indeed these descent narratives are found in Jewish apocalyptic literature as well.
264


263
On the Victory of the Cross, (#22,; On the Crucifixion (# 21); also nos. 23, 25, 26, 27, and 28.
Romanus, Cantica.
264
Martha Himmelfarb, Tours of Hell: An Apocalyptic Form in Jewish and Christian Literature
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983). Himmelfarbs comments on the question of
dependence apply equally here: This does not mean that the link between two related texts is
144
In the other direction, this tradition continues into the middle ages, the Renaissance,
and even into the twentieth century with C. S. Lewis Screwtape Letters. Many
streams of transmission are in play; how does one then situate the Cain and Abel
poems within any of these traditions?
These traditions of Christs underworld journey,
265
which one reads about in
the Apocryphal Gospels, patristic homilies, and liturgical texts, permeate the liturgy
and art of the early and medieval Church. According to this tradition, Christ
descended into Hades after the crucifixion and freed those held in bonds in the
underworld.
266
The impetus for imagining what went on in the underworld begins with
the interpretation of a passage in I Peter 3:18-19.
267
Many Church Fathers took this to

always or even usually one of literary dependence. The possible (and actual) types of relationship
between texts can be placed on a continuum with literary borrowing at one end and nonliterary
influence at the other. In between are the use of common sources, written and otherwise, common
models, and nonliterary borrowing (2).
265
For an overview, see Josef Kroll, Gott und Hlle: der Mythos vom Descensuskampfe (Leipzig:
Teubner, 1932). and J. A. Macculloch, The Harrowing of Hell. A Comparative Study of an Early
Christian Doctrine (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1930).
266
For the institution of the this belief, see Rmi Gounelle, La descente du Christ aux enfers:
institutionnalisation d'une croyance (Paris: Institut d'tudes augustiniennes, 2000).
267
c?& '(L D"&5?#$ i!(n !0"L X("?&N- [v!j" vN-] 3!F1(-0-, %)'(&*$ v!j" 3%)'C-, >-( vr$
!"*5(<A<l ?U 10U, 1(-(?C10L$ j- 5("'L _[*!*&=10L$ %j !-0P(?& 7- '(L ?*E$ 7- .+/('e
!-0P(5&- !*"0+10L$ 7'4"+n0-. Because Christ also died once for our sins, the just for the unjust:
that he might offer us to God, being put to death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the spirit, in
which also coming he preached to those spirits that were in prison Douay Rheims
145
mean that Christ preached in the underworld, understanding the prison here to mean
the prison of Hades. Clement of Alexandria gives one of the earliest and clearest
expositions of this descent into the underworld.
268
In the Syriac translation of the New
Testament, this understanding is made explicit: those in prison (7- .+/('e) become
those in sheol.
269
By the time of Theophylact of Ohrid (1050-c.1126), this
interpretation has become standard.
270
This doctrine is elaborated and further narrated
in the Apocryphal Gospels (especially the Pilate Cycle from the Gospel of
Nicodemus)
271
and in various homilies (for instance Eusebius of Emessa or
Alexandriamany of these homilies are of uncertain authorship). Perhaps the most
perplexing and most exciting Greek patristic text is Proclus Encomium On Mary.
Proclus wrote in the fifth century, but textual research has shown that this text has

268
%&8!0" p 'P"&*$ 0W=<<0/)5(?* '(L ?*E$ 7- &%*+. . . *WSL %=/*b5&- 0W=<<0/)51(& ?#- 'P"&*-
?*E$ ?0 3!*/C/85&- 7- ?U '(?('/+5U, r//*- %j !0!0%=F-*&$, '(L ?*E$ 7- .+/('e ?0 '(L
."*+" 5+-0S*F-*&$; Clement of Alexandria, Stromata Buch I-VI, ed. Otto Sthlin, Ludwig
Frchtel, and Ursula Treu, 4. Aufl. mit Nachtrgen / ed. (Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1985), 6.6.44-
45.
269
Some Greek codices include this reading, as well as the patristic writer Ambrosiaster. See Novum
Testamentum Graece, ed. Eberhard Nestle, et al., 27th rev. ed. (Stuttgart: Deutsche
Bibelgesellschaft, 2007).
270
PG 125 col. 1232
271
Rmi Gounelle and Zbigniew S. Izydorczyk, L'vangile de Nicodme, ou, Les actes faits sous Ponce
Pilate (recension latine A): suivi de La lettre de Pilate l'empereur Claude (Turnhout: Brepols,
1997).
146
many later additions.
272
Included in the oration is an acrostic dialogue between Mary
and Joseph, Mary and Gabriel, as well as a council of demons.
Syriac literature is especially fond of imagining what took place in the
underworld. The speeches of Satan and Hades in the underworld are certainly part of
the Syriac literary tradition of dialogue poems (sogiyatha), and many dialogues
between Satan and Hades are found in Ephrem the Syrians works (especially in the
Carmina Nisibina); Sebastian Brock has written extensively on these and drawn
attention to the deep Mesopotamian roots of Syriac dialogue and dispute poems.
273
A
recent book by Thomas Buchan provides an in-depth study of the Descent to Hades in
Ephrems works.
274
Syriac literature undoubtedly had a major impact on Greek
Christian literature of this period, but it is unclear if the poets whose works survive in
the Bodmer Papyri had any access to Syriac literature. In none of the poems from the
Codex of Visions is there any suggestion of familiarity with Syriac literature. Rather,

272
See Proclus, Proclus of Constantinople and the Cult of the Virgin in Late Antiquity: Homilies 1-5,
Texts and Translations, ed. Nicholas Constas (Leiden: Brill, 2003).
273
See the numerous works by Brock: Sebastian P. Brock, "Dialogue Hymns of the Syriac Churches,"
Sobornost 5.2 (1983); Sebastian P. Brock, "Syriac Dialogue Poems: Marginalia to a Recent
Edition," Le Museon 97 (1984); Sebastian P. Brock, "Syriac and Greek Hymnography: Problems of
Origin," Studia Patristica 16 (1985); Sebastian P. Brock, "Syriac Dispute Poems: The Various
Types," in From Ephrem to Romanos: Interactions between Syriac and Greek in Late Antiquity
(Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999).
274
Thomas Buchan, "Blessed is He Who Has Brought Adam from Sheol": Christ's Descent to the Dead
in the Theology of Saint Ephrem the Syrian (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2004).
147
it seems that these may have been parallel developments. This is not to downplay the
cross-cultural interactions between Greek and Syriac. Instead, what it shows is how
exegetical traditions and poetic traditions overlap. Both Greek and Syriac poets
explored the significance of the Descent to Hades and imagined what kinds of
conversations might have occurred there. The poems from the Codex of Visions
highlight the ways in which poets working in different languages but relying on
similar exegetical techniques can make use of similar devicesin this case, the
imagined speeches in Hades.
These literary excursions to the underworld are not limited to one literary
tradition. The descent to the underworld is a narrative motif that goes all the way back
to Gilgamesh. In Greek literature we see it in the Odyssey, and it appears in various
myths.
275
Even in the Odyssey the trip to the underworld is tinged with sorrow and

275
Radcliffe G. Edmonds, Myths of the underworld journey: Plato, Aristophanes, and the 'Orphic' Gold
Tablets (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004). Older scholarship sought to find the
origin for this tradition; see for instance Albrecht Dieterich, Nekyia: Beitrge zur Erklrung der
neuentdeckten Petrusapokalypse (Leipzig: Teubner, 1893). Edmonds points out the shortcomings
with trying to find a single transmission for an original archetype: A Quellenforschung approach to
these texts is, however, ultimately fruitless. Too many pieces of the puzzle are missing to
reconstruct a concrete chain of influence, even if literary influence could ever be charted as simply
as a manuscript tradition. Between Homers Odyssey in the eighth century and Aristophanes Frogs
in the fifth, there must have been many poems, tragedies, and comedies that described the journeys
to the other world of Herakles, Theseus, and other heroes, but few of these survive. This kind of
search for influences quickly becomes highly hypothetical in the absence of so many of the poetic
treatments of world journeys, not to mention the complete absence of all informal tellingsthe tales
148
lament. Yet the underworld journey is not always full of gravitas. In Aristophanes
Frogs, a debate occurs between Euripides and Aeschylus in the underworld. Thus
dialogues and debates in the underworld are not foreign to Greek and solely a Syriac
tradition. Lucian, a native Syrian but writing in Greek, develops a new genre when he
takes the philosophic dialogue and imagines what famous philosophers would have
said in Hadesthe Dialogues of the Deada genre that had a long after-life and
was immensely popular in the Renaissance.
While these last two examples stress the comedic and parodic possibilities in
imagining speeches from the underworld, similar exercises were also part of students
training in the Greek rhetorical schools. But is there any evidence of Christian
ethopoiia between the time of these poems on Cain and Abel (late fourth early fifth
century) and the time of Romanos (sixth century) when these underworld poems
flourish? While the Syriac examples are mostly dialogues, what about the
monologues from the underworldare these ethopoiia exercises? The poems from
the Bodmer Papyri change our horizon of expectations; subsequently, a lament of
Satan transmitted among the works of Ephrem Graecus, simply titled Sermo
tetrasyllabos, now can be read as an example of ethopoiia. Like many of the texts
discussed in this study, this one was only recently published in a modern edition (by

of heroes that children heard a their grandmothers knee or the ghost stories with which they were
terrified by their parents. (15).
149
Phrantzoles
276
in 1989) and there exists almost no scholarship on it nor a translation
except into Modern Greek. The texts attributed to Ephrem but surviving in Greek are
notoriously difficult to date or assign authorship.
277
These texts most likely come
from the 5
th
or even the 6
th
century. In using the term Ephrem Graecus, I am not
suggesting there was someone by this name; it is simply a convenient way to refer to
these texts. The texts pretend to be translations of Ephrem the Syrian; yet with maybe
one or two exceptions, these Greek texts do not correlate to any known Syriac text.
This poem Sermo tetrasyllabos, in fact, tries to re-create the Syriac meter (four
syllable cola) but in Greek. The poems are not in quantitative meter like classical
Greek poetry; nor are they in accentual meter, like Byzantine poetry. As Ephrem Lash
recently argued, this, however, is the Ephrem that the Byzantines knew.
278
Since the
text is only labeled as tetrasyllabos, I have added a descriptive title: Satan
Bemoaning His Defeat By Christs Martyrs.
279

The poem opens with Satan lamenting his sorrowful state:
Wretched Satan, his might destroyed, sat and lamented and said with
tears: Woe is me, I who am so miserable! What have I suffered,

276
Ephraem Graecus, Sermo tetrasyllabus ed. K. G. Phrantzoles, 7 vols., vol. 2, Osiou Ephraim Tou
Surou Erga (Thessalonica: To Periboli Ts Panagias, 1989). This text was published earlier by
Thwaites in 1709.
277
See Ephrem Lash, "Metrical Texts of Greek Ephrem," Studia Patristica 35 (2001).
278
Conference on Romanos, Dumbarton Oaks, November 12, 2005
279
Title is my addition. Greek text from Ephraem Graecus, Sermo tetrasyllabus
150
wretch that I am? How have I been defeated, and why do I withdraw
from the fight? I myself am the cause of this shame, since for a long
time I engaged with them [Christ and his disciples] in battle. . .
280

It continues by narrating how Satans ploys were used against him:
. . . I set out snares for them, in order to catch them; but theyve taken
my snares and crushed my head with them. My swift arrows, which I
aimed at them, theyve taken and have destroyed me with them. I was
waging battle against them using various passions, but they have
defeated me by the power of the cross.
281

Satan then reviews the past to see how he ended up in this wretched situation:
. . . I should have been shrewd, I who suffered on account of Christ.
How was all of my power destroyed by him? I did all I could to crucify
him, but his death handed me over to death. Ive suffered again the
same thing from the martyrs, having become a subject for their
reproach, derision, and laughter. . . No longer am I able to bear the

280
8<*$ ?0?"(5P//(R*$
&'=10L$ %j '(?M '"A?*$ p !*-="#$ }&AR*/*$ '(1)5($ 3!C%P"0?* '(L O/0<0 0?M '/(+1*b.
W() *& ?U ?(/(&!q"[ ?) !F!*-1( p B1/&*$; {N$ ??=10L$ 3-0Sq"=5(; :$ (`5SP-=$ %j
?(P?=$ 7<q 0`& (?&*$ p 5+-A($ 0? (W?N- !8/0*- 7!L !*/P.
281
M$ <M" !(<)%($ O5?=5(, g5?0 (W?*\$ !(<&%0b5(&, (W?*L %j /(R8-?0$ (W?M$ ?K- '0.(/4-
*+ O1/(5(-. M RF/= *+ ?M hnF(, i!0" O!0!*- '(? (W?N-, /(R8-?0$ (W?*L %& (W?N- 0
3!F'?0&-(-. <a (W?*\$ 7!*/F*+- 7- !A105& %&(.8"*&$, (W?*L %j 7?"*!*b-?8 0 ?e %+-A0&
?*b 5?(+"*b.
151
reproach that sits upon me. After boasting greatly, now my power and
my entire dominion is destroyed by vile men.
282

Finally, Satan looks ahead to the future:
. . . Well, I dont know, what should I do or what should I say in my
defense? These vile and unlearned ones have received the crown of
victory, while Im made miserable and covered with disgrace. My
strength is darkened, frightened, and forsaken. What then should I, a
wretch, do? I dont know. Since Ive escaped from these brave
warriors, should I return to my friends, those with a lazy disposition,
where there is no trouble for me; nor is there any trickery among them.
. .
283

The rhetorical structure of this text demonstrates that it is in fact an ethopoiia exercise.
It follows the rubrics for school ethopoiia exercises, yet its theme, the lament of Satan,
reminds one of the works of Ephrem the Syrian. It is not difficult to imagine how this

282
%0& 0 <M" 5C."*-&51:-(& I O!(1*- 3!# D"&5?*b !N$ !r5A *+ %P-(&$ '(1l"F1= v!
(W?*b. {A-?( <M" ?8?0 O!"(n(, g5?0 (W?#- 5?(+"C1:-(&, '(L p 7'0)-*+ 1A-(?*$ 1(-A?[ 0
!("F%C'0. # (W?# !A/&- O!(1*- p*)C$ 7!L ("?P"C-, h-0&%&5#$ '(L (`5SP-= '(L <F/C$
<0<0-=F-*$. . . W'F?& %P-((& .F"0&- ?# ]-0&%*$, I v!F5?=- '*!A_C- 0<A/(, v!#
3-1"q!C- 0W?0/N- '(1-"=?() *+ ?# '"A?*$ '(L !r5( %+-(5?0)(.
283
W' *2%( /*&!#- ?) !"AnC u ?) 3!*/*<45*(&. @ 0W?0/0E$ '(L 3(10E$ 5?F.(-*- -)'=$
O/(R*-, 7<a %j p ?(/()!C"*$ (`5SP-=- 7'*&5A=-. 5'*?)51=-, 7!?*41=-, 7nF/&!0- `5SP$
*+ ?) *- !*&45C p B1/&*$ '(L ?) !"AnC, *W <&-q5'C. J!*%"A5($ 3!# ?*P?C- ?N-
<0--()C- 3<C-&5?N- 3!F/1C !"#$ ?*\$ .)/*+$ *+ ?*\$ 61P*+$ ?e !"*1F50&, c!*+ *W'
O5?& *& '8!*$, *W%j !A/&- ?0S-A5(?(. . .
152
ethopoiia exercise made its way into the collection of Greek texts attributed to
Ephrem.
284
The repetitions, the exclamations, the formulaic what should I do all
express the emotional state of the speaker.
285
The rhetorical handbooks describe
ethopoiia exercises as pathetical or ethical, i.e. laments or speculations about what
one should do. Satan turns his attention to his comrades in the underworld. After
crying out what shall I do, Satan gives himself a pep-talk.
286
This also provides
further evidence that this is an ethopoiia: it observes the convention described in the
rhetorical handbooks of organizing the speech not with sections but with a movement
from present, back to the past, and then to the future (Im miserable now; I was
tricked in the past; now what should I do in the future?)
287

As mentioned above in regard to Cains Speech, the rhetorical handbooks state
that these exercises aim for the following stylistic qualities: clarity, conciseness,

284
In the absence of the Codex of Visions, we would have to agree that this poem is based on Syriac
models. Why not look at the Ephrem Graecus poem as a hybrid and a bridge? While it is aware of
the Syriac tradition and the extensive use of imagined speeches in Hades, it is also part of the
tradition of Greek rhetorical practice.
285
Compare the similar language in Romanos: in fact they use the same verb for lamenting (p
%&AR*/*$ . . .;%P"0?* in Romanos; p !*-="#$ }&AR*/*$. . . 3!C%P"0?* in Ephrem Graecus).
See Romanos,On the Victory of the Cross, (#22) in Romanus, Cantica.
286
For the use of pathos in the ethopoiia exercises, see Kennedy, A New History of Classical Rhetoric.
206
287
Ibid., 206.
153
floridity, lack of polish, and absence of figures.
288
Indeed, this text, like Cains
speech, meets that description: the phrasing is short, but excessive, even florid in its
complaints. There is little ornament or complexity, but rather the capturing of the
direct and expressive tone of anguish. Indeed the lack of polish helps bring the
scene to life and presents the character as he might soundthe cries of who did
this? and how did it happen? give the sense of despair. The paratactic structure, as
thought builds upon thought with little to no subordination, gives the sense of one
whose sorrow is so great that complex thoughts are impossible. Finally, clarity and
conciseness are achieved through the repetition of structure or phrasingas when
Satan talks of his strength being darkened, frightened, and forsaken.
In Satans lament, after bemoaning his sorrowful state, he begins to console
himself. All of his attempts to thwart Christ and his disciples have instead proved a
boon to them. The harder he fights, the stronger they become. The traps he lays for
them become traps used against him. Satan finds himself enmeshed in paradox.
Affliction and troubles do not harm Christ and his followers, but instead bring
affliction and trouble to Satan. In a reversal of the play with paradox so beloved by
Christian authors, paradox is seen from another perspective, that of Satan.
289
Like in

288
Kennedy, A New History of Classical Rhetoric, 206.
289
On the idea in patristic literature of the divine deception, the notion that Christ tricked Satan, see
Nicholas Constas, "The Last Temptation of Satan: Divine Deception in Greek Patristic
Interpretations of the Passion Narrative," Greek Orthodox Theological Review 47, no. 1-4 (2002).
154
Lucian, this genre of underworld speeches takes pleasure in the reversals and
paradoxes made possible by an infernal perspective.
Typically, the exercise of eidolopoiia imagines what a historical figure would
say in the underworld. But in this example it is a personified Satan himself. This
creative innovation thus imagines the situation from a rather different perspective.
Ethopoiia in general seeks to do this, to imagine a situation from a particular point of
view. In this example from Ephrem Graecus, the victory of the martyrs is seen from
Satans perspective. Satan laments the situation and expresses his bewilderment. The
narrative, familiar to Christian audiences, is retold from another angle. In the example
from Ephrem Graecus, the victory of the martyrs is seen from Satans perspective.
This outburst by Satan is dramatic, but it is not drama: no one is acting the part of
Satan.
290
Ethopoiia allows for dramatic moments without actually becoming drama.
The effect of this device is to bring the scene to lifeto give Hades or Satan a voice
but to see this scene from a different perspective. The crucifixion and resurrection are
seen from an infernal perspective; the familiar is made strange. Hades sounds pathetic
and the enemy comes across not only as someone weak, but someone who must cry
out on account of his deep sorrow. Imagining Satans or Hades reaction in the
underworld encourages a sense of triumphalism; Satan is made to look like a fool, and
a bitterly lamenting fool at that. Satan and the minions of the underworld take on

290
For a further discussion of this issue, see Andrew Walker White, "The Artifice of Eternity: Studies
of Representational Practices in the Byzantine Theatre and Orthodox Church" (University of
Maryland, 2006).
155
voices so that the great adversary becomes someone to laugh atas C. S. Lewis
gleaned from Thomas More: the devil. . . cannot endure to be mocked.
291

CONCLUSION
In discussing these various textsAbels Response from the Bodmer Papyri,
Ephrem Graecus ethopoiia on Satan, and Romanos imagined speeches of Satan and
HadesI am not suggesting that a lineage of influence connects these various texts
together. I am not claiming that Romanos or Ephrem Graecus read the Bodmer
Papyri. Rather, the Bodmer Papyri alters how we approach these other texts. It
highlights the role of rhetorical exercises in late antique poetic composition and allows
us to read subsequent texts in new ways. Furthermore, these poems demonstrate the
complex ways in which Byzantine hymnody emerged from various traditions. The
poems on Cain and Abel present early poetic meditations on the underworld. Cain
longs for Tartarus, while Abel finds himself in the underworld awaiting the coming of
his savior. As rhetorical exercises these poems demonstrate how schoolroom practices
intertwined with Biblical exegesis. Abels poem is both an example of ethopoiia and
a poetic paraphrase and exegesis of Psalm 101. In line with these poems, a poem from
the corpus of Ephrem Graecus now can be seen as an ethopoiia exercise. Satans
lament shows the characteristics of this progymnasmata exercise with its imagined
expression of how Satan might speak.

291
Epigram to C. S. Lewis, The screwtape letters & Screwtape proposes a toast (New York:
Macmillan, 1962).
156
CONCLUSION
After exploring the individual poems, it is time to consider how these poems
collectively inform our understanding of poetry in Late Antiquity. More specifically,
these poems contribute to our understanding of two separate but inter-related
phenomena: the writing of Christian poetry in classical forms and the emergence of
Christian liturgical poetry.
CONFLICT OF PAGANISM AND CHRISTIANITY
These poems challenge the notion of a conflict between Paganism and
Christianityat least in the world of letters.
292
One gets the sense of how conceptual
models have changed in scholarship by looking back to an old classic on this subject.
As H. I. Marrou observes in his magisterial study of education in antiquity,
One would therefore have expected the early Christians, who were
adamant in their determination to break with a pagan world that they
were constantly upbraiding for its errors and defects, to develop their
own religious type of school as something quite separate from the
classical pagan school. But this, surprisingly, they did not donot, at
least, in Greco-Roman times.
293


292
Agosti, "I poemetti del Codice Bodmer e il loro ruolo nella storia della poesia tardoantica."
293
Henri Irne Marrou, A History of Education in Antiquity, trans. George Lamb (London: Sheed and
Ward, 1956), 316.
157
Marrous words exhibit a genuine shock and a general sense of awe that early
Christians did not simply forsake the pagan literary tradition. Recent scholarship by
Cameron and Brown has advanced a more nuanced view of the common culture
(paideia) shared by pagans and Christians.
294
The idea of a conflict has been eroding
in recent scholarship since it makes for too sharp a distinction: these were not two
distinct and separate cultures fighting for dominance, but one common culture tied
together by paideia. The Codex of Visions further adds to the dismantling of this
model of confrontation. The danger now is in going from one extreme to the other,
from a clash of civilizations to an entirely harmonious symbiosis. Rather than holding
to the model of conflict vs. common culture, the model of dialogue allows these
various elements to co-exist, sometimes in tension, sometimes without. Jerome can
have his famous dream, and Basil can praise the ancients. The Russian scholar Sergei
Averintsev has formulated this approach of dialogue. In his work on the poetics of
early Byzantine literature, he explores the cultural semiotics of the periodhis work is
a study of culture as a series of signs who significance one must understand in order to
perceive the meaning of its literature and art.
295
Piere Bori, the Italian translator of

294
Brown, Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity: Towards a Christian Empire; Averil Cameron,
Christianity and the Rhetoric of Empire: the Development of Christian Discourse (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1991).
295
Sergei Averintsev, Poetika rannevizantiiskoi literatury (Moscow: Nauka 1977). For an Italian
translation, see Sergei Averincev, L'anima e lo specchio: l'universo della poetica bizantina, trans.
Pier Cesare Bori (Bologna: Societ editrice il Mulino, 1988).
158
Averintsev, situates Avernintsevs work and reveals why it is so important.
296
With
dialogue as a model, it does not have to be either/or, either conflict or harmony, but
rather both/and. Various voices interact, some at times dominating over others. At
times a voice rings out calling for the use of pagan poetry, but another voice, in
another moment, may see pagan poetrys temptations and rail against it. The fruits of
this method are evident in Averintsevs own works. He can ask without hesitation
why Romanos should not be seen as a poet familiar with Greek rhetoric. Such an
approach transcends the traditional divides between classicizing poetry and liturgical
poetry.
Since the poetry examined here is all hexameter poetry and heavily dependent
on Homeric allusions, it is necessary to revisit briefly Homers place in early Christian
literature. Homers place in the literature of the early church and Byzantium has been
examined from various angles. Because of Homers central place in the educational
system, it is easy to see how he influenced education.
297
Others have looked at the use
of myths and exempla from Homer.
298
Moreover, the use of Homeric diction is part of
a larger concern with the place of eloquence in Christian literature. No one would
deny that language itself was a hotly contested issue at this time. Recent work on the
Second Sophistic has shown how debates on the proper use of language were part of

296
Averincev, L'anima e lo specchio: l'universo della poetica bizantina.
297
Marrou, A History of Education in Antiquity.
298
Hugo Rahner, Griechische Mythen in christlicher Deutung (Zrich: Rhein-Verlag, 1957).
159
larger considerations of culture and empire,
299
and Christian authors continued this
debate. Christian writers often appealed to the simplicity of their language, the
language of fishermen, in contrast to the overly ornate and sophisticated language of
the pagans. In the words of Averil Cameron,
Other Christians were more uneasy about it [the use of classical
rhetoric]. They were conscious that Jesus and his disciples had
themselves been unlettered, and thought of Christian literature as
having had equally lowly origins. Its style, termed the language of
fishermen (sermo piscatorius), had to be defended and justified;
moreover, there had long been a tendency in Christian writing to
contrast worldly learning and the tricks of rhetoric with the true
simplicity of the faith.
300

When we find Homeric diction incorporated to such an extent that the Scriptures are
recast in Homeric verse, it is obvious that something has changed. Previous
explanations seem unsatisfactory, since they rely on the assumption that Christian

299
Graham Anderson, The second sophistic: a cultural phenomenon in the Roman empire (London:
Routledge, 1993); Simon Swain, Hellenism and Empire: Language, Classicism, and Power in the
Greek World, AD 50-250 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996).
300
Averil Cameron, "Education and Literary Culture," in Cambridge Ancient History, ed. Averil
Cameron and Peter Garnsey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 669. A classic study
of the development of this terminology is Harald Hagendahl, "Piscatorie et non Aristotelice: Zu
einem Schlagwort bei den Kirchenvtern," in Septentianalia et Orientalia: Studia Bernhardo
Karlgren (Stockholm: Alinquist and Wiksell, 1959).
160
writers adopted the language of Hellenism in order to convert the educated Hellenists
who resisted the new faith. But, Browning writes, Christian writers who aimed to
convert cultivated pagans had to writeand presumably preachin language
acceptable to their readers.
301
Brownings assumption, that Christian writers adopted
the language of educated elites in order to convert them, underlies many of the
previous studies of this topic. But if this was the case, then it must go down as one of
the greatest failures in literary history.
Of all the accounts of conversion, few (if any) claim that reading the Scriptures
recast in the language of Homer convinced them to join the new religion.

Thus, we
should reconsider the motivation behind these attempts to present the story of
Christianity in the language of Homer. Christian poets sought to dress their work in
archaic costume, not to convert the educated pagans; rather these poets explored the
possibilities that classical poetry offered for theological expression. And it seems that
they enjoyed this poetry. In fact, the very question of why these poets wrote their
poems is an odd question to begin with, since it assumes that we can somehow
discover their motivation; furthermore, it suggests that the poets intention determines
meaning and ignores the role of reception.

301
Robert Browning, Medieval and Modern Greek, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1983), 49.
161
CODEX OF VISIONS AND LITURGICAL POETRY
It was once thought that the retelling of Biblical scenes and the imagined
speeches of historical and Biblical characters were primarily a development of Syriac
poetry. These poems from the Codex of Visions complicate this simplistic picture. For
example, To Abraham imagines what Abraham, Isaac, and Sarah would have said to
each other. Framed as an encomium on Abraham, the poem takes part in the kind of
dialogue that was previously considered a Syriac predilection. To Abraham is
evidence of an attempt to bridge the divide between classicizing and liturgical poetry.
Its meter and language connect it with classicizing poetry. Yet its themea retelling
of the Sacrifice of Isaac, framed as a hymn to Abrahamconnects it with Byzantine
hymnody, especially the hymns of Romanos. The poem delights in obscurity as it
employs complex symbolism and alludes both to classical poets and contemporary
Christian ones. It is not just Abraham and Isaac who converse, as is the case most
often in Greek and Syriac retellings of the Sacrifice; in this poem, Sarah gets a voice
as well and stands as an equal to Abraham. Traditional accounts of the development
of late antique and Byzantine poetry claim that these two traditions, the classicizing
and the liturgical, were separate and entirely divorced. This poem challenges those
previous assumptions. Indeed what one sees in this poem is a hybrid form, a poetic
experiment that bridges the gap between the two traditions.
Likewise, consider how the poems on Cain and Abel: the many examples in
Romanos of speeches in Hades now have some precedent in Greek, in addition to the
many parallels in Syriac. Scholars have drawn attention to the rhetorical aspects of
Romanos poetry: Herbert Hunger and Sergei Averintsev (independently it seems)
162
both highlight the ample use Romanos made of Greek rhetorical tropes and figures,
302

and Eva Catafygiotu Topping even argued that Romanos poem on Judas is an
ethopoiia.
303
Sebastian Brock admits the influence of Greek rhetorical practice,
although guardedly.
304
Susan Ashbrook Harvey, who draws attention to these poems
from the Bodmer papyri, notes how the Syriac penchant for dramatic dialogue reflects
Greek practices.
305
Up until now, there has been little direct evidence of a rhetorical
tradition standing behind Romanos poetry. We still are left wondering where

302
Sergei Averintsev, "Vizantiiskaya ritorika," in Problemy literaturnoi teorii v vizantii i latinskom
sred-nevekov'e, ed. M. L. Gasparov (Moscow: 1986); Hunger, "The Classical Tradition in Byzantine
Literature: the Importance of Rhetoric."; Herbert Hunger, "Romanos Melodos, Dichter, Prediger,
Rhetor-- und sein Publikum," Jahrbuch der sterreichischen Byzantinistik 34 (1984).
303
Eva C. Topping, "Romanos on Judas: A Byzantine Ethopoeia," Byzantiaka 2 (1982).
304
At a much more profound level it is also possible to see how Syriac writers freely adopt purely
Greek literary forms; this is not just the case with learned writing, for influence extends to popular
and spiritual literature as well. An early example is provided by a homily of the late fourth or early
fifth century on Abraham and Isaac, written in artistic prose; this adopts exactly the same rhetorical
skills of ethopoiia as do contemporary Greek sermons on the same subject. Sebastian P. Brock,
"From Antagonism to Assimilation: Syriac Attitudes to Greek Learning," in From Ephrem to
Romanos: Interactions between Syriac and Greek in Late Antiquity (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999), 29.
305
The Syriac appreciation for dramatic dialogue, with or without narrative to add texture to the story,
echoed broader rhetorical traditions of the Greco-Roman world. The imaginative exploration of
invented, historical, or mythical characters through the device of hypothetical speech was a favored
technique taught in the rhetorical schools. Harvey, "Spoken Words, Voiced Silence: Biblical
Women in Syriac Tradition," 109.
163
Romanos learned Greek rhetorical deviceshis biography does not help, nor do broad
generalizations about educational practices. So one must ask: is he as much part of
the Greek rhetorical tradition as the Syriac literary tradition? These underworld
laments show the intermingling of literary traditions in Byzantine poetry and
hymnodyan intermingling often acknowledged but rarely demonstrated. The poems
from the Codex of Visions certainly take part in rhetorical practices, while at the same
time imagining how Biblical characters might have spoken. These imagined speeches
are central to the Syriac tradition and seem to have influenced Romanos. It is no
longer possible to claim, however, that Romanos could have only found example of
imagined speeches in the underworld from Syriac predecessors. Rather than
imagining a literary culture where devices and techniques emerge in one tradition
alone, the Codex of Visions asks us instead to imagine a more complex situation,
where the practices of exegesis lead to poets attempting to craft poems based on
Biblical stories but embellished with speeches and dialogues.
Poetic and rhetorical devices traveled across linguistic and national boundaries,
and it would be nave to look for one source. Christian poetry in Late Antiquity is
enmeshed in a variety of practices and traditions; neither Greek nor Syriac (or for that
matter Latin or Coptic) exist in a pure tradition, developing poetic types in a
vacuum. Although the Greek poems from the underworld share in common with
Syriac poetry themes and techniques, these poems are also related to the
progymnasmata exercises. If it were not for these poetic examples of ethopoiia in
verse, with Biblical figures uttering laments in the underworld, then the story might be
different.
164
VIRTUES OF OBSCURITY
There is another way to see how the poems from the Bodmer Papyri straddle
the divide: these poems highlight the ways in which both Christian classicizing poetry
and Byzantine hymnody delight in the use of deliberate obscurity and complex
allegory that requires work to untangle its meaning. By deliberate obscurity I mean
the way poets create symbolism not easily penetrable that requires reflection and
meditation: something you have to work at. The term poetics gets used for all sorts
of things; what I mean is simply the Aristotelean notion of investigating how
something works, i.e. how does obscurity work as a device in this poem. This poetics
of obscurity is an aesthetic common-ground that links these two different traditions.
Whereas many of us were taught by Strunk and Whites Elements of Style to
make every word tell and admonished with the dictum vigorous writing is
concise,
306
these expectations were not those of antiquity. Instead, consider the
following from Aristotle:
That which employs unfamiliar words is dignified and outside the
common usage. By unfamiliar I mean a rare word, a metaphor, a
lengthening, and anything beyond ordinary use. . . It is a great thing to
make a proper use of each of the elements mentioned, and of double
words and rare words too, but by far the greatest thing is the use of

306
William Strunk, The Elements of Style (New York: Macmillan, 1959), 17.
165
metaphor. That alone cannot be learnt; it is the token of genius. For
the right use of metaphor means an eye for resemblances.
307

Choral scenes in ancient tragedy display this penchant for obscurity. The delight in
obscurity comes across most vividly in the Hellenistic poet Lycaphron, whose
Alexandra is perhaps the most obscure poem of all time.
But obscurity was also a Christian virtue. Gregory of Nazianzus describes the
virtue of obscurity in the following passage: for what is easily grasped seems utterly
despicable; but what is above us is all the more wonderful, the more difficult it is to
attain. Everything that is beyond the reach of our appetite simply stimulates our
longing.
308
This works well as a description of the poetics of the Codex of Visions.
We see this aesthetic continuing in Byzantine liturgical poetry as well. In Romanos
hymn on Mary at the Cross, he refers to the prophet David understanding the
significance of the curdled mountain.
309
This refers to Psalm 67.16, where mention
is made of a mountain curdled like cheese. To understand the significance of this, one
has to both know the reference to the Psalm and keep in mind the Christology that
explained the conception of Christ in the Virgins womb along the lines of curdled

307
Poetics 22. From Aristotle, The Poetics, ed. W. Hamilton Fyfe, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press, 1927).
308
Gregory of Nazianzus, St. Gregory of Nazianzus: Select Orations, trans. Martha Pollard Vinson, vol.
107, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2003),
Oration 14.
309
Romanus, Cantica, #19 stanza 6.
166
cheese. These are but a few examples of how obscurity serves as an poetic device
common to both the classicizing poetry of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Byzantine
liturgical tradition. The Codex of Visions presents us with hybrid poems that similarly
delight in the obscure.
What we see in the Codex of Visions is creative imitation at work. These
Christian poets are part of a larger development in Late Antiquity, a development that
reshaped the poetry of the past and created something new, albeit couched in the
language and forms of something old. The artifice of eternity may seem eternal, but
it is after all an artifice. A significant feat of allusive play and intertextual fashioning
created this artifice of eternity. These poets retained the past while transforming
poetry to meet new needs and demands, in particular the promulgating and the
preservation of Christian theology. But it is not a thoughtless reception of the past.
The result is a melding of traditions, not a simple classicism or a rejection of the
past. In melding the traditions of classical poetry with the new role that poetry was
assuming in the cultural life of late antique Christendom, a new poetics arose. Fournet
writes about the hybrid form of Christian and classical elements that seem to me
characteristic of Protobyzantine art.
310
I would not limit this aesthetic only to the
Byzantines. What we see in the Codex of Visions are characteristics common to a
wider medieval poetics. If, for instance, these poems somehow traveled to late

310
Jean-Luc Fournet, "Between Literary Tradition and Cultural Change. The Poetic and Documentary
Production of Dioscorus of Aphrodite," in Learned Antiquity. Scholarship and Society in the Near-
East, the Greco-Roman World, and the Early Medieval West, ed. Alaisdair A. Macdonald, Michael
W. Twomey, and Gerrit J. Reinink (Leuven: Peeters, 2003), 105.
167
antique Ireland, the Irish monkswho composed Latin verse full of obscure and often
learned word-playwould recognize in this poetry familiar ground.
168
APPENDIX ONE
Below is a table of comparisons between the paraphrases of Psalm 101
Abels Response Ps. Apolinarius
'F'/+1& (1) 7!&'F'/+1& (1)
B-(n (6) B-(n (4)
*-0' (9) *-0' (6)
<*45($ (24) <*0"*E$ (17)
.F"&5?0 (25) .F"?(?0 (1)
7$ (`1F"( (2) 7n (`1F"*$ (19)
0' <0-0?:$ <0-0?4"0$ (32) 7' <0-0:$ <0-04- (23)
7/0()"*& (51) 7/0()"*&$ / 7/0()"0&- (24, 25)
10"A!*-?0$ (37) 10"A!*-?0$ (27)
!*/P//&?0 (29) !*/P//&?*- (41)
!"*!A"*&10 (59) !"*!A"*&10 (47)
B.1&?*- (46) B.1&?*$ (51)
0`%80-*& (64) 0`%80-*& (52)
169

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