Tempered in the Christian Fire: Greek and Roman Wisdom Literature in Early Christian Teaching and Moral Traditions Público
Domach, Zachary Matthew (2013)
Published
Abstract
Central to the social and religious changes in Late Antiquity is the tension between the Greek and Roman cultural legacy and developing Christian thought. I begin this study, therefore, with an overview of some of the ways in which early Christians appropriated classical motifs, epic poetry, and philosophic elements. The reception of Greek and Roman wisdom literature among early Christians is particularly illustrative of that tension; Part II consequentially explores the educational environment of the ancient world and the role of wisdom literature therein. It also surveys the backgrounds of three wisdom traditions - the Sayings of Diogenes, the Sentences of Sextus, and the Distichs of Cato - that form the cornerstone of my investigative platform. Part III establishes what each wisdom tradition has to say on a particular topic. In Part IV I look at which topics are often connected, which never are, which are given greater emphasis, and what such topics tell us about ancient society. Part V is a reception study: it investigates how the Sayings of Diogenes, the Sentences of Sextus, and the Distichs of Cato were employed and shaped by Christians for Christians. Each tradition was "Christianized" in this sense, though by different means. A consideration, then, of the question of Greek and Roman wisdom literature within Christian teaching, especially among Christian intellectuals, leads directly into the larger question of the tension between pagan and Christian thought while offering concrete examples - the Sayings of Diogenes, the Sentences of Sextus, and the Distichs of Cato - of how that tension could be reconciled.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
1
II. Morality and Gnomic Collections
15
---The Roman School
15
---Wisdom Genres
18
---Cynicism and the Sayings of Diogenes
22
---The Sentences of Sextus
29
---The Author, Compiler and Purpose of the Sentences of Sextus
37
---The Distichs of Cato
40
III. Thematic Material
45
---Methodology
45
---Virtue and Faith
47
---Self-Control and Actions
51
---Learning
56
---Transgression
59
---The Soul and God
61
---Wisdom
66
---Speech
70
---Women and Family
75
---Friends/Associates
79
---Wealth and Fortune/Fate
81
IV. Wisdom, Society, and Religion
86
---Overlapping Themes
86
---Gnomes and Society
87
---Pagan and Christian Moral Teachings in Wisdom Literature
88
V. The Christianization of Pagan Wisdom and Morality
93
---Wisdom Traditions in the Context of the Early Church
93
---Cynicism, Asceticism, and Diogenes in Late Antiquity
93
---The Sentences of Sextus and the Origenist Controversy
106
---The Sentences of Sextus beyond the fourth century
127
---The Christianization of Cato through the Distichs of Cato
130
VI. Conclusion
138
Appendix A: Distribution of Primary Subject Groups
141
Appendix B: Index of Primary Gnomic Subjects
143
Appendix C: Index of Ancient Authors and Texts
147
Bibliography
155
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