Durham E-Theses Baptismal exegesis in abator's historia apostolica Hillier, Richard John How to cite: Hillier, Richard John (1990) Baptismal exegesis in abator's historia apostolica, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/6077/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk RICHARD HILLIER: 'BAPTISMAL EXEGESIS IN ABATOR'S H1STORIA APOSTOL1CA' Ph.D. Thesis submitted 1990 The aim of this thesis is to examine the Historia Apostolica (AD 544) not as an example of 'biblical epic' nor as a literary paraphrase but as a commentary on The Acts of the Apostles, and in particular to signal Arator's concern to explain the text in terms of its baptismal significance. The opening chapter reviews previous approaches to the H.A. and is followed by a survey of Arator's interpretation and interpolation of baptismal material, showing both how those episodes in Acts which deal specifically with baptism are given extended exegetical attention, and how baptismal significance is frequently divined in passages which have no obvious baptismal connection. The central chapters examine in detail the episodes of the poem which are of most baptismal importance. Two deal with Arator's exegesis of explicitly baptismal situations: Simon Magus' failure to receive the Spirit is presented as being prefigured in the failure of the raven to return to the ark, a parallel also drawn by Augustine; the Ethiopian eunuch is presented in accordance with the 'Ethiopian' exegesis first formulated by Origen. Four more chapters examine episodes which Arator deems of implicit baptismal significance: the ascension is interpreted in terms of the baptism and 'ascent' of the individual; the healing of the paralytic is explained as the baptismal healing of the wounds of circumcision; Paul's speech at Antioch becomes an exposition of the typological significance of the crossing of the Red Sea; the name Aquila prompts a digression on the baptismal implications of the rejuvenation of the eagle. The aim is not to discover indisputable sources for all of Arator's ideas, but rather to place the H.A. in its exegetical context, and to trace the development and popularity of baptismal symbolism in the first six centuries AD. - 1 - BAPTISMAL EXEGESIS IN ARATOR'S HISTORIA APOSTOLICA RICHARD JOHN HILLIER SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM DEPARTMENT OF THEOLOGY 1990 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. - 2 - 2 5 JUN 1991 CONTENTS Chapter One Arator: Poet or Exegete? 5 Chapter Two Baptism, Acts and Arator 25 Chapter Three Divinus Odor: Co-Ascension and Baptismal Participation 71 Chapter Four Lotus sed non Mundus: Simon Magus and the Raven 105 Chapter Five Eunuchi Fecunda Fides: Gentiles, Sinners and Song of Songs 1:5 133 Chapter Six Saucius Infans: Baptism and Circumcision 181 Chapter Seven Iustis Via. Sontibua Unda: The Crossing of the Red Sea 227 Chapter Eight Aquila: The Rejuvenation of the Eagle 276 Chapter Nine Postscript 296 Bibliography - 3 - 305 None of the material contained in this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree in this or any other university. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. - 4 - CHAPTER ONE: ARATOR: POET OR EXEGETE?! In the introduction to his recent translation of Arator's poems, Richard Schrader notes the importance of the themes of conversion and renewal in the Historia Apostolica. but until now the baptismal exegesis of Arator has received little, if any, attention.2 Indeed, the study of the place of Arator's work in the exegetical tradition as a whole has not been one which has attracted the efforts of many scholars, though it has often been observed, as we shall see, that this might be one of the most productive approaches to the H.A.. Casual surveys of the H.A. have generally concluded that there is little of interest in the poem for the modern reader. One of the most savage judgements comes from the pen of E.M.Young: The Historia Apostolica is entirely devoid of poetic merit. The language ia obscure, the treatment bald, the style vicious, and even where it ia impoasible for the author to help rising with his narrative, he does his best to quench its divinity by the introduction of undignified conceits, far-fetched metaphors, and long-winded digressions. The admiration accorded to him by his contemporaries is a mournful proof of the vitiated taste of the age.3 The clue to this attitude comes in the opening sentence. It is the overwhelming opinion of scholars that Arator's poetic ability is not of the highest quality, a judgement which it would be foolish to dispute.* However, too many scholars have set this as the only criterion by which a work might be deemed worthy of study. Thus F.J.E.Raby: The poem is badly constructed, and it can hardly fail to weary a modern reader...Arator shows none of that feeling for style which links a Prudentius or a Paulinus of Nola to the classioal poets, and in its laok of struoture, ita faults of prosody, and its intelleotusl feebleness, the work is a prelude to the deoline of oulture which made the seventh century the darkest period of the Middle Ages.5 - 5 - ARATOR: POET OR EXEGETE? Raby here reveals the genuine reason for the condemnation of Arator as one of the darkest products of a dark age, namely a seemingly obligatory comparison with the classical poets, a comparison from which he has little chance of emerging unscathed. But as Jacques Fontaine has observed, the evolution of the Latin language made it impossible for a sixth-century poet to produce verse worthy of a Virgil, however familiar he was with that master: La realisation pratique de cea preferences esthetiques se heurte deja a l'asperite d'un latin tardif en pleine ovolution...L'obsourito nait souvent, dans ass vers, d'une rencontre dissonants entre una recherche extreme et un elal de langue qui ne possede plus la souplesse necessaire pour se plier a la reusaite de ces tours. It was not only the disintegration of the Latin language which posed problems for the later Christian poets; in the words of W.P.Ker: In Latin there was no opportunity for such triumphs snd glorias as cane later in the new languages. Here success meant obedience to the old models, or if rebellion took its chance and tried to make something new, it was always something exceptional, and often turned out to be exceptional in a hackneyed way after all.? However, with one or two notable exceptions, scholars in the first half of this century were concerned only with discussing Arator in relation to the epic poets of classical antiquity and triumphantly proving his 'dependence' upon them, and thus by implication his inferiority, by citing example after example of the subdeacon's so- called borrowings: 'huius creberrimae imitationis prima causa est imbed 11itas et infirm!tas poetae eiusque inopia verborum, quae ad carmen faciendum vix suffecit; itaque carmen suum ubique veterum elegantibus dictionibus exornavit, ut operi maiorem auctoritatern conci1iaret.' Thus the conclusion of Alfred Ansorge, whose study, following closely on a similar study by Johann Schrodinger, consists almost entirely of, admittedly impressive, lists of verbal - 6 - ARATOR: POET OR EXEGETE? reminiscences of the classical poets in the work of Arator.8 Interesting though these may be, it is inevitable that the modern reader will want to question the point of such investigations. For example, if Arator really intended his reader to be reminded of phrases from the classical poets, should we also be asking ourselves whether such acts of recall are intended to colour our reading of the passages of Arator in which such 'parallels' are to be found? This is a question with which SchrSdinger does not concern himself unduly. Although he acknowledges that many of Arator's 'borrowings' are unconscious, he nonetheless argues that many were included deliberately, for no other reason, it seems, than to appeal to the classical tastes of his readers: Er hat auch mil Absicht aua Vorgila roi chain Sprachachatza gaaohopft urn aain Nark in dan Augen dor Gabildatan vollworligor xu machanj or hat aain Epoa abaichtlich •ait Nendungan aus dan princeps carminum gaachmiickt urn daoaelban ainan klaasiachan Anatrich zu gobon.9 Ansorge would go further: he attempts, briefly and unconvincingly, to prove that Arator intended the verbal reminiscences to inspire a general recollection of the original contexts from which they were drawn, which would in turn affect the attitude of the reader to the passage of Arator before him. 10 The same is done by Schrader, who comments: A good nany quotationa and oohooa of tho elaaaioa woro doubt Ioaa unoonaoioua, but judging auoh caaes ia difficult.