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THE FEMININE PERSONIFICATION of WISDOM a Study of Homer's Penelope, Cappadocian Macrina, Boethius' Philosophia, and Dante's Beatrice

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THE FEMININE PERSONIFICATION of WISDOM a Study of Homer's Penelope, Cappadocian Macrina, Boethius' Philosophia, and Dante's Beatrice THE FEMININE PERSONIFICATION OF WISDOM A Study of Homer's Penelope, Cappadocian Macrina, Boethius' Philosophia, and Dante's Beatrice Wendy Elgersma Heileman With a Foreword by Louise D. Derksen The Edwin Mellen Press Lewiston•Queenston•Lampeter Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Heileman, Wendy E., 1945- The feminine personification of wisdom : a study of Homer's Penelope, Cappadocian Macrina, Boethius' Philosophia, and Dante's Beatrice / Wendy Elgersma Heileman; with a foreword by Louise D. Derksen. P . cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-7734-4666-3 ISBN-10: 0-7734-4666-4 I. Wisdom. 2. Wisdom in literature. 3. Personification in literature. 4. Women in literature. I. Title. BD1811135 2009 809.93384--dc22 2009030589 hors serie. A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Front cover sketch by artist Sharon Anne Heileman Copyright © 2009 Wendy Elgersma Heileman All rights reserved. For information contact The Edwin Mellen Press The Edwin Mellen Press Box 450 Box 67 Lewiston, New York Queenston, Ontario USA 14092-0450 CANADA LOS ILO The Edwin Mellen Press, Ltd. Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales UNITED KINGDOM SA48 8LT Printed in the United States of America Table of Contents Acknowledgements Abbreviations vii Foreword by Louise D. Derk.sen xi Chapter 1 Philosophy, Allegory and Feminine Personification 1.1 Approach and methodology 4 1.2 Allegory 8 1.2.1 The contemporary situation 8 1.2.2 What is allegory? 11 1.2.3 Personification allegory 16 1.2.4 Feminine personification 20 1.3 Feminine personification of philosophy: the task at hand 29 Chapter 2 33 Wise Penelope 2.1 Penelope and the suitors 34 2.1.1 Who are these philosophers? 36 2.1.2 Ta enkuklia 38 2.1.3 Philo of Alexandria and a curriculum for philosophy 40 2.1.4 Plato and Aristotle 42 2.2 Penelope and weaving 45 2.2.1 Logic as the point of entry to philosophy 47 2.3 Unraveling the allegory 50 2.3.1 Feminine gender in personification 52 2.3.2 Penelope and virtue (area') 55 Chapter 3 59 Macrina: the Combat of Reason against the Passions 3.1 Lament for Naucratius 59 3.2 Christian biography and the martyrs 60 3.3 Martyr°logical influences on Macrina 61 3.4 Philosophical combat 64 3.5 Reason opposing the passions: the Vita 67 3.5.1 The Psalms 67 3.5.2 Prayer 68 3.5.3 The hope of the resurrection 69 3.6 Reason opposing the passions: the De anima et resurrectione (DAR) 71 3.6.1 DAR 48-56: like excrescences, pathe are to be removed 72 3.6.2 DAR 57-68: emotions like desire and anger not inherently evil 73 3.6.3 Various explanations of the double approach 74 3.6.4 An alternative explanation 77 3.6.5 Terminological questions 80 3.6.6 Passions and the body 80 3.6.7 Principles of textual analysis 83 3.6.8 The logos 84 3.7 Macrina as the "teacher" (he didaskalos) 86 3.8 Arete in family setting 86 3.9 Conclusion 91 Chapter 4 95 Lady Philosophy: Human and Divine 4.1 Introduction 95 4.2 Genre of the Consolation 98 4.3 Lady Philosophy's appearance and presence 103 4.3.1 Her entry 103 4.3.2 The ongoing presence of Lady Philosophy 108 4.4 Whom or what does Lady Philosophy represent? 110 4.4.1 From Rand to Relihan 112 4.4.2 Lady Philosophy as representative of pagan thought 123 4.4.2.1 Lucian 125 4.4.3 Lady Philosophy as an angel sent from God 131 4.5 Conclusion 133 Chapter 5 137 Lady Philosophy: Excellent Physician of the Soul 5.1 Boethius' Lady and her roles 138 5.1.1 Lady Philosophy and her rivals 139 5.1.1.1 Lady Philosophy as an old woman 140 5.1.1.2 Lady Philosophy as opponent of the poetic Muses 142 5.1.1.3 Lady Fortune 146 5.1.2 Lady Philosophy's role in weaving 149 5.1.3 Lady Philosophy as nurse 151 5.1.4 Lady Philosophy as physician 154 5.1.5 Lady Philosophy as teacher and guide 159 5.2 Literary factors in feminine personification of philosophy 169 5.2.1 Personification allegory 169 5.2.2 Feminine personification 171 5.2.3 Feminine personification of philosophy and wisdom 172 5.2.4 Personification of wisdom: Sophia 174 5.2.5 Lady Philosophy 179 5.2.5.1 Augustine 180 5.3 Boethius and Augustine on wisdom and philosophy 182 5.4 Lady Philosophy as Lady Wisdom 189 5.5 Lady Philosophy as feminine personification 193 5.6 Lady Philosophy as the consolation of divine love 198 Chapter 6 207 Dante's Beatrice as Lady Wisdom 6.1 Dante's Beatrice 208 6.1.1 Beatrice in the Vita Nuova 210 6.1.2 The Convivio: transition to the Commedia 211 6.1.3 Beatrice in the Commedia 216 6.1.3.1 Beatrice as teacher and guide in the Commedia 216 6.1.3.2 Beatrice as wisdom figure 221 6.2 Recognition of Beatrice as wisdom figure 223 6.2.1 Romantic repudiation of allegory 223 6.2.2 Bernard of Clairvaux's sermons on the Advent of Christ 226 6.2.3 The issue of blasphemous language 231 6.3 Beatrice and Mary 233 6.3.1 Mary as "Seat of Wisdom" 234 6.3.2 Dante's Mary 237 6.3.2.1 Mary in the Comtnedia 237 6.3.3 Analogy of Beatrice with Mary 240 6.3.4 Mary's role in mediation 242 6.4 Conclusions 245 Chapter 7 247 Reweaving the Strands 7.1 Four Ladies 250 7.1.1 Penelope 250 7.1.2 Macrina 251 7.1.3 Philosophia 253 7.1.4 Beatrice 255 7.2 What unites the stories of these ladies? 258 7.2.1 Reason against the passions 258 7.2.2 Women in Christian apologetics 261 7.2.3 Wisdom coalescing with philosophy 265 7.3 Allegory and rhetorical technique 268 7.4 Concluding comments 273 References 279 Index 301 Acknowledgements Publication of a study on Sophia as such does not require special comment. During the last number of decades she has received considerable attention, from a variety of angles. But that attention has arisen only seldom from a philosophical approach. This is regrettable, for as a figure of wisdom she represents that which has remained the goal of philosophy. Contemporary philosophical discussion does not always focus on wisdom as a clearly discernible goal, but when we turn to the history of philosophy, both in Greco-Roman antiquity and the Christian middle ages, the role of Sophia has to be acknowledged. By focusing on Sophia as personification the approach of the present work takes us to the intersection of methods in philological, literary and philosophical study. As literary figures both Sophia and her sister, Philosophia, demand attention for literary and rhetorical aspects of the texts which have transmitted these figures over the centuries. Personification of philosophy, as such, represents a literary enterprise; but inasmuch as philosophy itself is personified, the figure inevitably takes on a philosophical color. The issues raised in personification are central issues of philosophy: the proper logical development of an argument, the search for a life of virtue, theodicy as an understanding of divine rule of the universe, or achievement of beatific vision. Of special interest in this connection is a development in the history of philosophy for which personification made its own contribution, namely the merging of philosophy with wisdom, a development which can be illustrated from each of the four figures of philosophy and wisdom chosen for discussion in this work: Penelope, Macrina, Boethius Philosophia and Beatrice. II The present study presents the fruit of work done over the last fifteen years. During that time, my understanding of personification of wisdom has benefited greatly from discussions at various levels, whether informally with colleagues, friends and students, or more formally at the university, in the classroom, and at conferences, in Toronto and Canada, the UK, Moscow (Russia), the Netherlands and Athens, in Nigeria, and now, finally, in Tanzania. Publication serves a number of purposes, especially in sharing the results of research with a wider audience, and especially the potential audience of a new generation of scholars. Through this work the conversation will hopefully continue, grow, and develop beyond the positions suggested here. Our hope is that this study will make its own contribution for understanding between the various groups interested in Sophia, whether from involvement in biblical studies, philosophy, feminist concerns, psychology, religion and, not to be forgotten, renewed interest in sophiology in Russia of these last years. The present project on the personification of wisdom and philosophy began with a presentation on Penelope for the section Women and Mythology organized by the Women's Network for the annual conference of the Classical Association of Canada, at what was then the "Learneds". My interest in Penelope was stimulated by numerous publications devoted to her at that time; the opportunity to teach an entire course on interpretation of Penelope for students in Classics at the University of Toronto was helpful in developing my focus on her role as a personification of wisdom and philosophy. It is difficult, if not impossible, to thank adequately all those who have participated in this project, from its early stages. But as the present project approaches the goal of publication, I must express appreciation for the many friends and colleagues who have participated, and made their own contribution to the final product in various ways, whether as students, friends, colleagues or librarians.
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