UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date:___________________ I, _________________________________________________________, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of: in: It is entitled: This work and its defense approved by: Chair: _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ EUDOCIA: THE MAKING OF A HOMERIC CHRISTIAN A dissertation submitted to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in the Department of Classics of the College of Arts and Sciences 2008 by Brian Patrick Sowers B.A., University of Evansville, 2001 M.A., University of Cincinnati, 2006 Committee Chair: Peter van Minnen ii ABSTRACT With over 3,400 lines of poetry and no single monograph dedicated to her literary productions, Aelia Eudocia is an understudied poet. This project, the first of its kind, explores Eudocia's three poems as a unified whole and demonstrates how they exemplify the literary and cultural concerns of the fifth century. Since her poems are each apparently unique, I approach them first in isolation and tease out their social background, literary dependencies, and possible interpretive strategies for them before painting a broader picture of Eudocia's literary contribution. The first of her surviving poems is a seventeen line epigraphic poem from the bath complex at Hammat Gader, which acclaims the bath's furnace for its service to the structure's clients but, at the same time, illustrates the religious competition that surrounded late antique healing cults, of which therapeutic springs were part. Next is the Homeric cento, which borrows and reorders lines from the Iliad and Odyssey to retell parts of the biblical narrative. Eudocia's attempt at this bizarre genre underscores the interplay between the Homeric poems, and the classical culture they represent, and the biblical story, with its theology and ethics. Last is the Martyrdom of Saint Cyprian, the first verse hagiography of its kind, which, because of the disparate sources available to Eudocia, is divided into two sections. The first part relates the conversion of Cyprian, an Antiochene magician, a story, I suggest, that depends on the Christian apocrypha, particularly for the development of its heroine, Justa. The second part recounts, in a speech by Cyprian himself, how he learned magic and why he converted. This section provides a glimpse into the ways late antique Christians understood paganism and the rhetoric they used to limit its hold in the later iii Roman empire. The big picture of Eudocia's poetry is that of a corpus, which uses Homeric language to convey fifth century, Christian concerns, and of a poet who can aptly be called a Homeric Christian. iv Acknowledgements Many people have helped me during the various stages of this dissertation. I am proud to recognize their scholarly, social, emotional and spiritual support through my years of graduate study. No dissertation would be possible without a dedicated supervisor, and Peter van Minnen's generous advice and comprehensive knowledge of antiquity helped me develop my incipient thoughts into a coherent whole, and his encouragement gave me confidence to believe that Eudocia's was a story worth telling. I am indebted to Peter for the long hours he spent reading preliminary drafts; his suggestions allowed me to avoid many egregious errors. I would also like to thank my other readers, William Johnson and Susan Prince. Sections of the project, particularly those on Eudocia's reading community, were much influenced by seminars I was fortunate enough to take with William, and I much appreciate his timely advice about the project and my professional development. Since joining the Department of Classics at Cincinnati, Susan has been an invaluable asset and I foresee many more fruitful conversations about Eudocia in particular and late antique poetry in general. In addition to my dissertation readers, I would like to acknowledge the faculty and staff at the Department of Classics at the University of Cincinnati, some of the most distinguished in their respective fields. I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to take classes with many of them and benefit from their broad and diverse perspectives. v Notably, I would like to thank Jack Davis, Harold Gotoff, Kathryn Gutzwiller, Holt Parker, and Michael Sage, for their stimulating seminars. Although Eudocia was absent, I would not have been able to bring her world to life without the foundation laid in those seminars. The library staff at the John Miller Burnam Classics Library, especially librarians Jacquelene Riley, Michael Braunlin, and David Ball, was an invaluable resource. David deserves particular recognition for his help in procuring countless odds and ends and for his humor in pointing out that I never failed to need the most obscure sources. I would also like to thank my colleagues, the graduate students in the Department of Classics at the University of Cincinnati, for the countless hours of stimulating discussions covering all of antiquity and a good deal of modernity. Three students deserve particular acknowledgement. Kris Trego has been a dear friend during the marathon that is graduate studies and has always inspired me along the way. Ryan Ricciardi's encouragement to pursue my interest in late antique women and our conversations over coffee motivated me during the writing stages of the dissertation, and our shared interest in hockey and baseball were a welcome respite from my scholastic labors. Finally, I would like to extend a special thanks to Dan Osland, who has been a faithful friend and colleague over these many years. I am indebted to Dan not only for his willingness to read countless essays, lectures, and proposals, but also for his generosity in sharing with me the joys of his life, family, and research. vi During these past years, I have been blessed with an outpouring of support and encouragement from friends and family too numerous to recall. My parents, Rick and Sandra Sowers, were bastions of support during difficult times; they have truly taught me how to love unconditionally. Henry Thoman, Anne Davies, and Kathy Brewer have welcomed me into their family and lives with an outpouring of generosity; I could not hope for better in-laws. My community of friends here in Cincinnati and around the world, although not entrenched in the rigors of graduate life, always extended a listening ear and a seat at the dinner table. I would especially like to thank Chris and Sabrina Camfield, Troy Jackson, Jeff and Sarai Jenstch, Michael and Rachel Ludwig, Dan and Alicia Osland, Andy and Ginny Riley, Dan Short, Rob and Kristen Sloan, Les Stoneham, and John and Shannon Wentz. Finally, I would like to thank Victoria Thoman who more than all others abounded in enthusiasm, support, encouragement, and understanding during the entire dissertation process. Her friendship continues to guide me through dark places; her belief in me and in my work motivates me daily; and her love allows me to experience all that is perfect and beautiful in this world. vii viii Table of Contents Cover Page i Title Page ii Abstract iii Acknowledgements v Table of Contents 1 Introducing a Homeric Christian 3 Chapter 1 The Homeric Christian as Benefactor 11 Epilogue: Copycat Eudociana Hammat Gader, Inscription #1 Eukhaita, 1 SEG 51.1735 Appendices Appendix 1.1: Antonius of Placentia 7.12-22 Appendix 1.2: John Chrysostom, De inani Gloria et de educandis liberis 4 Appendix 1.3: IG 14.1015 Appendix 1.4: Homeric Hymn 20 Chapter 2 The Homeric Christian at Play 54 Excursus: Mark Usher and his Homeric Stitchings Conclusion Appendices Appendix 1.1: John 4:4-42 Appendix 1.2: The Samaritan Woman at the Well (Eudocia's cento version) Chapter 3 The Homeric Christian as Narrator, Part I: The Conversion 134 1 The Story 2.1 Christian Narratives 2.2. Performative Setting of Hagiography in Late Antiquity 2.3 Audience and the Ideal Reader 3 Textual History 4 Summary of Cyprian's Conversion - 1 - 5.1 Inversion Motifs 5.2 Sexual Ambiguity 5.2.1 Hairstyle 5.2.2 Clothing 5.2.3 Physical Attributes 5.3 Gender as Social Determinant 5.4 Locus as Power and Male Mediators Appendix: The Conversion Chapter 4 The Homeric Christian as Narrator, Part II: The Confession 205 Origins and Influences A Twice-Told Tale Appendix: The Confession Chapter 5 The Martyrdom of Cyprian 266 Chapter 6 A Homeric Christian in Retrospect 269 Bibliography 284 - 2 - Introducing a Homeric Christian The date was June 7th, 421 CE, and Theodosius II had just been married. The choice of bride would have been scandalous, had the marriage not been arranged by the emperor's sister and, some said, chief advisor, Pulcheria. The bride did not come from the Constantinopolitan aristocracy or even from the imperial family in the west. Indeed, she was hardly well-born at all–she hailed from Athens, a city long past its prime. It was said that her father had been an Athenian rhetor. After his death the young woman's brothers, enticed by the opportunity to fleece their sister of her share of the inheritance, gave her cause to seek justice in the imperial capital. During her stay in Constantinople, she caught Pulcheria's eye, and the rest, as they say, is history. So begin most accounts of the empress Aelia Eudocia. That she was also one of the most prolific female poets of antiquity is not so evident from this, and will be the focus of what follows–not Eudocia's genealogy or the motivations behind her marriage to Theodosius, not the promotions to influential bureaucratic positions that she later orchestrated for her family or her fall from imperial influence and exile from Constantinople; nor will this be an investigation of Eudocia's period of exile (or pilgrimage) in the Holy Land as evidence for the growing freedom of religious expression available to aristocratic women in the east.