In the treatise On the Change of Names (part of his magnum opus, the Allegorical Commentary), Philo of Alexandria brings his figurative exegesis of the Abraham cycle to its fruition. Taking a cue from Platonist interpreters of Homer’s Odyssey, Philo reads Moses’s story of Abraham as an account of the soul’s progress and perfection. Responding to contemporary critics, who mocked Genesis 17 as uninspired, Philo finds instead a hidden philosophical reflection on the ineffability of the transcendent God, the transformation of souls which recognize their mortal nothingness, the possibility of human faith enabled by peerless faithfulness of God, and the fruit of moral perfection: joy divine, prefigured in the birth of Isaac.
In the treatise On the Change of Names (part of his magnum opus, the Allegorical Commentary), Philo of Alexandria brings his figurative exegesis of the Abraham cycle to its fruition. Taking a cue from Platonist interpreters of Homer’s Odyssey, Philo reads Moses’s story of Abraham as an account of the soul’s progress and perfection. Responding to contemporary critics, who mocked Genesis 17 as uninspired, Philo finds instead a hidden philosophical reflection on the ineffability of the transcendent God, the transformation of souls which recognize their mortal nothingness, the possibility of human faith enabled by peerless faithfulness of God, and the fruit of moral perfection: joy divine, prefigured in the birth of Isaac.
This collection of essays explores the rich intellectual heritage of Russian Formalism and the Prague School of Linguistics to illuminate their influence on the field of biblical studies and apply their constructive and creative potential for advancing linguistic theory, discourse analysis, and literary interpretation of the texts of the Old and New Testaments in their original languages
This collection of essays explores the rich intellectual heritage of Russian Formalism and the Prague School of Linguistics to illuminate their influence on the field of biblical studies and apply their constructive and creative potential for advancing linguistic theory, discourse analysis, and literary interpretation of the texts of the Old and New Testaments in their original languages
The book offers an in-depth narratological analysis of the 'Book of Orpheus' (10.1-11.84) of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Starting from fundamental aspects of narrative like time, space, and focalisation, the commentary highlights the polyphony of the various narrative levels. The complex and challenging design results from a constant oscillation between the narrator-persona of Ovid and the programmatic Orpheus-figure which has found a wealth of interpretations. In addition, the study places the 10th book in the overall narrative framework of Ovid's Metamorphoses with its density of intertextuality and metanarrativity.
The book offers an in-depth narratological analysis of the 'Book of Orpheus' (10.1-11.84) of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Starting from fundamental aspects of narrative like time, space, and focalisation, the commentary highlights the polyphony of the various narrative levels. The complex and challenging design results from a constant oscillation between the narrator-persona of Ovid and the programmatic Orpheus-figure which has found a wealth of interpretations. In addition, the study places the 10th book in the overall narrative framework of Ovid's Metamorphoses with its density of intertextuality and metanarrativity.