Reading kephalaia: The Composition of Evagrius Ponticus’ Ad monachos Reconsidered
Abstract How Evagrius Ponticus (d. 399) composed his highly influential treatises of short and succinct chapters ( kepahalaia ) is bewildering and has been discussed by many scholars. In this essay the literary composition of Evagrius’ To monks in monasteries and communities , or Ad monachos , a typ...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2021
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| In: |
Vigiliae Christianae
Year: 2021, Volume: 75, Issue: 1, Pages: 70-93 |
| Further subjects: | B
Kephalaia
B Progymnasmata B Ad monachos B Evagrius Ponticus B Argumantation |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Abstract How Evagrius Ponticus (d. 399) composed his highly influential treatises of short and succinct chapters ( kepahalaia ) is bewildering and has been discussed by many scholars. In this essay the literary composition of Evagrius’ To monks in monasteries and communities , or Ad monachos , a typical text of short chapters, is examined from a literary perspective by relating the text to literary conventions, common in late antique literature and in rhetorical handbooks and exercises ( progymnasmata ). It is demonstrated how the teaching develops gradually in accordance with a pattern for a so-called amplified argument ( epicheireme ) codified in Pseudo-Hermogenes Progymnasmata . By this arrangement of the teaching, the reader is offered, not just a random taste of various aspects of the monastic life, but a set of specific conclusions to implement or to be aware of practically in the life as monk; conclusions that are perceptible not at just a cursory glance, but at a careful and repeated reading. |
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| ISSN: | 1570-0720 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Vigiliae Christianae
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700720-12341462 |
