Ein Doppelakrostichon im Dienste antijüdischer Polemik in Commod. Instr. 1,38
It has long been known that Commodianus employed acrostics throughout the text of his Instructiones. Recent scholarship has also developed an awareness of his telestichic endeavours. This paper suggests the existence of a telestic in instr. 2,5,11/20. Its primary aim, however, is to discuss a phenom...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | German |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Aschendorff
2020
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| In: |
Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum
Year: 2020, Volume: 63, Pages: 23-33 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Commodianus, Gazaeus, Instructiones
/ Acrostic
/ Anti-judaism
/ Polemics
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| IxTheo Classification: | BH Judaism CD Christianity and Culture KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity |
| Further subjects: | B
Boars
B Greek literature B Latin literature B Thrust B Conversion to Christianity |
| Summary: | It has long been known that Commodianus employed acrostics throughout the text of his Instructiones. Recent scholarship has also developed an awareness of his telestichic endeavours. This paper suggests the existence of a telestic in instr. 2,5,11/20. Its primary aim, however, is to discuss a phenomenon that seems to be singular in Greek and Latin literature: a previously unknown "double acrostic" in instr. 1,38. Not only do the first letters of these verses form (as elsewhere in instr.) an acrostic (here: IUDAEIS), but the first two letters of each verse simultaneously yield a Latin expression: INVIDIA SETINSI. While invidia fits squarely in anti-Jewish Christian discourse, setinsi - the vulgar Latin form of an adjective derived from seta, "bristle" - warrants closer examination. Commodianus uses the expression to denigrate Jews who do not convert to Christianity, likening their fidelity to their religion to a recalcitrance reminiscent of a boar/pig. In so doing, he relies both on the Jewish concept of the pig as an unclean animal and on the presentation of fierce but (almost) always doomed boars in hexametric poetry. There are several ways to interpret invidia setinsi in relation to instr. 1,38 - all reinforce its anti-Jewish thrust. |
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| ISSN: | 0075-2541 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum
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