A commentary on Gregory of Nazianzus, AP 8.2

Title: A commentary on Gregory of Nazianzus, AP 8.2
Author: Cerroni, Enrico
Source document: Graeco-Latina Brunensia. 2020, vol. 25, iss. 1, pp. 61-70
Extent
61-70
  • ISSN
    1803-7402 (print)
    2336-4424 (online)
Type: Article
Language
 

Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.

Abstract(s)
This article proposes a formal and linguistic commentary on an epigram by Gregory of Nazianzus (AP 8.21). It then makes some general observations. The poem belongs to a series of epigrams dedicated to Gregory's father, who is also the persona loquens. The poet starts with a well-known scriptural quotation from the Book of Micah (5) about how small Bethlehem is and extends the same concept to Nazianzus, the village whose spiritual care Gregory's father has entrusted to him. In each case, the town's small size corresponds to its inversely proportional spiritual importance. The formal solutions adopted in the epigram, specifically the use of the adjective τυτθός, reveal the poet's admiration for and imitation of Callimachus, but also his originality in renewing pagan poetic language with the purposeful insertion of Christian vocabulary. An area for further research concerns the presence of elements of the most widespread epic diction of Gregory's time (such as the increased use of datives in -εσσι), as found in the Sibylline Oracles and Manetho's Apotelesmatics.
References
[1] CA = Powell, J. U. (1925). Collectanea Alexandrina. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

[2] CGCC = van Emde Boas, E., Rijksbaron, A., Huitink, L., & de Bakker, M. (2019). The Cambridge Grammar of Classical Greek. Cambridge: University Press.

[3] GrDFr = Heitsch, E. (1963). Die griechischen Dichterfragmente der römischen Kaiserzeit (Vol. 1). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

[4] LBG = Trapp, E. (2001–2017). Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität. Wien: Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für Byzantinistik.

[5] Agosti, G. (2003). Nonno di Panopoli. Parafrasi del Vangelo di San Giovanni. Canto Quinto. Firenze: Università degli Studi.

[6] Agosti, G. (2019). Greek Epigram in Late Antiquity. In Ch. Henriksén (Ed.), A Companion to Ancient Epigram (pp. 597–614). Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell.

[7] Agosti, G., & Gonnelli, F. (1995). Materiali per la storia dell'esametro nei poeti cristiani greci. In M. Fantuzzi, & R. Pretagostini (Eds.), Struttura e storia dell'esametro greco (pp. 289–434). Roma: Gruppo Editore Internazionale.

[8] Beckby, H. (1965). Anthologia Graeca: Buch VII–VIII. München: Heimeran.

[9] Blümel, W. (1982). Die aiolischen Dialekte. Phonologie und Morphologie der inschriftlichen Texte aus generativer Sicht. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

[10] Brent, A. (2006). Ignatius of Antioch and the Second Sophistic. A Study of an Early Christian Transformation of Pagan Culture. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.

[11] Cameron, A. (1995). Callimachus and His Critics. Princeton: University Press.

[12] Cassio, A. C. (2017). Notes on the Origin and Diffusion of the -εσσι Datives. In G. K. Giannakis, E. Crespo, & P. Filos (Eds.), Studies in Ancient Greek Dialects: from Central Greece to the Black Sea (pp. 189–196). Berlin: de Gruyter.

[13] Chantraine, P. (1933). La formation des noms en grec ancien. Paris: Klincksieck.

[14] Conca, F. (2000). Gli epigrammi di Gregorio Nazianzeno. KOINONIA, 24, 47–66.

[15] Conca, F. (2009). Antologia Palatina, 2: libri 8–11. Torino: UTET.

[16] Consolino, F. E. (1987). Σοφίης ἀμφοτέρης πρύτανιν. Gli epigrammi funerari di Gregorio Nazianzeno (AP VIII). Athenaeum, 65, 407–425.

[17] Degani, E. (1993). L'epigramma. In G. Cambiano, L. Canfora, & D. Lanza (Eds.), Lo spazio letterario della Grecia antica, Vol. 1: La produzione e la circolazione del testo, t. 2: L'ellenismo (pp. 197–233). Roma: Salerno Editrice.

[18] Demoen, K. (1993). The Attitude towards Greek Poetry in the Verse of Gregory Nazianzen. In J. Den Boeft, & A. Hilhorst (Eds.), Early Christian Poetry: A Collection of Essays (pp. 235–252). Leiden – New York – Köln: Brill.

[19] Demoen, K. (1997). Some remarks on the life and poems of Gregory Nazianzen. Orientalia christiana periodica, 63, 171–179.

[20] Denniston, J. D. (1954). The Greek Particles. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

[21] Dottin, G. (1930). Les Argonautiques d'Orphée. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.

[22] Henry, R. de L. (1943). The late Greek optative and its use in the writings of Gregory Nazianzen. Washington, DC: Catholic Univ. of America Press.

[23] Hollis, A. S. (2002). Callimachus: Light from Late Antiquity. In F. Montanari, & L. Lehnus (Eds.), Callimaque (Entretiens sur l'Antiquité Classique, 48; pp. 35–54). Vandœvres-Genève: Fondation Hardt.

[24] Holmes, M. (2007). The Apostolic Fathers. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker.

[25] Hooker, J. (1987). Homeric philos. Glotta, 65, 44–65.

[26] Kalamakis, D. (1992). Λεξικὰ τῶν ἐπῶν Γρηγορίου τοῦ Θεολόγου μετὰ γενικῆς θεωρήσεως τῆς πατερικῆς λεξικογραφίας. Athens: Papadakis.

[27] Kalamakis, D. (1995). In sancti Gregorii Nazianzeni carmina lexicon Casinense. Athena, 81, 256–299.

[28] Kidd, D. A. (1997). Aratus. Phaenomena. Introduction, Translation and Commentary. Cambridge: University Press.

[29] Lightfoot, J. L. (2007). The Sibylline Oracles with Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on the First and Second Books. Oxford: University Press.

[30] McLennan, G. R. (1974). Enjambement in the Hymns of Callimachus. Hermes, 102, 200–206.

[31] Milo, D. (2005). Sugli epigrammi di Gregorio di Nazianzo per il padre. Atti dell'Accademia Pontaniana, 54, 439–451.

[32] Palla, R. (2015). Tra figlio e padre. Gregorio Nazianzeno e la formazione del giovane Cristiano. In A. Nazzaro, & A. Tuccillo (Eds.), Fioretti patristici. In ricordo di p. Giacinto Ruggiero OFM nel trentennale della dipartita (pp. 417–432). Sasso Marconi.

[33] Paton, W. R. (1953). The Greek Anthology in Five Volumes (Vol. 2). London – Cambridge, Mass.: Loeb Classical Library.

[34] Pontani, F. M. (1979). Antologia Palatina (Vol. 2). Torino: Einaudi.

[35] Poulos, A. (2019). Callimachus and Callimacheanism in the Poetry of Gregory of Nazianzus. Diss. Washington, D.C.

[36] Ricceri, R. (2013). Gregorio Nazianzeno, carm. II,1,50: introduzione, testo critico, traduzione e commento. Diss. Roma-Gent.

[37] Risch, E. (1974). Wortbildung der homerischen Sprache. Berlin – New York: W. de Gruyter.

[38] Simelidis, Ch. (2009). Selected Poems of Gregory of Nazianzus: I. 2.17; II. 1.10, 19, 32: A Critical Edition with Introduction and Commentary. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

[39] Simelidis, Ch. (2019). Gregory of Nazianzus and the Christian Epigram in the East. In Ch. Henriksén (Ed.), A Companion to Ancient Epigram (pp. 633–648). Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell.

[40] Smyth, H. (1920). A Greek Grammar for Colleges. Cambridge: University Press.

[41] Sterrett, J. R. S. (1888). The Wolfe Expedition to Asia Minor. Boston: Damrell and Upham.

[42] Uhlig, G. (1883). Dionysii Thracis Ars grammatica. Leipzig: Teubner.

[43] Vertoudakis, V. (2011). Το όγδοο βιβλίο της Παλατινής Ανθολογίας. Athens: Kardamitsa.

[44] Waltz, P. (1960). Anthologie grecque, Part I: Anthologie Palatine (Vol. 6). Paris: Les Belles Lettres.

[45] Whitby, M. (2008). 'Sugaring the Pill': Gregory of Nazianzus' Advice to Olympias (Carm. 2.2.6). Ramus, 37(1–2), 79–98.

[46] White, C. (1996). Gregory of Nazianzus. Autobiographical Poems. Cambridge: University Press.

[47] Wyss, B. (1949). Gregor von Nazianz: Ein griechisch-christlicher Dichter des 4. Jahrhunderts. Museum Helveticum, 6, 177–210.

[48] Ypsilanti, M. (2018). Epigrammatic Topoi, Christian Ideas and Real Events in Selected Epigrams of Gregory of Nazianzus for Nonna, Caesarius and Basil the Great. Rivista di Cultura Classica e Medioevale, 60(2), 435–458.