Part I. Dramatic Representations of Verse Competition ἀγὼν γὰρ ἄνδρας οὐ μένει λελειμμένους The contest does not wait for men left behind. Aeschylus, fr. 37 TGF 1. Stichomythia Our point of departure will be to survey a variety of competitive verse sequences that are represented in tragedy and Old Comedy, starting with the phenomenon of stichomythia. In stichomythia… Read more
2. The ἀντιλαβή and Aristophanes’ Frogs 1198–1248 Old Comedy furnishes us not only with parallel statements that seem to include virtual definitions of tragic stichomythia (as e.g. above, Clouds 1374–75 with Eumenides 586), but it also provides examples of “stichomythic” exchanges that would lose their point if they were not meant to be understood as modeled on instances from tragedy. Heated confrontations, such as that between the… Read more
3. Stichomythia and σκώμματα: Euripides’ Cyclops, Aristophanes’ Wealth, and Plato’s Euthydemus One of the most interesting adaptations of stichomythia in satyr play and late Old Comedy is that its structure is deliberately made to incorporate ridicule and abuse. Something of the structural formalism of tragic stichomythia remains, but the main point is clearly for one member in the exchange to ridicule the other. The ridicule is enhanced… Read more
A Note on Terminology and Transliteration By way of explanation rather than apology, I should clarify what I mean by the term “literary” in the title of this book. I do not mean to claim that the Life and Miracles is high literature on the level of Homer, the tragedians, or the ideal Greek Romances. However, I would suggest that the difference between the Life and Miracles… Read more
Outline of the Life and Miracles of Thekla (chapter numbers based on the critical text, Dagron 1978:168–412) Life Preface 1–13at Iconium 14outside Iconium 15–24at Antioch 25–26at Myra 27–28from Myra to Iconium, then Seleukeia 29disappearance into the ground; spiritual activities Miracles Preface 1–4 Thekla fights against daimones 5–11various miracles of defending, helping, and healing locals 12two… Read more
Epigraph Et sic proficiscens de Anthiocia faciens iter per mansiones aliquot perueni ad prouinciam, quae Cilicia appellatur, quae habet ciuitatem metropolim Tharso, ubi quidem Tharso et eundo Ierusolimam iam fueram. Sed quoniam de Tharso tertia mansione, id est in Hisauria, est martyrium sanctae Teclae, gratum fuit satis ut etiam illuc ac-cedere, presertim cum tam in proximo esset. Nam proficiscens de Tharso perueni ad quandam ciuitatem… Read more
Preface The appearance of Scott Johnson’s The Life and Miracles of Thekla, A Literary Study in the series “Hellenic Studies” marks an important new direction for the publications program of the Center for Hellenic Studies. The field of study represented by this book is Late Antiquity, a vital era of transition from the Classical to the Byzantine and the Modern Greek eras. The world of Late Antiquity,… Read more
Introduction [In this on-line version, the page-numbers of the printed version are indicated within braces (“{” and “}”). For example, “{69|70}” indicates where p. 69 of the printed version ends and p. 70 begins. These indications will be useful to readers who need to look up references made elsewhere to the printed version of this book.] The extended epigraph printed on the previous pages comprises the… Read more
Chapter 1. Paraphrase in Practice: The Life of Thekla and Literary Inheritance in Late Antiquity The Ever-Present Past in the Life and Miracles The form of the literary paraphrase says a great deal about what the author of the Life of Thekla is attempting to do in literary historical terms: by choosing to write a saint’s Life through the lens of a second-century apocryphon, the author… Read more
Chapter 2. Biblical Rewriting and the Metaphrastic Habit: The Life of Thekla within the History of Ancient Paraphrase Prologue: Erasmus and the Conflict over his Paraphrases on the New Testament For a paraphrase is a plain setting foorth of a texte or sentence more at large, with such circumstance of mo [i.e. more] and other wordes as maie make the sentence open, clere, plain,… Read more
