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Clement of Alexandria provides extensive material on Greek philosophy in his Paedagogos and his Stromata. As it was part of contemporary philosophical debate, both works include so called doxographies listing the opinions (doxai) of philosophers about certain topics. In this article, I will show how Clement takes up ethical doxographies concerning the Stoic definition of the καθῆκον ("duty") in Paedagogos 1,13,101 and the τέλος (the "highest end") in Stromata 2,19,100–101 and 2,21,129. Comparing them to other doxographical sources (Diogenes Laertius, Arius Didymus), it becomes obvious, that Clement gradually transforms and restructures these philosophical doxai to lead his readers to a Christian understanding of ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, interpreters of Gal. 4 have found the literal sense of τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου , "the elements of the world" to be unintelligible in context. Although a compelling Pauline vision of enslavement to these στοιχεῖα has remained elusive, this paper argues that it is possible to recapture that vision with recourse to the traditional usage of the phrase in ancient Greek philosophical literature. By examining one of the earliest extant quotations of Gal. 4 – i.e., that of Clement of Alexandria in his Protrepticus (c. 190 CE) – and the philosophical language with which Clement associates Paul's στοιχεῖα , this paper argues that Paul uses the phrase τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου according to its meaning in the ancient philosophical Sondersprache. Because an ambiguity between matter and divinity already characterized ancient philosophical thought about στοιχεῖα , Paul's "elements" need not be either "cosmological" or "principial" (as most previous interpreters have thought), but both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A passage from Ps.-Basil of Caesarea's ep. 366 contains verbatim parallels with a quotation of Valentinus given in Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.7.59.3. These parallels have rarely been recognized by scholars. Völker and Markschies have argued that Ps.-Basil was excerpting from Clement, but this paper argues that Ps.-Basil was independent of Clement and was likely Clement's source. Overlooked evidence includes (i) the coherence of the parallel passages in the context of ep. 366 and their relative incoherence in the context of Strom. 3.7.59.3; (ii) Valentinian theology that is found throughout ep. 366, including the notions of spiritual bodies and Charis as God's protological consort; (iii) grammatical errors in Clement that are not present in Ps.-Basil; and (iv) further textual evidence suggesting that ep. 366 has the original version of the passage. A plausible explanation of the evidence, this paper will argue, is that ep. 366 comes from the pen of Valentinus himself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current terminus ante quem for the Epistle of James is the third century, with the first clear quotations of the epistle located in Origen. Aside from a few contentious correspondences with the Apostolic Fathers, no earlier allusions to James have received any serious consideration. I argue that an earlier reference should in fact be detected in Origen's predecessor, Clement of Alexandria. In book 4 of his Stromata, the Alexandrian quotes from 1 Clement 17, a text that presents the figure of Job as an exemplum of humility. Clement significantly alters his source text in such a way that seems to betray knowledge of James, producing a synthesis of Joban tradition in early Christianity. If this claim is substantiated, it would effectively push the terminus ante quem for James back by one generation, to the late second century C.E. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the impact of Plato's views on atheism and impiety, relayed in the Laws, on Clement of Alexandria. Clement employed the adjectives godless (atheos) and impious (asebēs) often in his writings as accusations against pagan philosophers and/or heretics, but also in his defence of Christians against the very charge of atheism on account of their rejection of pagan gods (Stromata 7.1; cf. Tertullian's Apologia 10). I argue that Clement, perceptive of Plato's defence of philosophical contemplation (theōria) and its civic benefits in the Laws, reworked the latter's association of disbelief with excessive confidence in fleshly pleasures (Leges 888A) in tandem with his stipulation of virtue as the civic goal of his ideal colonists of Magnesia who ought to attune to the divine principles of the cosmos. Thus, Clement promoted the concept of citizenship in the Heavenly kingdom, secured through contemplation and its ensuing impassibility. For Plato and Clement, atheism was the opposite of genuine engagement with divine truth and had no place in the ideal state. Although Clement associated the Church with peace, his views were adapted by Firmicus Maternus to sanction violent rhetoric against the pagans in the fourth century when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In strom. V.9.1 and strom. V.14.103–106, Clement of Alexandria presents opinions (doxai) of Greek philosophers regarding 'eschatology'. By making use of so-called doxographies (i.e. the collection of philosophical opinions on a particular topic), Clement employs a popular method in contemporary philosophical debate. In this article, I will show how Clement reinterprets philosophers' opinions and modifies them to construct a philosophical proof for (Christian) eschatology. It allows him to make controversial topics such as 'final judgement' and 'resurrection' more plausible to his philosophically educated readers, as according to him, these ideas have already been discussed and confirmed by several well-known philosophers (Heraclitus, Empedocles, Plato and the Stoics). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main problem of the article is an attempt to describe the role of Greek archaic epic in the works of Clement of Alexandria. The problem part of the article includes interpretations of selected and representative borrowings from Homer's poems in the work Paedagogus. The Homeric epic and Homer's role as a teacher of ancient Hellad provide an important context for consideration. The philological analyses reveal the complex Christian-classical structure of Clement's work and emphasise the important role of Homer in the construction of the aesthetics of the famous handbook of moral theology. The article also shows that Clement's literary output still offers new interpretative possibilities in aspects of the structure of his works and their aesthetics, genology and communicative function. The polyphony of quotations, allusions and borrowings adds credibility to the Clement's claims and theses, presenting them in a complex discourse that serves aesthetic, erudite, moral and evangelistic purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Famous for his diverse literary borrowings, Clement of Alexandria quoted freely from a range of early Christian writings – including many penned by or popular with his direct opponents. This paper proposes a re-examination of Clement's non-canonical Christian borrowings through an appreciation of his hermeneutic of the divine Logos. This framework encouraged a form of reading, modeled by Clement himself, where reading became editing. All texts could be reworked to display at least a fragment of divine truth, even disputed or controversial "Christian" texts. This new perspective allows a rethinking of Clement's use, reuse and relationship with several texts – including influential works such as the Shepherd of Hermas , Epistle of Barnabas , and Apocalypse of Peter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the impact of Plato’s views on atheism and impiety, relayed in the Laws, on Clement of Alexandria. Clement employed the adjectives godless (atheos) and impious (asebēs) often in his writings as accusations against pagan philosophers and/or heretics, but also in his defence of Christians against the very charge of atheism on account of their rejection of pagan gods (Stromata 7.1; cf. Tertullian’s Apologia 10). I argue that Clement, perceptive of Plato’s defence of philosophical contemplation (theōria) and its civic benefits in the Laws, reworked the latter’s association of disbelief with excessive confidence in fleshly pleasures (Leges 888A) in tandem with his stipulation of virtue as the civic goal of his ideal colonists of Magnesia who ought to attune to the divine principles of the cosmos. Thus, Clement promoted the concept of citizenship in the Heavenly kingdom, secured through contemplation and its ensuing impassibility. For Plato and Clement, atheism was the opposite of genuine engagement with divine truth and had no place in the ideal state. Although Clement associated the Church with peace, his views were adapted by Firmicus Maternus to sanction violent rhetoric against the pagans in the fourth century when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

This article discusses the historical development of negative theology from its formulations in early Christianity to its later forms in Medieval Neo-Platonism. First analyzing how in early Christian thought negative theology was often used for a Christological purpose, the article goes on to discuss the implications of the Neo-Platonic notion of God as beyond being. While primarily applying a historical methodology, the article concludes by encouraging a rediscovery of the Christological orientation for negative theology found in its early Christian formulations.

The article reconsiders the structure of Clement’s writing Quis dives salvetur? and as a consequence questions the traditional designation of this text as a homily. In the first part, the article focuses on the Gospel text quoted by Clement and attempts to explain some of the unusual choices of the text. In the second part, it highlights some pastorally interesting or, on the contrary, controversial aspects of Clement’s interpretation: (a) the use of the Stoic concept of indifferent things, which makes it possible to give emphasis to the freedom of human decision; (b) the thorough justification of the allegorical interpretation of Mk 10, 21; (c) the pastoral project of the “divine business” based on Lk 16, 9 and finally (d) the possibility of a second repentance after baptism justified by the story of the Apostle John.

The work of classicists in recent years have shown the creative means by which readers organized knowledge textually within the Roman Empire. In the sixth book of his Stromateis , Clement of Alexandria reflects on a passage from the Shepherd of Hermas that contrasts reading 'according to the letter' and 'according to the syllables' to interpret Isaiah 8:1–2 on the composition of a 'new book.' In this article, I take this passage as a springboard to analyze the grammatical and rhetorical features – hinted subtly in these two passages – that Clement adapted for organizing the knowledge he believes Scripture to transmit. I argue that Clement employs a form of archival thinking to transfer the skills of grammarians and rhetoricians to the hermeneutics of Christian Scripture. This 'grammatical archive' and 'memorial archive' form the structures to Clement's craft of thinking, which is ultimately expressed in the construction of textual constellations that aid in understanding the plain sense of the Scriptures and their subject matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clement of Alexandria's Paedagogus contains advice for new Christians in the second to third century on how to conduct their lives appropriately. By drawing on scripture and classical philosophy and medicine Clement proposes a moderate asceticism which seeks to control the body but also to respect it. He addresses the question of how a Christian should live in pagan society, and how individual Christians of different backgrounds should behave in order to promote the flourishing of the Christian community. Underlying his advice is his understanding of the person as a plasma, with both body and soul created by God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article intends to argue in favor of the dependence of Valentinus's Fragment 1 (Clement, Strom. 2.36.2-4) on the Greek text of the Book of the Watchers. Moving from Valentinus's recourse to specific expressions of the latter – and in particular of his "technical" use of the term φόβος ("fear") and of the verb ἀφανίζω ("to destroy"; "to disfigure") – the aim is to throw new light not only on the origin of Valentinus's anthropogonic narrative, but also on the reasons and the limits of the re-use of Enochian material in the extant Valentinian production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reconsiders the structure of Clement's writing Quis dives salvetur? and as a consequence questions the traditional designation of this text as a homily. In the first part, the article focuses on the Gospel text quoted by Clement and attempts to explain some of the unusual choices of the text. In the second part, it highlights some pastorally interesting or, on the contrary, controversial aspects of Clement's interpretation: (a) the use of the Stoic concept of indifferent things, which makes it possible to give emphasis to the freedom of human decision; (b) the thorough justification of the allegorical interpretation of Mk 10,21; (c) the pastoral project of the "divine business" based on Lk 16,9 and finally (d) the possibility of a second repentance after baptism justified by the story of the Apostle John. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses Clement of Alexandria’s Pedagogue, a moral treatise written as a guide for the Christian community of Alexandria, whose wealthy population grew considerably in the second century. The treatise is a rich source of information about the customs of the Greek-Roman society around the end of the second century AD. The author described, listed, and exemplified negative behaviours that Christians had to renounce or avoid. The analysis focuses on the private and social life of Greek–Roman society and especially on the perception of women and their clothing, cosmetics and intimate practices. According to Clement, woman possesses most “bad habits”, and these can turn her into a vicious woman with the ability to corrupt those around her. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ploutarkhos is the property of International Plutarch Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In upholding the distinction of three levels of interpretation of Biblical text, Origen attributed certain meaningful characteristics to the senses of the two superior grades, i.e. the psychic and the pneumatic. The fi rst is qualifi ed as moral and the second as making it possible to comprehend the mysteries of the heavenly kingdom. Following this, some scholars traced the origin of this conception back to the Stromateis of Clement of Alexandria, where the four parts of “Moses’ philosophy” are related to the Platonic formula that described the sequence of philosophical disciplines (ethics, physics, and epoptics), and where was given the enumeration of the four way by which the doctrine of the Law was proclaimed. The article also deals with the divergences between Origen and Clement in their approaches to the problem of structural affi nities between the system of profane philosophy and the doctrine of the Holy Scripture. Clement acknowledges the scriptural dimension of Moses’ teaching as stated in the books of the Law, but his aim is still to demonstrate its philosophical nature, though he hardly manages to achieve a strict parallelism between the fourfold classifi cation of the types of the Pentateuchal texts (historical, legal, liturgical, and theological) and the triple division of philosophy. Origen, in his turn, associates the distinction of three parts of philosophy not with the name of Moses, but with Solomon as the alleged author of the three books of wisdom, much better suitable for the above-mentioned scheme. But as far as his own doctrine of multiple senses was formulated in accordance with the conception of progressive Revelation, which is carried out through the three phases in the history of salvation and refl ects three consequent grades of knowledge, he chooses an oblique mode to establish a sort of equation, though just partial, between the threefold scale of scriptural senses and the mundane philosophy. For him Solomon represents the community of profane philosophers, who have turned out to be capable of attaining the ethical stage of knowledge corresponding to the psychic level of scriptural interpretation as well as to the exoteric part of the New Testament doctrine, which constitutes a preliminary stage on the way to the highest, spiritual contemplation. As for Moses, he is considered by Origen not as the great precursor or originator of philosophy, but as one of the chosen recipients of divine revelation, and thus his writings contain not a series of philosophical doctrines, but an inner sequence of overlapping meanings, the order of which is most adequately determined by the Pauline distinction of carnal, psychical and spiritual dimensions of human nature. For this reason, he was hardly interested in using as foundation of his own methodological theory Clement’s reasoning on the philosophical value of Moses’ Law, more relevant to apologetic rather than exegetic context.

This article critiques prior epistolary analysis of the Mar Saba Clementine done by Jeff Jay in comparison with a variety of other Greek and Latin epistles. As a closer match, it brings forward Serapion's letter on the Gospel of Peter apud Eusebius. Due to a pair of formal and conceptual parallels, combined in the Historia ecclesiastica , the article hypothesizes that Morton Smith's discovery is a modern forgery, which he based upon Eusebius's excerpt of Serapion in Hist. eccl. 6.12 and upon Eusebius's paraphrase of the authentic Clement in Hist. eccl. 6.14. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the most significant exegesis of the Creation narrative in Eusebius's work. This exegesis reveals Eusebius's deep and hidden dependence towards Origen – especially his idea of a "double Creation" (intelligible and sensible Creation). The question remains which works of Origen were used by Eusebius and why Origen is not openly mentioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores some aspects of Clement of Alexandria's use of moral exhortation (or protreptic), a genre widely practiced both by Greek philosophers and early Christian writers. While modern scholars have commonly limited the analysis of Clement's use of this genre to his Protrepticus to the Greeks, I will try to take a step further by pointing to some protreptic elements found in the first book of the Paedagogus. Along with discussing some biblical and philosophical topoi, I will focus my analysis on the medical language and imagery found in that book. As I intend to show, the use of medical imagery was a rhetorical device Clement made use of to reinforce his protreptic appeal to the Greeks to convert to Christianity. Reading Clement's Paedagogus in light of the categories of the protreptic genre is important as it allows us to readdress not only the question of its purpose, but also that of its sources and intended readership. Against the communis opinio that the addressees of this book were only the already-converted Christians, I will try to argue that Clement's intended audience also encompassed the Alexandrian pagan intellectuals of his day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Teología is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica Argentina and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The disturbing power of the passions or affections, collectively known as ..., was the subject of a remarkable debate in Graeco-Roman philosophical schools, as well as in Philo of Alexandria and soon among various early Christian authors. This paper contributes to the recent approach to this subject but also explores new contexts. It examines cosmological (myth), anthropological (the mind -- emotions relation) and theological (salvation) ways of addressing that problematic supremacy of emotions. Although it summarises earlier philosophical views, it focuses on Christian documents from the second century and their witness to that ancient debate. By comparison with the diversity of Christian views on the passions, the paper highlights the diverse 'therapies' proposed by Christian authors. In conclusion, it points out common motifs among Christian responses to the passions, as well as the differences in their remedies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The disturbing power of the passions or affections, collectively known as πάθος, was the subject of a remarkable debate in Graeco-Roman philosophical schools, as well as in Philo of Alexandria and soon among various early Christian authors. This paper contributes to the recent approach to this subject but also explores new contexts. It examines cosmological (myth), anthropological (the mind – emotions relation) and theological (salvation) ways of addressing that problematic supremacy of emotions. Although it summarises earlier philosophical views, it focuses on Christian documents from the second century and their witness to that ancient debate. By comparison with the diversity of Christian views on the passions, the paper highlights the diverse ‘therapies’ proposed by Christian authors. In conclusion, it points out common motifs among Christian responses to the passions, as well as the differences in their remedies.

Thus far, the topic of early Christian prayer to the Holy Spirit has not received much scholarly attention. Only a few studies are available that present relevant primary sources (Tertullian, De baptismo 8; Origen, Hom. Lev. I 1; Acts of John 94 and 96; Acts of Thomas 27 and 50; Phōs Hilaron). This article discusses four documents from ancient Egypt that are absent from these studies. The apocryphal writing The Ascension of Isaiah (5:14) is a witness to second-century early Christian (and perhaps also first-century Jewish) prayer to the Holy Spirit. Clement of Alexandria's Pedagogue (3.12.101.1–2) dates from around 190 CE and provides very early evidence for liturgical prayer of thanksgiving addressed to the entire Trinity, with express reference to the Holy Spirit. The Apostolic Tradition dates from approximately the same time and contains several references to laudatory (eucharistic) prayers to the Trinity. In spite of its similar wording, the Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1786 from the late third century CE is probably not to be considered a witness to praying to the Holy Spirit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The passage De congressu 73-80 in which Philo answers a question raised by the text of Gen 16,3 is justly famous. Not only does he appear to give a personal testimony about his own education, but he also makes a statement about the relation between encyclical studies, philosophy and wisdom that has given rise to much debate. Some scholars, however, have been critical of Philo's handling of the allegorical interpretation of the text. The present article undertakes to offer a new interpretation based on a close reading of the passage. The exegesis proceeds in four steps, which are sequentially explained. The reader confronts two surprises. Firstly, at Congr. 79 Philo distinguishes between philosophy and wisdom. The distinction is drawn from Greek philosophy, but why does he introduce it here? Secondly philosophy is identified not with virtue, but with enkrateia, self-control. The answer may be that Abraham reveals self-control in having sexual relations with his wife's handmaiden for virtuous purposes. But there is a higher motivation for such virtuous actions, namely to please God. There was no need to introduce this element in the exegesis, but it reveals how much value Philo attaches to the virtue of piety and service to God. The sequence of thought is thus best explained by relating it to the initial exegetical question. The article concludes with a brief examination of the interpretative changes introduced by the Christian writer Clement of Alexandria in his reading of the Philonic passage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper wants to examine what Clement has to say about the language of religion. In order to cover the broader scope of the item five aspects must be regarded. The first section deals with Clement' s cultural approach about Greek and barbarian languages stressing in the end the preeminence of the Hebrew language on religious grounds. The second section shows how he makes use of the universal spread symbolic genre in favour of religious concealment. The next section has to do with his philosophic approach using Aristotle to understand language as a system of signs, and correspondingly religious language as a system of religious codes. The fourth section applies this conception to the Christian revealed religion in its elementary points. It is his decisive insight, that the Christian sign language must be interpreted e.g. by allegorizing, but cannot be abolished. Finally his ideas about Christian prayer are considered under linguistic aspects, displaying his special contribution of the intelligible, silent prayer as a symbol of pure thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clement makes multiple references to Orpheus and Orphic poems and rites in the Protrepticus and the Stromata. This article aims to pinpoint the general type of Orphic sources Clement made use of, to show how and for which purposes he used them, and finally to shed some light on the impact Clement had on the construction of 'Orphism' in later centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis examines two Heraclitean fragments concerning cosmology, VS 22 B 30 and B 31, which were transmitted by Clement of Alexandria. The investigation aims to determine the worth of the Christian author as an indirect witness of Heraclitus, using philology as well as contextual and comparative analysis with other authors' citations of the same fragments. The research specifically focuses on certain interpretative doubts. It demonstrates how Clement contributes, in his own way and with the appropriate filters, to the formal and content exegesis of these passages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to present Clement of Alexandria's response to the Valentinian concepts of baptism, with an emphasis not on his critical position (which is absolutely predominant), but on some of the elements that Clement is inspired by and which enrich his own theology by their creative adaptation. This is in particular the Valentinian conception of baptism as an entry into knowledge and into a new future, or as a spiritual resurrection that can be experienced already here in this world. The article draws on Clement's Excerpts from Theodotus and Eclogae propheticae, as well as on his Paedagogus and Stromata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biblical book of Judith, a product of Jewish culture, belongs to the Greek canon of the Septuagint. The present study focuses on early interpretations of this book in the Eastern Christian tradition, particularly in the works of Clement of Alexandria and Origen. Through occasional quotations, both show how creatively and wisely Eastern Christianity of the second and third centuries CE understood the figure of this biblical, unique heroine.

In his study on angelomorphic traditions in early Christian pneumatology, Bogdan Bucur suggests that Origen is both indebted to and develops upon Clement of Alexandria's pneumatology. This article takes up Bucur's claim, offering the first examination of Origen's pneumatology in light of previous research on early Christian angelomorphic traditions. It argues that Origen interprets the traditional understanding of the Holy Spirit as one and seven in terms of a philosophical notion of power, allowing him to explain how the one Holy Spirit can distribute many different gifts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Metafísica y Persona. Revista Sobre Filosofía, Conocimiento y Vida is the property of Universidad Popular Autonoma del Estado de Puebla A.C. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the works of Clement of Alexandria pieces of Homeric verses surface from time to time as a testimony to a Christian truth or an interpretation of Scripture. Such instances in Gnostic writings presented evidence that these Gnostic writers treated Homer as their own prophet. It seems that in light of these accusations, Clement takes care to note that Homer did not understand the words he gave a voice to, any more than a raven does when he echoes what he hears. Furthermore, in all cases where Clement comes conspicuously close to implying a prophetic-like status for Homer, he does not fail to employ a phrase which explicitly divorces the poet from any theological authority. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177032: Tradition, Innovation and Identity in the Byzantine World]

The article presents an interpretation of Ps 18/19: 5c in Clement of Alexandria's Eclogae propheticae 51-63 and searches for the continuity of this interpretation with other representatives of the so-called Alexandrian School. It finds that Clement's allegorical interpretation, inspired by the interpretation of Hermogenes' followers, remains unique and isolated in the history of the Alexandrian exegetical tradition. Clement interprets the verse "In the sun he pitched his covert" not only from the christological, but also from the ecclesiological and eschatological point of view. The interpretation of Clement's successors either complies with the spirit of the criticism and correction of the interpretation of Hermogenes' followers (Origen in Pamphilus, Didymus) or returns from the LXX translation offering a Christological interpretation to translations closer to the Hebrew text (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion) and suggesting an astronomical interpretation (Athanasius, Eusebius). Situations where the authors do not pay any special attention to this verse (Cyril, Cappadocian fathers) are not exceptional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present paper is to examine two diametrically opposed interpretations of the Homeric Prayers that were put forward by Heraclitus the Allegorist and Clement of Alexandria. This article shows that these divergent (figurative vs. literal) interpretations reflect not only the conflicting interests of their authors (the glorification of Homer vs. the glorification of Christianity) but also a significant difference between a pagan (polytheistic) and a Christian (monotheistic) attitude to the literal-figurative dimension of personifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on literary and sub-literary texts which present Egyptian scholars. I first look at outsider's views (like the church-father Clement of Alexandria), borderline views (like the Egyptian priest Chairemon), and insider's views. For the latter examination, two compositions are studied in more detail. The first is the Book of the Temple, which is a manual of the ideal Egyptian temple, including sections about the duties of several of its intellectual specialists. The second is the Ritual for Entering the Chamber of Darkness, which is a difficult text about the initiation to arcane religious knowledge and the mysteries of writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]