Open Collections

Watson, Cristalle

University of British Columbia

My study of Proba's fourth-century CE Biblical epic Cento Vergilianus (CV), a Biblical epic formed out of excerpts taken from Vergil, begins by laying out the main theoretical lens though which I propose to analyse the work: interpretatio Christiana (IC), the re-interpretation of pagan religious, mythological, or theological material within a Christian framework. I present a sevenfold classification scheme for early Christian IC, discussing how, prior to Proba, IC tends to be almost entirely negative (interpreting pagan religious elements as false or misleading); in contrast, Proba's own IC is overwhelmingly positive (interpreting pagan religious elements as true or indicative of the truth). In the second chapter, I present my database-centred methodology: here I analyse the CV line by line, before seeking broader patterns of significant Vergilian re-use by Proba. In the third chapter, I briefly summarize the main periphrastic techniques which Proba applies to the Biblical narrative before outlining, in more detail, her six hermeneutical strategies for performing Christian exegesis on Vergilian material: a) literal; b) allusive; c) conceptual; d) typological; e) contextual; and f) thematic. The fourth chapter analyses Proba's conceptual exegesis, where a Christian narrative, concept, or practice is depicted using pagan religious concepts. The fifth chapter examines Proba's re-application of Christian typological exegesis (where an OT type is read as prefiguring a NT antitype) to her Vergilian source text (reading Vergilian characters as types of Christ). The sixth chapter explores one of Proba's major themes in the CV: the constant threat of war/violence as opposed to Christ's mission of peace. The seventh chapter concludes the study with an examination of how Proba's hermeneutical strategies function in tandem, as well as a concluding section summarizing my main findings. I end with a discussion of how the methodology employed in this study might be adapted to analyse and compare other early Christian literature.

Text

2025-05-29

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/91226

Classics

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/