Allegorical Readers and Cultural Revision in Ancient AlexandriaAllegorical readings of literary or religious texts always begin as counterreadings, starting with denial or negation, challenging the literal sense: "You have read the text this way, but I will read it differently." David Dawson insists that ancient allegory is best understood not simply as a way of reading texts, but as a way of using non-literal readings to reinterpret culture and society. Here he describes how some ancient pagan, Jewish, and Christian interpreters used allegory to endorse, revise, and subvert competing Christian and pagan world views. This reassessment of allegorical reading emphasizes socio-cultural contexts rather than purely formal literary features, opening with an analysis of the pagan use of etymology and allegory in the Hellenistic world and pagan opposition to both techniques. The remainder of the book presents three Hellenistic religious writers who each typify distinctive models of allegorical interpretation: the Jewish exegete Philo, the Christian Gnostic Valentinus, and the Christian Platonist Clement. The study engages issues in the fields of classics, history of Christianity and Hellenistic Judaism, literary criticism and theory, and more broadly, critical theory and cultural criticism. |
From inside the book
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Page 18
... fragments of whose writings he preserves . While it cannot be demonstrated that Valentinus knew Philo's works , the close relationship between Valentinian Christianity and Alexandrian Judaism makes such knowledge quite likely . Despite ...
... fragments of whose writings he preserves . While it cannot be demonstrated that Valentinus knew Philo's works , the close relationship between Valentinian Christianity and Alexandrian Judaism makes such knowledge quite likely . Despite ...
Page 23
... fragments of ancient Greek mythology preserved by the poets . The second section of the chapter examines the considerably differ- ent interpretative model provided by the Homeric Allegories of Cornu- tus's contemporary , Heraclitus ...
... fragments of ancient Greek mythology preserved by the poets . The second section of the chapter examines the considerably differ- ent interpretative model provided by the Homeric Allegories of Cornu- tus's contemporary , Heraclitus ...
Page 24
... fragments of ancient myths that the poets have combined with their own novel liter- ary creations . These ancient myths — whether Greek , Persian , Egyptian , Phrygian , Celtic , Libyan , or other ( Epidr . 17.26.7-11 ) —contain the ...
... fragments of ancient myths that the poets have combined with their own novel liter- ary creations . These ancient myths — whether Greek , Persian , Egyptian , Phrygian , Celtic , Libyan , or other ( Epidr . 17.26.7-11 ) —contain the ...
Page 25
... fragments of the myths remained , their essential truth remained undistorted . But in other cases , the poets clearly ... fragment ( apospasma ) of ancient myth ( mythos palaios ) preserved by Homer in the form of the following question ...
... fragments of the myths remained , their essential truth remained undistorted . But in other cases , the poets clearly ... fragment ( apospasma ) of ancient myth ( mythos palaios ) preserved by Homer in the form of the following question ...
Page 35
... fragments of ancient myth , making that myth relevant for the constructive work of contemporary philosophical education . With this overview of the linguistic character and philosophical inten- tions of Cornutus's etymological practice ...
... fragments of ancient myth , making that myth relevant for the constructive work of contemporary philosophical education . With this overview of the linguistic character and philosophical inten- tions of Cornutus's etymological practice ...
Contents
23 | |
24 | |
38 | |
52 | |
PHILO THE REINSCRIPTION OF REALITY | 73 |
Jewish Allegory and Hellenism | 74 |
Representation and Textualization | 83 |
The World within the Text | 113 |
CLEMENT THE NEW SONG OF THE Logos | 183 |
Logos Theology as Allegorical Hermeneutic | 186 |
The Antecedent Voice of Cultural Classics | 199 |
Sectarianism and Dometicated Gnōsis | 219 |
AFTERWORD | 235 |
NOTES | 241 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 297 |
GENERAL INDEX | 319 |
VALENTINUS THE APOCALYPSE OF THE MIND | 127 |
Allegorical Interpretation as Composition | 129 |
Mystical Vision and Allegorical Revision | 145 |
Christian Initiation and the History Within | 170 |
SCRIPTURE PASSAGES CITED | 333 |
ANCIENT PASSAGES CITED | 335 |
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Allegorical Readers and Cultural Revision in Ancient Alexandria David Dawson No preview available - 1992 |
Common terms and phrases
Adam aeons Alexandrian allegorical interpretation allegorical reading ancient Aristeas Aristobulus authority Basilides biblical Cambridge catachresis character Christ claim Clement Clement of Alexandria contrast Cornutus Cornutus's Criticism cultural deities distinction divine logos Early Christian edited Egypt Epidr etymology expression Father frag fragment Genesis gnōsis Gnostic Gnostic myth Gospel of Truth Greek Harvard Univ Hebrew scripture Hellenism Hellenistic Heraclitus Heraclitus's hermeneutical Hesiod History Homer human insights intratextual Jesus Jewish Christianity Jews John Judaism Justin language Layton lexical linguistic literal literary Literature Loeb Classical Library meaning metaphor Middle Platonists Moses narrative nonliteral readings Numenius original pagan Pantaenus passage Pentateuch personification Philo philosophical Plato Plutarch poets Press Protr readers reading of scripture reality realm revision revisionary reading rhetorical Roman sense Septuagint soul speaks Stoic Strom symbol textual Theology things tion tradition translation typology Valentinian Valentinus Valentinus's voice wisdom words writing York Zeus