This article explores the extent to which pagan hexameter hymns were a model for St. Gregory of Nazianzus’ so-called Poemata Arcana. Gregory cannot, as has recently been suggested, be said to have modelled the collection of Arcana as a whole after the Homeric Hymns . Nonetheless, echoes of pagan hexameter hymns, in particular those of Callimachus, feature prominently at the beginning of the first three Arcana . These three poems treat the Trinity, a natural subject of hymns, and Gregory’s allusions to earlier pagan hymns suggest a hymnic inception to his collection of Christian didactic poetry, a feature also of pagan didactic poetry.

June 30, 2010

Three Further Echoes of Lactantius in Jerome

Andrew Cain

Page range: 88-96

Abstract

Jerome was very familiar with the writings of Lactantius, yet strikingly few instances of his appropriation of specifically Lactantian phraseology have been brought to light. The present study adduces three new verbal echoes in three different writings to show that Jerome’s literary imitation of the North African Father was slightly more extensive than has hitherto been thought.

June 30, 2010

Latin Grammarians Echoing the Greeks: The Doctrine of Proper Epithets and the Adjective

Javier Uría

Page range: 97-118

Abstract

Among Greek grammarians a distinction is recognized between a class of nouns capable of referring to several nouns and a class referring to just one proper name. This distinction is very poorly (and problematically) attested in the works of Latin grammarians. This paper explores and discusses some connections so far overlooked, and tries to correct some misinterpretations. In the light of the distinction of proper vs. common epithets, the controversial phrase mediae potestatis is elucidated, by stressing that it refers to the ‘semantic incompleteness’ of the adjective. Finally, the assumption that the concept of ‘adjective’ was not known within Latin grammatical tradition before the fourth century is revised. We bring forward evidence against this assumption implying an early ‘linguistic’ tradition with respect to the adjective which was to some degree independent from the well-known ‘rhetorical’ doctrine on epithets.

June 30, 2010

„… jhre alte Muttersprache … unvermengt und unverdorben“: Zur Rezeption der taciteischen Germania im 17. Jahrhundert

Christopher B. Krebs

Page range: 119-139

June 30, 2010

Bemerkungen zur Zahl der Nereiden in Hesiods Theogonie

Marcel Humar

Page range: 140-142

June 30, 2010

Note on Afran. 95-6 R.³

Rolando Ferri

Page range: 143-144

June 30, 2010

New Citizens from Gades: A Note on Cicero Balb. 50

Frederico Santangelo

Page range: 145-147

June 30, 2010

Lumina solis o luminis oras?

Giancarlo Giardina

Page range: 147-149

June 30, 2010

Due proposte al testo delle Metamorfosi di Apuleio (5, 28e 11, 23)

Lara Nicolini

Page range: 149-154

June 30, 2010

A Babel of Tongues. The Ancient Names of the Balearic Islands and their Meaning

Leonard A. Curchin

Page range: 155-160

About this journal

Philologus, founded in 1846, is one of the oldest and most respected periodicals in the field of Classics. It publishes articles on Greek and Latin literature, historiography, philosophy, history of religion, linguistics, reception, and the history of scholarship. The journal aims to contribute to our understanding of Greco-Roman culture and its lasting influence on European civilization.

The journal Philologus, conceived as a forum for discussion among different methodological approaches to the study of ancient texts and their reception, publishes original scholarly contributions with a strong international focus. Publications languages are: German, English, Italian, French.

As of 2014 the publication of supplementary volumes will be resumed. The series Philologus. Supplemente / Philologus. Supplementary Volumes will publish monographs and edited volumes pertaining to all aspects of the study of ancient literature and its reception, with a special focus on topics concerning literary theory, philosophy and the history of scholarship from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Volume 154 Issue 01 -

Issue of Philologus

Il dio nato due volte: l′etimologia nelle Baccanti tra fede religiosa e critica del mito

Monumenti d’autore e storie di testi (Isocrate, Ennio, Orazio)

Posidippo, Ep. 52 Austin-Bastianini (P. Mil. Vogl. VIII 309 col. VIII 2530): In morte di Timone o di Aste?

Mystérieuse ἅπλωσις dans l′En.VI, 9[9] de Plotin

St Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. The Poemata Arcana qua Hymns

Abstract

Three Further Echoes of Lactantius in Jerome

Abstract

Latin Grammarians Echoing the Greeks: The Doctrine of Proper Epithets and the Adjective

Abstract

„… jhre alte Muttersprache … unvermengt und unverdorben“: Zur Rezeption der taciteischen Germania im 17. Jahrhundert

Bemerkungen zur Zahl der Nereiden in Hesiods Theogonie

Note on Afran. 95-6 R.3

New Citizens from Gades: A Note on Cicero Balb. 50

Lumina solis o luminis oras?

Due proposte al testo delle Metamorfosi di Apuleio (5, 28e 11, 23)

A Babel of Tongues. The Ancient Names of the Balearic Islands and their Meaning

Posidippo, Ep. 52 Austin-Bastianini (P. Mil. Vogl. VIII 309 col. VIII 2530): In morte di Timone o di Aste?

Note on Afran. 95-6 R.³