Christian Epic at the Crossroads of Cultures

This thesis provides an in-depth analysis of the final part of the Carmen Paschale (‘Easter Song’), a biblical epic by the Latin poet Sedulius. It consists of a commentary on book 5, lines 164-438, preceded by a general introduction, which offers both an overview of the status quaestionis and a synthesis of the most salient results from the research, as presented in the commentary. The Carmen Paschale (CP) recounts the life and deeds of Christ, with a strong focus on the miracle episodes. Book 5, the final book of the poem, contains the episodes of Christ’s passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. The CP does not follow the text of the four Gospels closely. Christ’s teachings and parables are largely omitted, while the poet has added exegetical comments and situates the events within the broader framework of salvation history. Soon after its publication (second quarter of the fifth century), the CP became popular, and it was highly regarded by both poets and scholars. It remained a well-known and influential poem for a long time, up until the seventeenth century. In recent decades, scholarly attention for the CP has increased. However, no modern commentary to the final part of the poem existed up to now. This volume supplies this need, as it continues where the commentary by Deerberg (2011) on CP 5.1-163 ends. What is more, it aims to contribute to the understanding of the CP’s literary and cultural importance by focusing on the innovative ways in which Sedulius has shaped the familiar story of Christ within the traditional form of an epic poem, and how he has changed that very tradition by doing so. One of the most distinctive qualities of the CP is the amalgamation of narrative and exegesis. This study analyses, in particular, the interrelation between the communicative purpose of the text and its innovative composition within the traditional epic genre. To achieve this, it combines expertise from the fields of narratology and discourse linguistics. Such a methodology provides terminology and research tools that enable a well-founded analysis of the most conspicuous features of Sedulius’s compositional technique. Central to this analysis is the suffusion of the narrative with the poet’s authorial voice through exegetical and emotional comments—a feature especially prominent in book 5—as well as the ways in which the poet universalizes singular events from the Gospel story into timeless spiritual truths. In addition, this study devotes special attention to the CP’s intertextual connections with classical and early Christian literature, including the Bible, as well as the theological and religious context in which it is situated. Overall, this thesis, through its interdisciplinary approach, contributes to a deeper understanding of the CP as a prominent text at the cultural crossroads of classical and early Christian traditions.