28953 - Ancient Christian Literature (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the students will be acquainted of the literary production processes in Ancient Christianity between I and VIII century, beginning with the authors and their writings, in relation with classical literature and the 'Fortleben' in the Middle Ages and modern times.

Course contents

Origen from the Pulpit: Three Homilies on the Old and New Testament

The course aims to present Origen’s rich homiletic production on the example of three sermons dedicated to the interpretation of the book of Judges, the book of Psalms and the Gospel of Luke. In this way it will be possible to offer a broad overview of Origen’s preaching method in order to assess continuities and differences in Old and New Testament interpretation; furthermore, through the juxtaposition of texts preserved in the original Greek – such as the one taken from the Homilies on the Psalms discovered a decade ago in the National Library in Munich – with others handed down only in Latin versions, it will be possible to compare the translation techniques employed on the text of Origen by Rufinus of Aquileia and Jerome of Stridon, versions that, in the years between the 4th and 5th centuries, caused the outbreak of a bitter dispute between the two.

The course will be structured as follows:

10 hours: presentation of Origen’s life, works and thought, with particular attention to the homiletic corpus and the problems of its transmission; presentation of the literary genre of the homily

20 hours: reading and commentary on Homily V on Judges (and Rufinus’s prologue to his translation); Homily on Psalm 74; Homily I on the Gospel of Luke (and Jerome’s prologue to his translation)

Readings/Bibliography

Texts

Critical editions and translations

- HIud V: Latin text in Origenes. Homilien zum Hexateuch in Rufins Übersetzung, ed. W. A. Baehrens (GCS 30, Origenes Werke 7), Leipzig 1921, 492-497; it. tr. in Origene. Omelie sui Giudici, intr. tr. e note di M.I. Danieli (CTP 101), Roma 1992, 104-115 or Origene. Omelie sui Giudici, Testo della versione latina di Rufino, ed. it. di R. Pane (Sources Chrétiennes edizione italiana 9), Bologna 2010, 140-157; Engl. tr. in Origen. Homilies on Judges, transl. by E. Dively Lauro (The Fathers of the Church. A New Translation), Washington DC 2010, 76-83

- H74Ps: Greek text and it. tr. in Origene. Omelie sui Salmi. Codex Monacensis Graecus 314, Introduzione, testo critico riveduto, traduzione e note a cura di L. Perrone (Opere di Origene IX,3/a), Roma 2020, 528-547; Engl. tr. in Origen. Homilies on the Psalms: Codex Monacensis Graecus 314, transl. by J.W. Trigg (The Fathers of the Church. A New Translation), Washington DC 2020, 220-227

- HLc I: Latin text and Greek fragments in Die Homilien zu Lukas in der Übersetzung des Hieronymus und die griechischen Reste der Homilien und des Lukas-Kommentars, ed. M. Rauer (GCS 35, Origenes Werke 9), Leipzig 1930, 3-12; it. tr. in Origene. Commento al Vangelo di Luca, Traduzione di S. Aliquò, Introduzione e note di C. Failla, Roma 1969, 45-50; Greek frgs. 245-247; Engl. tr. in Origen. Homilies on Luke. Fragments on Luke, transl. by J.T. Lienhard S.J. (The Fathers of the Church. A New Translation), Washington DC 2009, 5-10

The texts will be uploaded on Virutale (https://virtuale.unibo.it)

 

 

Studies

General introductions on Origen and on Origen as a preacher:

H. Crouzel, Origene, Roma 1986

R. Heine, Origen. Scholarship in the Service of the Church, New York 2010 (also available as eBook in AlmaRE)

A. Monaci Castagno, Origene predicatore e il suo pubblico, Torino 1987

P. Nautin, Origène predicateur, in Origène. Homélies sur Jéremie, Traduction par P. Husson et P. Nautin, Introduction, texte et notes par P. Nautin (SC 232), Paris 1976, 100-191

B. Neuschäfer, Origene filologo, ed. it. a c. di L. Bossina e A. Trento, Brescia 2023 (ed. or. Basel 1987)

 

On specific aspects or homilies:

A. Monaci Castagno (ed.), Origene. Dizionario. La cultura, il pensiero, le opere, Roma 2000

A. Grappone, Annotazioni sulla cronologia delle omelie di Origene, Augustinianum 41/1 (2001) 27-58

A. Grappone, Annotazioni sul contesto liturgico delle omelie di Origene, Augustinianum 41/2 (2001) 329-362

S. Contini, Judging the Judges. Exaltation and Humiliation in Origen’s Homilies on Judges, in A. Fürst (ed.), Perspectives on Origen and the History of his Reception (Adamantiana 21), Münster 2021, 81-100

L. Perrone, Ne corrumpas (Ps. 74,1). L’omelia di Origene sul Salmo 74 nel codice di Monaco, in G. Luongo (ed.), Amicorum Munera. Studi in onore di A.V. Nazzaro, Napoli 2016, 99-113, ristampata in L. Perrone, “Meine Zunge ist mein Ruhm”. Studien zu den neuen Psalmenhomilien des Origenes (Adamantiana 20), Münster 2021, 161-173

M. Simonetti, Omelia I: Inizio del Vangelo di Luca, in M. Maritano – E. Dal Covolo, Omelie sul Vangelo di Luca. Lettura Origeniana, Roma 2011, 11-16

Teaching methods

Lectures; analysis of literary texts; use of bibliographic and electronic databases.

Assessment methods

Students with special needs are suggested to consult:

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en

 

Oral exam:

a) The students who attend lessons will be able

• to read and translate two of the three the text discussed during the lessons in the Greek / Latin original (Greek required for students of Classics). The students not belonging to the course of Classics will read the text in an italian translation, and will replace the translation from the original text with the reading of one of the essays mentioned above (see Bibliography, Studies)
  
• to outline Origen's interpretation of the Books of Judges, Psalms and the Gospel of Luke from an exegetical, historical and literary point of view with the help of the class notes and one of the essays mentioned above (see Bibliography, Studies, On specific aspects or homilies).
• to discuss the main lines of Origen's life, writings, and thought according to the study mentioned above (see Bibliography, Studies, General introductions on Origen and Origen as a preacher)
  

b) The students who cannot attend lessons will study the same program as the students who attend lessons; they will substitute lesson notes with two essays by choice from the list mentioned above (see Bibliography, Studies, On specific aspects or homilies)

 

Skills will be assessed according to the following guidelines:
- failing grade (< 18): inability to translate short sections from the Greek/Latin texts discussed during the lessons (exclusively required of LM15 students); inability to provide a correct interpretation of the texts or to comment on the critical essay(s) of their choice.
- passing grade (between 18 and 24): elementary ability to translate short sections from the Greek/Latin texts discussed during the lessons (exclusively required of LM15 students); inaccuracy and lack of autonomy in providing a correct interpretation of the texts or in commenting on critical essay(s) of their choice.
- positive grade (between 24 and 30): good comprehension of the grammatical and syntactical structures of the Greek/Latin texts discussed during the lessons (exclusively required of LM15 students); interpretation of the texts is correct, but mostly superficial and not entirely autonomous; the critical essay - or essays as for non-attending students - is cursorily commented upon.
- excellent grade (30L): in-depth knowledge of the grammatical and syntactical structures of the Greek/Latin texts discussed during the lessons (exclusively required of LM15 students); precision and full autonomy in interpreting, contextualizing and critically comparing the texts; critical discussion of the essay - or essays as for non-attending students - is detailed and deep-ranging.

Teaching tools

Computer and projector; bibliographic and electronic databases; fotocopies; texts and segments of texts in PDF format uploaded by the teacher as teaching materials (downloadable from https://virtuale.unibo.it).

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Villani