A translation and commentary on Claudius Marius Victor's Alethia 3.1-326

Abosso, Daniel H

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/88238 Copy

Description

Title

A translation and commentary on Claudius Marius Victor's Alethia 3.1-326

Author(s)

Abosso, Daniel H

Issue Date

2015-04-27

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Shanzer, Danuta R.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Shanzer, Danuta R.

Committee Member(s)

• Solomon, Jon
• Wright, Charles
• Mathisen, Ralph

Department of Study

Classics

Discipline

Classical Philology

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Claudius Marius Victor
• Claudius Marius Victorius
• Mario Vittorio
• Alethia
• Schenkl
• Hovingh

Abstract

Of all the Biblical epics that survive from antiquity, Claudius Marius Victor’s Alethia, a poem based on Genesis and written in Gaul in the fifth century, is one of the more obscure and difficult. The poem was never part of the medieval curriculum and has attracted little interest until recently. This dissertation focuses on Alethia 3.1-326. In this part of the Alethia, Victor describes life after the Flood. After Noah’s death, the poet inserts a long, extrabiblical digression on the gradual corruption of knowledge, the development of mantic and magic arts, and (with the exception of the Jews), mankind’s descent into idolatry. There follows God’s punishment at Babel and, finally, the Jews’ embrace of idolatry. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the poem, Chapter 2 marshals the meager biographical evidence of the Alethia’s author; Chapter 3 treats the manuscript and printed editions of the Alethia; Chapter 4 is an excursus on the complicated history of the 16th century editions of Jean de Gagny and Guillaume Morel and includes an analysis of Gagny’s rewriting of the text; and Chapter 5 describes Victor’s poetic style. Chapter 6 presents the Latin text and apparatus of Alethia 3.1-326. It is based on P.F. Hovingh’s Corpus Christianorum Series Latina edition of 1960. I have only lightly revised it. An English translation of Alethia, 3.1-326 follows. Chapter 7 is a commentary on textual, philological, and exegetical matters.

Graduation Semester

2015-8

Type of Resource

text

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/88238

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2015 Daniel Abosso

Owning Collections