The Homeric Centos: Homer and the Bible Interwoven

The Homeric Centos is a poem that blends Homeric style and Christian themes, attributed to Eudocia, an empress and poet who died in exile in the Holy Land in the 5th century CE. It reflects the creative cultural and religious dialogue between Classical Antiquity and Christianity in the Roman Empire. The poem draws lines verbatim from Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, beginning with the Creation and Fall and ending with Jesus' Resurrection and Ascension. It also incorporates echoes of Classical and classicising literature, earlier Christian canonical and apocryphal works, verse models, and theological works. Anna Lefteratou's book explores the poem's relationship with the cultural milieu of the 5th century CE and offers in-depth analysis of its scenes, exposing its debt to centuries of Homeric reception and interpretation as well as Christian literature and exegesis.

Format: Hardback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 04 October 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

The Homeric Centos, a poem that is Homeric in style and biblical in theme, is a dramatic illustration of the creative cultural and religious dialogue between Classical Antiquity and Christianity taking place in the Roman Empire during the fifth century CE. The text is attributed to Eudocia, empress and poet, who died in exile in the Holy Land ca. 460. With lines drawn verbatim from Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the poem begins with the Creation and Fall and ends with Jesus' Resurrection and Ascension. In this blend of Homeric style and Christian themes, there are also echoes of Classical and classicising literature, stretching from Homer and drama to imperial literature. Equally prominent are echoes of earlier Christian canonical and apocryphal works, verse models, and theological works. In The Homeric Centos: Homer and the Bible Interwoven, Anna Lefteratou analyzes the double inspiration of the poem by both classical and Christian traditions. This book explores the works relationship with the cultural milieu of the fifth century CE and offers in-depth analysis of the scenes of Creation and Fall, and Jesus' Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension. This book exposes the work's debt to centuries of Homeric reception and interpretation as well as Christian literature and exegesis, and places it at the crossroads of Christian and pagan literary traditions.

Weight: 616g
Dimension: 162 x 243 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197666555