The Moral Characterisation of the Ἰουδαῖοι: A Comparative Study of Opponents to the Divine in the Gospel of John and Euripides' Bacchae

This thesis examines the moral characterisation of divine opponents in Euripides’ Bacchae and the Gospel of John, comparing the characterisation of Pentheus, the divine opponent in Euripides’ Bacchae, with the Ἰουδαῖοι in John, including those characters directly identified as belonging to this group (the Pharisees, Chief Priests, and Nicodemus). I argue that ancient Greek writers held a primarily moral conception of character. Throughout Greek literature, characters were conceived of and evaluated primarily according to their virtues and vices, as writers sought to give ethical intelligibility to their actions. This focus upon evaluating moral character stands in contrast to more modern, Western approaches, which rather seek to understand a character’s individuality and personal perspective. I argue that the moral distinctiveness of ancient Greek characterisation has been largely overlooked in Johannine character studies. Most of these studies have been shaped by modern, Western conceptions of character that either reduce Johannine characters to representative types or problematise them as ambiguous individuals who resist any evaluation. This is particularly the case with past character studies of the Ἰουδαῖοι, which cast this character as either representatives of unbelief or ambiguous agents who defy the stark dualism of John. I conclude that there is a need for a reading of the Ἰουδαῖοι that grapples with their character complexity without overlooking the moral and evaluative aspects of their characterisation. Noting this lacuna, I stress the importance of reading the Ἰουδαῖοι through the lens of ancient Greek characterisation. To do so, this thesis offers a comparative study between the moral characterisation of the Ἰουδαῖοι in John and the divine opponent par excellence from Greek tragedy, Pentheus from Euripides’ Bacchae. Noting similarities and distinctives in both form and content, I explore how the Bacchae informs our understanding the moral characterisation of the Ἰουδαῖοι in John. This thesis consists of five chapters and a conclusion. The first, introductory chapter argues for the centrality of moral character as an ancient Greek literary distinctive, and the importance of reading Johannine characters through this moral lens. The chapter then argues for the heuristic value of comparing the moral character of the Ἰουδαῖοι with the character of Pentheus in the Bacchae. The second, third and fourth chapters provide a detailed, exegetical reading of John, examining passages which characterise the Ἰουδαῖοι and comparing them with the moral characterisation of Pentheus in the Bacchae. This integrated approach to the study of John and the Bacchae highlights the similarities and distinctives of moral characterisation, in both form and content. Having concluded from these chapters that John portrays a morally complex portrait of the Ἰουδαῖοι, our final chapter explores the form and function of complex characterisation in ancient Greek literature. I argue that the complex characterisation of the Ἰουδαῖοι contributes to a dialectical inquiry within the text, exploring the tension between the Law and cultic practices of the Ἰουδαῖοι and the claims of Jesus. I conclude that whilst John morally condemns those Ἰουδαῖοι who continue to oppose Jesus, he does not condemn this corporate character as an ethnic group, rather affirming their law and cultic practices whilst rejecting any sense of ethnic particularism.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Habib, Thomas

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Van Kooten, George

• Ιουδαίοι
• Bacchae
• John's Gospel
• Characterisation

Licence

• https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/

Language dc:language

eng

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.93880

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/346458