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

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.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Classical Philology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Abosso, Daniel H

Contributors dc:contributor

• Shanzer, Danuta R.
• Solomon, Jon
• Wright, Charles
• Mathisen, Ralph

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

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2015 Daniel Abosso

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

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

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/88238