Document Type

Article

Date

2013

Keywords

speech acts, Gregory of Nazianzus, oaths, early Christianity, autobiography, religious studies, bishops, late antiquity

Language

English

Disciplines

Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity | Christianity | Classical Literature and Philology | Religion

Description/Abstract

Gregory of Nazianzus’s Poemata de seipso as a group are labeled “autobiography” erroneously. 2.1.2 provides a strong case study: it is formally structured as an oath, to be sworn by a bishop but with no definitive identification of speaker. As an oath it is well suited to the application of speech act theory, which allows for interpretations with Gregory and/or any orthodox bishop as speaker. When further considered in light of other oaths as compositional models—professional (e.g. Hippocratic), magisterial, imperial loyalty, biblical— the poem’s scope expands beyond the “autobiographer” to encompass the episcopate and fourth-century culture more broadly.

Additional Information

There is no embargo on this article.

(c) 2013 The Johns Hopkins University Press and the North American Patristics Society. This article first appeared in the JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2013, pages 177-207.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/earl.2013.0011.

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