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The Homeric Centos
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OX F OR D STU DI E S I N L ATE A N T IQUIT Y
Series Editor
Ralph Mathisen
Late Antiquity has unified what in the past were disparate disciplinary,
chronological, and geographical areas of study. Welcoming a wide array of
methodological approaches, this book series provides a venue for the finest new
scholarship on the period, ranging from the later Roman Empire to the Byzantine,
Sassanid, early Islamic, and early Carolingian worlds.
The Arabic Hermes
From Pagan Sage to Prophet of Science
Kevin van Bladel
Two Romes
Rome and Constantinople in Late Antiquity
Edited by Lucy Grig and Gavin Kelly
Disciplining Christians
Correction and Community in Augustine’s Letters
Jennifer V. Ebbeler
History and Identity in the Late Antique Near East
Edited by Philip Wood
Explaining the Cosmos
Creation and Cultural Interaction in Late-​Antique Gaza
Michael W. Champion
Universal Salvation in Late Antiquity
Porphyry of Tyre and the Pagan-​Christian Debate in Late Antiquity
Michael Bland Simmons
The Poetics of Late Antique Literature
Edited by Jaś Elsner and Jesus Hernandez-​Lobato
Rome’s Holy Mountain
The Capitoline Hill in Late Antiquity
Jason Moralee
The Homeric Centos
Homer and the Bible Interwoven
Anna Lefteratou
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The Homeric Centos
Homer and the Bible Interwoven
A N NA L E F T E R AT OU
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Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers
the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University
Press in the UK and certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
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You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Lefteratou, Anna, 1980– author.
Title: The Homeric centos : Homer and the Bible interwoven / Anna Lefteratou.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2023] |
Series: Oxford studies in late antiquity series |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022060579 (print) | LCCN 2022060580 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780197666555 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780197666579 (epub) |
ISBN 9780197666586
Subjects: LCSH: Eudocia, Empress, consort of Theodosius II,
Emperor of the East, –460. Homerocentones. | Classical literature—Influence. |
Homer—Influence. | Christian literature—Influence. | LCGFT: Literary criticism.
Classification: LCC PA3972.E86 L44 2022 (print) | LCC PA3972.E86 (ebook) |
DDC 883/.01—dc23/eng/20230320
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022060579
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022060580
DOI: 10.1093/​oso/​9780197666555.001.0001
Printed by Integrated Books International, United States of America
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Contents
Acknowledgments Abbreviations vii
ix
Unweaving Crossweave Poems Patchwork Poetry
The Approach of this Book 1
1
4
1.Homerocentones biblici 1.1Ancient Centos 1.2Homeric Centos 1.3Biblical Centos 1.4Summary 7
8
17
37
50
2. Mulierum virtutes 2.1Contexts 2.2Virgin Motherhood 2.3Female Witnesses 2.4The Empress and the Others 2.5Summary 53
54
57
70
96
102
3.De fructu lignorum 3.1Contexts 3.2Creation and Fall 3.3Beginnings 3.4Summary 105
107
114
128
134
4. Crucifixus etiam pro nobis 4.1Contexts 4.2Pilate 4.3Crucifixion 4.4Descent 4.5Summary 137
139
145
153
162
179
Reweaving Eudocia’s Web Classicizing Poetry Biblical Poetry Eudocia’s Biblical Homeric Cento 184
185
188
194
Notes Bibliography Index of Locorum Index of Rerum 197
273
303
309
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Abbreviations
For classical authors, see Oxford Classical Dictionary (OCD4); for biblical authors,
see mainly The SBL Handbook of Style2 by the Society of Biblical Literature and
G. W. H. Lampe, occasionally adapted; for repeated authors, editions, and translations,
see below. The translations of the Homerocentones is mine; other translations unless otherwise stated are also mine.
AAPil.
ACO
ad Il.
ad Od.
AP
Bas. Hex.
C.
CCSG
Chr. Pat.
CN
Comm.
CPr
CSCO
Cypr.
Cyr. Alex. In Jo
Apocrypha Acta Pilati recensio A and B; Tischendorf, C. ed. 19872.
Evangelia Apokrypha. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag; English
translation by Schneemelcher, W. New Testament Apocrypha: Gospels
and Related Writings, vol. 1. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox
Press; French translation by Bovon, F. & Geoltrain, P. 1997. Écrits
apocryphes chrétiens, vol. 1. Paris: Gallimard.
Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum; Schwartz, E. & Straub, J. ed. 1914.
Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum, Berlin, Leipzig: de Gruyter.
[Scholia, commentaries, etc.] on the Iliad.
[Scholia, commentaries, etc.] on the Odyssey.
Anthologia Palatina.
Basilii Caesariensi Homiliae in Hexaemeron; Giet, S. ed. 1968. Basile de
Césarée, Homélies sur l’Hexaéméron (SC 26). Paris: du Cerf.
Contra.
Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca.
Christus Patiens; Tuilier, A. ed. 1969. Grégoire de Nazianze. La passion
du Christ (SC 149), Paris: du Cerf.
Ausonii Cento/​Carmen nuptialis; Green, R. ed. 1991. Ausonius. The
Works of Ausonius. Oxford: Clarendon.
Commentary.
Cento Probae; text and English translation by Schottenius-​Cullhed,
S. 2016. Proba the Prophet. The Christian Virgilian Cento of Faltonia
Betitia Proba. Leiden: Brill.
Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium.
Eudociae Augustae, De Sancto Cypriano, Ludwich, A. ed. 1897.
Eudociae Augustae, Procli Lycii, Claudiani carminum Graecorum
reliquiae, Leipzig: Teubner; see also the Italian translation by Bevegni,
C. 2006. Eudocia Augusta: Storia di San Cipriano. Milano: Adelphi
(with the additional verses).
Commentary in John’s Gospel; Pusey, P. E. ed. 1872. Sancti Patris
Nostri Cyrilli Archiepiscopi Alexandrini, in S. Joannis Evangelium.
Oxford: Clarendon; English translation by Maxwell, D. R. & Elowsky,
J. C. 2013. Cyril of Alexandria: Commentary on John. Downers Grove,
IL: IVP.
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x
Abbreviations
DIR
DJG
ELQ
Ephr. Syr.
Eustath. ad Il.
Eustath. ad Od.
GNO
Greg. Naz. Arc.
h
HC
I HC
II HC
HC a, HC b, HC c
HE
Hes. Op.
Hes. Theog.
Hom.
Hom. Il.
Hom. Od.
De Imperatoribus Romanis (online) https://​roman-​emper​ors.sites.luc.
edu /​Leiden: Brill.
Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels; Green, J. B., Brown, J. K. & Perrin
N. ed. 2013. Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, Downers Grove, IL:
IVP.
Iuvenci Evangeliorum Libri Quattor; Marold, K. ed. 1866. C. Vettii
Aquilini Iuvenci libre evangeliorum IIII. Leipzig: Teunber.
Ephraem Syrus (in the CSCO series).
Eustathius ad Iliadem; van der Valk, M. ed. 1971–​1987. Eustathii
archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis commentarii ad Homeri Iliadem
pertinentes, vols. 1–​4, Leiden: Brill.
Eustathius ad Odysseam; Stallbaum G. ed. 1970. Eustathii
archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis commentarii ad Homeri Odysseam, 2
vols. Leipzig: Weigel /​Hildesheim: Olms.
Gregorii Nysseni Opera, https://​brill.com/​view/​db/​gnoo?langu​age=​en.
Leiden: Brill.
Gregorii Nazianzeni, Poemata Arcana; text, commentary, and English
translation by Moreschini, C. & Sykes, D. ed. 1997. Poemata Arcana
by St. Gregory of Nazianzus. Oxford: Clarendon.
(Mythological and Christian) hymns.
Homerocentones; Schembra, R. ed. 2007. Homerocentones (CCSG) 62.
Turnhout: Brepols.
the first edition of Homeric Centos in Schembra 2007. See also
the Italian translation and commentary by Schembra, R. ed. 2006.
La prima redazione dei centoni omerici: traduzione e commento.
Alessandria: dell’ Orso; Usher, M. D. ed. 1999. Homerocentones
Eudociae Augustae. Lipsia: Teubner.
the second edition of Homeric Centos in Schembra 2007. See also
the Italian translation and commentary by Schembra, R. 2007b.
La seconda redazione dei centoni omerici: traduzione e commento.
Alessandria: dell’ Orso; cf. also the French edition, translation, and
commentary by Rey, A.-​L. ed. 1998. Centons homériques. Paris: du
Cerf.
the three shorter editions of Homeric Centos in Schembra 2007.
Historia Ecclesiastica.
Hesiodi Opera et Dies; West, M. L. ed. 1976. Hesiod Works and Days.
Edited with prolegomena and commentary. Oxford: Clarendon.
Hesiodi Theogonia; West, M. L. ed. 1966. Hesiod. Theogony. Edited
with prolegomena and commentary. Oxford: Clarendon.
Homiliae (homiletic works).
Homer, Iliad; Allen, T. W. ed. 1931. Homeri Ilias, vols. 2–​3, Oxford:
Clarendon; English translation by Lattimore, R. 20113. The Iliad of
Homer. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Homer, Odyssey; von der Mühll, P. ed. 1962. Homeri Odyssea, Basel:
Helbing & Lichtenhahn; English translation by Lattimore, R. 20072.
The Odyssey of Homer2. New York: Harper.
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Abbreviations
Lampe
LSJ
Met. Pss.
Nonn. Par.
NT
OCD4
Or. Sib.
Orig. C. Cels.
PG
Procl.
Procl. Const.
Ps
Ps.-​
SC
SEG
TLG
Vis.D.
xi
Lampe, G. W. H. 1961. A Patristic Greek Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon.
Liddell, H. F. & Scott, R. 19969. A Greek–​English Lexicon. Revised and
augmented throughout by H. S. Jones. Edited with Revised Supplement.
Oxford: Clarendon.
Ps.-​Apollinarii, Metaphrasis Psalmorum; Faulkner, A. ed. 2020b.
Metaphrasis Psalmorum. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Nonnus’ Paraphrasis; Scheindler, A. ed. 1881. Nonni Panopolitani
Paraphrasis S. Evangelii Ioannei. Lipsia: Teubner; English translation
by Hadjittofi, F. forthcoming. ‘Nonnus of Panopolis: Paraphrase of the
Gospel According to John’ in Collected Imperial Greek Epics, vol. 3,
Kneebone E. & Avlamis P. ed. Berkeley, LA: University of California
Press.
New Testament; Nestle, E. & Aland, K. 196328. Novum Testamentum
Graece. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft; English translation follows
NRSV =​New Revised Standard Version English translation of the Old
and New Testaments (Mt =​Matthew, Mk =​Mark, Lk =​Luke, Jo =​John).
Hornblower, S., Spawforth, A., & Eidinow, E. 2012. Oxford Classical
Dictionary Fourth Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Oracula Sibyllina. For Books 1–​2 see Lightfoot, J. L. ed. 2007. The
Sibylline oracles: with introduction, translation, and commentary of the
First and Second Books. Oxford: Oxford University Press; for Books
3–​14 see Geffcken, J. ed. 1902. Die Oracula Sibyllina. Leipzig, Berlin: De
Gruyter.
Origenes, Contra Celsum; Borret, M. ed. 1967–​1976. Origène Contre
Celse. 4 vols (SC 132, 136, 147, 150, 227). Paris: du Cerf.
Patrologia Graeca Cursus Completus. Series Graeca, 162 vols., Minge, J. P.
ed. Paris 1857–​1886.
Proclus Diadochus.
Proclus’ of Constantinople, homilies, text and English translation by
Constas, N. 2003. Proclus of Constantinople and the cult of the Virgin in
Late Antiquity. Leiden: Brill.
Psalms; Rahlfs, A. ed. 19712 (19351). Septuaginta, vol. 2, 9th edition.
Stuttgart: Württemberg Bible Society.
Pseudo (pseudepigraphic texts).
Sources Chrétiennes, Turnout: Brepols.
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, 1923–​present, online: https://​
www.uni​vers​itei​tlei​den.nl/​en/​resea​rch/​resea​rch-​proje​cts/​hum​anit​ies/​
suppl​emen​tum-​epigr​aphi​cum-​grae​cum. Leiden: Brill.
Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, online http://​stepha​nus.tlg.uci.edu/​. Irvine,
CA.
Visio Dorothei in Bodmer Papyrus 29; Kessels, A. H. M. & Van Der Horst,
P. W. ed. 1987. “The Vision of Dorotheus (Pap. Bodmer 29): edited with
introduction”. Vigiliae Christianae 41 (4): 313–​59.
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Unweaving Crossweave Poems
Patchwork Poetry
One of the best known “centos” of modern poetry lies undoubtedly at the end
of T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, 1922. At the work’s majestic apocalyptic closure,
we read “What the Thunder said” followed by a series of literary fragments from
which Eliot’s own poetry and aesthetics are crafted:
What the thunder said:
I sat upon the shore (423)
Fishing, with the arid plain behind me
Shall I at least set my lands in order?
London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down
Poi s’ ascose nel foco che gli affina
Quando fiam uti chelidon—​O swallow swallow
Le Prince d’Aquitaine à la tour abolie
These fragments I have shored against my ruins (430)
Why then I’ll fit you. Hieronymo’s mad againe.
Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata.
Shantih shantih shantih
—​
J. Weston, From Ritual to Romance, p. 38
ibid. ch. “The Fisher King”
Is 38:1: “Thus saith the Lord, set thine house
in order: for thou shalt die, and not live”
Children’s nursery rhyme, My Fair Lady
Dante, Purgatorio 26, 148
Pervigilium Veneris, 90
G. de Nerval, El Desdichado, 2
—​
T. Kyd, The Spanish tragedie, Act 4
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
ibid.
The modern term for this kind of composition is “collage,” that is, a
poem that composes from lines drawn from other poems, with or without
interpolations, to make one’s “own.”1 Ultimately, both one’s “own” and the
“borrowed” lines matter. Eliot’s command of his models, for example, is as
important as the program of The Waste Land’s “interpolated” line 430, which
summarizes the literary and aesthetic agenda of this allusive and highly reflexive work constructed out of fragments and ruins. These are expressed in the
revelatory tone of the Upanishad, which, fused with both Isaiah and Dante’s
Purgatorio, grant the poem its overarching sacred and apocalyptic character,
while merging it with secular narratives, such as those of Nerval and Kyd,
and even a child’s nursery rhyme. Deconstructed here is traditional religion,
but not the quest for the spiritual. The poem reuses lines of texts that are emblematic of their mytho-​religious and apocalyptic potential and plays with the
reader’s intertextual and cultural expectations. Although not all of the poem’s
parallel texts are immediately recognizable, the apocalyptic and prophetic tone
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2
The Homeric Centos
is nonetheless stark, not least because the quotes from the Bible and Dante’s
Purgatorio belong to the classics of Western apocalyptic imagery and literature. Additionally, the lines drawn from Nerval and Kyd, even if not instantly
discernible to all readers, nonetheless align the narrator of the poem (430) with
legendary medieval figures and are bound together by the poem’s well-​known
nursery rhyme (426).
However, such cut-​up techniques are used not only to recall grand themes.
Excerption and reuse have usually thrived in parody. Compare, for example, the
pastiche technique of T. S. Eliot’s finale to Thunder in the following short poem
What the Camel Said, 1948 entitled Pastitsio by Giorgos Seferis, the influential
translator of The Waste Land into Modern Greek:
Τί είπε η γκαμήλα (Τετράδιο Γυμνασμάτων Β´, 1948, Παστίτσιο)
. . . Κάθισα σ’ ένα πάγκο χαζεύοντας
Τάχα θα ’ρθει κανείς για πασατέμπο
Τα κόκκινα μήλα, τα πράσινα φύλλα μ’ αρέσουν πολύ,
μ’ αρέσουν πολύ
«Κάθε φορά που πέφτουν τα μεσάνυχτα το λύνω»
Πότε θα πιάσω το κοτσύφι—​Ώ κότσυφα, κότσυφα (5)
«Ενθάδε κείται ο Ταρσεύς μη γήμας»
Με τα στραγάλια αυτά πέρασα τ’ απόγεμά μου.
«Έχω ακατάλυτα μαλλιά και δόντια». Πάλι μαλακίζεται
ο μπαγάσας.
Evlendirelim. Nerede bulalim. Suradam buradan bulalim.
Tamam Tamam Tamam (10)
(contra, i.e., revisiting Eliot’s: shore)
—​
(echoes of erotic poetry—​cf. apple)
N. Lapathiotis, Τα Σαββατόβραδα 1922
(contra: swallow—​both birds are black)
Anthologia Palatina 7.309
—​
A. Melachrinos, Έξαρση ΙΙ.
—​
I. Venezis, Aιολική γη, (Turkish)
(Turkish “all is fine”; contra: Shantih)
By stitching together lines from other works, Seferis’ poem not only imitates
Eliot’s technique in The Waste Land, but also parodies the poem by transposing
it into a lighter, humorous register. Here Thunder does not speak; we no longer
encounter a shore and a fallen Fisher King, but rather, in the Turkish refrain, a
lazy camel driver in the aftermath of the 1922 catastrophe in Asia Minor. Seferis’
manner of appropriating the text resembles Eliot’s, but he uses it to parodic effect: subverting the lines of Lapathiotis’ elegy (which hint at the “loosening” of
heartache) he endows them with sharp sexual connotations. At the same time,
however, he relies on the line in Venezis’ novel to deepen the poem’s tone of the
poem and allude to a popular theme in Greek literature, that of “lost homelands.”2
This nostalgia for a greater past combined with the pettiness of the present echo
the stylistic differences not only between Seferis and his Greek models, but also
between his Pastitsio and Eliot’s finale.
These two poems serve as examples of the ways in which authoritative religious and secular narratives are revisited and intertextual appropriations—​
at the level of thematic or literal quotation—​
prompts specific audience
responses. On the one hand, Eliot’s poem shows that a detailed knowledge of
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Unweaving Crossweave Poems
3
all intertexts is not a prerequisite for comprehending his poem’s medieval and
apocalyptic under-​and overtones. Lines from the Bible or Dante undoubtedly
reveal something of The Waste Land’s poetic vision and serve as an overarching
umbrella for the lesser known echoes in the poem. By contrast, the exoticism
of the citations in Romance languages (427–​429, Italian, Latin, French), the
English archaisms (431), and the oracular tone of Sanskrit contribute to the revelatory texture of the base hypotexts.3 On the other hand, Seferis’ subversion
of Eliot’s finale shows that the technique of verbatim quotation or “pastiche”
can also be used to parodic ends. It also implies that intertextual appropriation differs from verbatim quotation. In his poem, Seferis does not quote a
single line from The Waste Land. Instead, he transfers the text to another tonality,4 though The Waste Land remains the reader’s chief hypotext. The two
poems prove that the technique can be used either in a part of a larger composition, as in the case of Eliot, or in a shorter work whose entirety it, as in that
of Seferis, thereby indicating that the margin between technique and genre is
narrower than commonly thought. They also reveal that the reader plays a crucial rule in identifying and generating meaning in poems constructed out of
poetic fragments. Most importantly, the reclamation of key, culturally loaded
hypertexts, such as the Bible, the Upanishads, or Dante by Eliot, and of Eliot
along with Ilias Venezis by Seferis, are of primary importance to our understanding of both the religious/​spiritual and worldly concerns of these poems.
What traditional religion cannot offer to Eliot’s deconstructed and increasingly
secularized world, Eliot’s poetry cannot offer to Seferis’ description either of
the universe after the 1922 Destruction of Smyrna in the Greco-​Turkish War
(1919–​1922) and the Second World War.
The intertextual appropriation of culturally and religiously loaded texts, verbatim quotation, intergeneric dialogue, and audience response are all features
important to the literary analysis presented in this book, which, in fact, is an
unprecedented attempt to contextualize the First Edition of Homeric Centos
(hereafter, I HC), a biblical epic in Homeric hexameter, within the cultural milieu of Late Antiquity and with a regard for its intellectual, literary, and religious
aspects. Today, what today we call centos—​κέντρωνες, or κέντρα—​are poems,
typically, though not exclusively Christian in content, which are composed with
a technique that flourished from the third to the seventeenth century that evoked
stitching, weaving, and needlework.5 Their authors draw lines chiefly from
Virgil (in the Latin-​speaking world) or from Homer (in the Greek-​speaking
world) to compose new poems, both secular and Christian, which are known
as Virgilian and Homeric centos, respectively. Homeric Centos, the focus of this
analysis, “are poems made up entirely of verses lifted verbatim, with, occasionally, only slight modification, from the Iliad and Odyssey.”6 Virgilian centos are
ones with lines copied verbatim from the Aeneid, Georgics or Eclogues. Homeric
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4
The Homeric Centos
Cento refers to multilayered poems that are woven together with at least two
interlinked strands: the “wrap,” the biblical theme of the poem, and the “weft,”
the Homeric material reused to centonize the Bible, produce a composite textus,
a Homerokentron.
The Approach of this Book
Today, more than thirty-​three years since the publication of Michael Roberts’s
magisterial 1989 Jeweled Style, the number of studies on late antique poetry, both
Christian and secular, has exploded. Although most of these have focused primarily on the Latin authors,7 some have also been devoted to the Greek ones, especially their chief representative, Nonnus of Panopolis.8 The time is thus ripe for
re-​contextualizing the first edition of Homeric Centos within the framework of Late
Antiquity and re-​evaluating it with an eye for the biblical poetry of that period.9
The present study aspires to examine the first and longest edition of the Homeric
centos, which date roughly to the first half of the fifth century, to peel back the
layers of its thick textual fabric and contextualize it within the literary and religious
milieu of Late Antiquity. By unpicking and unweaving the poem’s Homeric and
biblical strands,10 the present reading will show that the Homerocentones amount
to a biblical poem representative of the late antique reception of Homer and biblical exegesis, and one which, intriguingly, reveals a distinct female focus.
To achieve its goals, the study combines traditional philological approaches11
with intertextual and narratological methodologies,12 taking into account
gender13 and historico-​
cultural dimensions,14 which have been routinely
examined in studies of late antique poetry but less so in cento poetry, especially
the Homerocentones. The analysis it offered opts for a holistic reading of the I HC
and opens new areas of study. On the one hand, in addition to Homer, namely
the Iliad, the Odyssey, the book looks at the reception of Homer in Late Antiquity,
both in and outside the classroom, and considers other important non-​Homeric
classical intertexts in the I HC, the most prominent of which being didactic
poetry and drama. For this reason, each Homeric line is examined within its
broader late antique context. On the other hand, the analysis goes beyond the
biblical canon to examine the reception of the Old and the New Testaments in
two consecutive chapters and surveys the impact of Christian exegesis of select passages, of the apocryphal literature, and visual/​material culture (as per
Roberts’ analysis) on the poem. It thus attempts to understand the challenges of
versifying the Old as opposed to the New Testament, the differences in the poetic
reception of the two Testaments, and the impact of the earlier Christian and the
fifth-​century dogmatic debates on the I HC.15 Moreover, the approach followed
here examines the select passages with respect to Homer and the Bible not only
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Unweaving Crossweave Poems
5
intertextually but also intratextually,16 thus illustrating both the poem’s seamless
approach to its topic and its overarching poetic design. Finally, the present study
considers from an intertextual and mainly gendered narratological perspective a selection of similar excerpts from the two major editions of the Homeric
centos, the I HC and the II HC, and demonstrates the many possibilities that the
Homeric text provided to those wishing to refashion biblical extracts which, in
fact, is pivotal to our understanding of the exegetical and poetic aspirations of
the I HC as well as its gendered focus and its possible attribution to the Empress
Eudocia (401–​460 CE).
Although the book draws on all the methodologies mentioned above, each of
its chapters resort to those best suited to its focus on a particular topic, such as
the reception of Homer, the depiction of women, or the intertextual and exegetical issues entangled in the transposition of the Old and the New Testaments into
Homeric hexameter. Thus Chapter 1 (“Homerocentones Biblici”), for example,
shows why the poem is no less Homeric than it is biblical, discusses the scholarship bias that has led to the I HC’s classification with Homeric rather than with
biblical poetry, and scrutinizes arguments regarding its Homeric and biblical intertextuality. Shown here is how the I HC, albeit representing the conventional
practice of Homeric reuse, goes beyond the classroom to echo the rhetorical
and highbrow reception of the epics, but also displays a distinctive taste for particular books that were not part of the canon. Insofar as biblical is concerned,
this chapter contextualizes one of the poem’s prefaces, the so-​called Apologia by
Eudocia, within the context of both late antique biblical verse—​above and beyond the short-​lived Edict of Julian17—​and the gradual Christianization of pagan
culture.18 In doing so, it argues that unlike other stark programmatic statements
that expand on Christian motivation, the Apologia balances between Homeric
style with biblical themes. Chapter 2 (“Mulierum virtutes”) discusses the female
perspective of the poem by comparing the I HC to the II HC and providing in-​
depth studies of their eminent female characters. Women, both idealized and
not, it argues, are part of a re-​oriented late antique religious and cultural focalization. While the first part of the chapter demonstrates the importance of women in
the I HC vis-​à-​vis II HC, the second part examines the influence of Marian literature in general as well as its impact on elite women in the court of Theodosius II.
In its conclusion, Chapter 2 revisits the poem’s Eudocian authorship. Chapter 3
(“De fructu lignorum”) focuses on two illustrative Old Testament topics in the
Book of Genesis, the Creation and the Fall, and explores the exegetic and generic
stance of the poem’s opening. The argument here is that that the poem begins in
the didactic revelatory tone of the kind found in other hexametric revisions of
Genesis, such as the Sibylline Oracles and Gregory’s dogmatic poems, that are
part of a longer didactic Christian reception of Genesis. The didactic tone Old
Testament subsides but is typologically revisited in the prelude to the Savior’s
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6
The Homeric Centos
incarnation, which, at the Homeric level is marked by a programmatic reuse of
the two now interlaced Homeric proems: that of the Iliad’s for the Fall, and of the
Odyssey’s for Christ’s soteriological agenda. Chapter 4 (“Crucifixus pro nobis”)
tackles a New Testament theme, the narration of Christ’s passion. Its aim is to
show how Homer was reworked to take into account the new Christian meaning
of κλέος (“renown”) and heroism, as well as to illustrate the Christological
stance of the I HC in a period marked by heated conflicts over dogma. Select
allusions to Nonnus’ Paraphrasis of St. John’s Gospel, wherever relevant, indicate the difference in the I HC’s exegetical and aesthetic agenda and probably
reveal a slight inclination toward a two-​natures Christology.19 Finally, the study’s
substantial conclusion (“Reweaving”) ravels together the various strands of the
Homerocentones analyzed in the book and evaluates the poem within the cultural
milieu of the first half of the fifth century.
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1
Homerocentones biblici
centones apud grammaticos vocari solent, qui de carminibus Homer
seu Vergilii, ad propria opera more centonario ex multis hinc inde
compositis in unum sarciunt corpus, ad facultatem cuiusque materiae.
According to the grammarians, centos should be called [the poems]
that in cento manner borrow [lines] from the poems of Homer or
Virgil into their own and from many they stich them together into a
single body, depending on the aptitude of the material.
Isidore, Etymologies, 1.39
Ἐν τῷ περὶ μεθόδου σοι δεινότητος διδάσκει
ὁ Ἑρμογένης κόλλησιν ὁμοῦ καὶ παρῳδίαν,
λέγων ὡς καὶ ἀμφότερα γλυκαίνουσι τοὺς λόγους
Μάθε δὲ τί ἡ κόλλησις καὶ τί ἡ παρῳδία.
Ἂν άλλαχόθεν λάβῃς τι καὶ μίξῃς τοῖς σοῖς λόγοις,
εἴτε πεζὸν ἢ μετρικὸν κόλλησιν κάλει τοῦτο . . .
Καὶ τὸ εἰς Ὁμηρόκεντρα ῥηθὲν εὐφυεστάτως,
“σκαιῇ Παῦλον ἔχεν· ἑτέρηφι δὲ λάζετο Πέτρον”
With The Method of Eloquence Hermogenes instructs you, | what is
collage and simultaneously what parody looks like | and states that
both of these make orations sweeter. | Learn then what is a collage
and also what is parody. | If you draw something from elsewhere and
mix it in your speeches, | whether in prose, whether in verse, you
should call this a collage. . . . As is the ingenious verse in Homeric
Centos, | “he [Jesus] took on his left-​hand Paul; and Peter [stone,
ἑτέρηφι δὲ λάζετο πέτρον, Ιl. 16.734] on his right”
Tzetzes, Chiliades 8.196, 94–​100, 110–​111.
In the sixth century, Isidore of Seville was acquainted with the definition of cento
as a poetic patchwork of various strands from Homer or Virgil into a single poetic
work (ex multis . . . in unum sarciunt) in the manner of cento (more centonario).
In the twelfth century the erudite Ioannes Tzetzes could even distinguish
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8
The Homeric Centos
between collage and parody:1 parody he says is about tweaking the content, pastiche is about reuse. Although both are about reclaiming, the content, the effect
is different. This is also what we observed in the earlier reuse of prior models in
Eliot’s The Waste Land and Seferis’ revision in his Pastitsio. In paraphrasing the
Hermogenic corpus Tzetzes uses examples from Oppian alongside the Homeric
Centos, which shows his familiarity with a long tradition of reclaiming and
rewriting. The definition of cento in Isidore’s sixth-​century explanation, comes
long after its first specimens first appeared, and Tzetzes’ theoretical underpinning even later. With the exception of Ausonius᾽ programmatic theorization of
cento in his Carmen Nuptialis that will be discussed below, ancient grammarians
while aware of what more centonario /​κέντρωνος δίκη meant, they seldomly felt
the need to provide a precise classification of it. Cento as a technique was part
of the ancient audience’s culture of excerption, quotation, and reuse which applied both on the reception of Homer and of the Bible. It pointed to a closer yet
not entirely different appropriation mode of culturally important works into
new works and evolved around the same principles of imitatio, aemulatio, and
variation, name creative imitation, competitive emulation, and inventive variation, of the classics.2 This chapter traces the evolution of Homeric centos into
Biblical centos and examines the ancient audiences’, as opposed to that of the
early modern editors’, reception of secular and Christian centos (Section 1.1),
the techniques of excerpting and reusing Homer in the Empire (Section 1.2),
and the apologetic motivation of the centonists within the context of classicizing
Christian poetic production (Section 1.3) in Greek and Latin.
1.1 Ancient Centos
Those who have been working on the Homeric Centos since the turn of the millennium are fortunate to have at their disposal a well-​established text far more
complete than the earlier Teubneriana of the I HC in the Iviron 4464 manuscript
used by Mark Usher and the still useful edition of the II HC in the Paris. suppl. gr.
388 manuscript edited by André-​Louis Rey.3 It was Rocco Schembra who took
on the Herculean task of meticulously editing all the available versions of the
Homeric Centos: a long version referred to in Schembra as the first (Conscriptio
Prima, I HC, 2354 lines); and a shorter one referred to as the second (Conscriptio
Secunda II HC, 1948 lines); and three very short versions: Conscriptio A (HCa,
622 lines), Conscriptio B (HCb, 653 lines), and Conscriptio Γ (HCc, 738 lines).4
He has thus made available for further study a difficult and elusive text that had
hitherto been poorly edited.5 Rey published the II HC in Paris. suppl. gr. 388 with
a French translation as well as useful, albeit brief notes. The 1999 Teubner edition
by Usher6 is based on Stephanus’ 1578 edition as well as a single manuscript from
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Homerocentones biblici
9
the monastery of Iviron from Mt. Athos (Iviron 4464) that transmits only 1455 of
the 2354 lines of the I HC in Schembra.7
Our modern perception of centos as a liminal category, both as excerption
technique and also genre, emerge from their fate in the Byzantine and early
modern transmission. The compilers of the Byzantine manuscripts edit the
centos with the help of a variety of texts, which impacted their reception as either Homeric appendices or Christian poems. In Byzantine manuscripts they are
inserted among a collection of epigrams (A),8 presented on their own (C, H), or
combined with other works, both Christian (e.g., Psellos, Theodoret in X), and
pagan (N, Ps.-​Phocylides, Batrachomyomachia), and almost always together with
the Homeric citations from which they are derived (A, M). The editio princeps of
the I HC was published by Aldus Manutius in Venice between 1501 and 1504,
thirty years after the first 1488 edition of Homer by Demetrius Chalcocondyles,
and around the same time as the Aldine Homer of 1505. This testifies to the general humanist interest in classical antiquity, but surprisingly, as Rocco Schembra
notes, Aldus Manutius published the I HC as an independent and autonomous
work alongside other Christian poems, not as an appendix to the Homeric
epics.9 These editions probably reflect influence of early modern Christian humanism.10 Thus, editors of the seicento printed the Homerocentones mainly
alongside Christian works, such as Proba’s Cento and Nonnus’ Paraphrasis.11
In the next century, the rise of scientific reasoning, the religious debates, and
philological practice especially with respect to the Homeric Question, probably
contributed to the “Homericization” of the Centos.12 Accordingly, from the 1617
Jacob Stoer edition onward,13 the Homerocentones were published as appendices
to Homeric epics. In modern times, the 1999 edition of the I HC, which is the
current Teubner, is Usher’s revision of Henricus Stephanus’ edition of 1578. The
II HC has not been in the limelight. Edited in 1897 by Arthur Ludwich after an
earlier version of 1893, it included only Eudocia’s works cum testimoniis14 as well
as the fragmentary Blemyomachia.15. This overview of these early editions shows
just how difficult it is to classify them as either Homeric or biblical poems. By
contrast, for an ancient audience, centos were a malleable material, evocative
of centuries of Homeric excerption and reuse practice, or even plagiarism, still
firmly embedded in late antique poetics.16
1.1.1 The Matrix of Centos
The following is not an exhaustive analysis of the origins and development
of cento poetry, nor does it aspire to analyze its elusive ancient or modern
definitions, which have been treated excellently elsewhere.17 This concise summary focuses on the reception of centos from the ancient reader’s perspective.18
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The Homeric Centos
Rather than drawing up a history of ancient centos or offering a new definition,
it will highlight their multifaceted characteristics, which, though not classified,
would have been familiar to their late antique audiences, which would have
reacted both positively and negatively to these experimental compositions.
Ancient centos vary extremely in terms of both their themes and lengths, as well
as their manner of engaging with their models.
Size-​Contextualization: This can be compact, extending to a mere 131 lines,
as in the case of the Carmen nuptialis, or long(er), like the I HC, which exceeds
2354 lines. Their size reflects on their contextualization. Centos may appear as
stand-​alone compositions, as in the examples above, or be embedded in prose
works (i.e., prosimetrum), such as Petronius’ Satyricon 132, where they are 9 lines
long, or in Dio Chrysostom’s Alexandrian Oration 32.82–​84, where they are 38
lines long.19
Technique: Centos may be composed entirely out of borrowed verses or they
may include interpolated verses by the author;20 they may be constructed from
non-​consecutive lines but occasionally quote three or more consecutive verses
from the same passage;21 they—​especially those labeled as Homeric, Virgilian, or
Euripidean—​may consist of lines borrowed from a single author, or may draw on
various authors, such as the cento described in Lucian’s Symposium (17), which
incorporated Homeric, Pindaric, Anacreontic, and Hesiodic verses!22 If drawn
from the same author they usually allude to a variety of works by this author and
not a single poem.
Themes-​Genre: These can be mythological or Christian—​
parodic, as in
the case of Ausonius’ Carmen nuptialis, subversive but serious, as in that of
Hosidius Geta’s Medea or Alcesta, but also Christian such as Proba’s Cento or the
Homerocentones. Although the centos usually allude to the genre from which
they derive their lines because of their theme, their generic stance is not solely
epic, narrowly conceived. The source of the borrowed lines also had an impact
on their generic appeal, as in the case of the didactic Georgics, for example,
which “constitute a leading reminiscence” in the recasting of Genesis in Proba’s
Cento.23 Similarly, the “dramatic” parts of the Aeneid and especially the tragically fashioned Dido underscore Hosidius’ dramatic and dialogic cento Medea.24
Indeed, the Aeneid was by intention an “intergeneric pyrotechnic.”25 By contrast,
Homeric centos draw lines only from the archaic Homeric epic, which, at first
sight, appears a less promising and versatile source. Despite the lack of versatility
of the Homeric intertext, its reuse in the I HC shows that it could be adapted to a
generic and multifarious reworking of epic poetry, as we shall see in the didactic
and dramatic echoes in it.
The surviving Christian centos are slightly more homogenous than their
counterparts inspired by mythology. They tend to be poetic transpositions of biblical texts into both prose and meter rather than “invented” poems,26 while they
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Homerocentones biblici
11
are not paraphraseis of specific texts either, as for example Nonnus’ Paraphrasis
of St John’s Gospel or the Metaphrasis of the Psalms attributed to Apollinaris of
Laodicea. Proba’s Virgilian Cento, for example, recounts Genesis and the canonical Gospels; the I HC, in turn, is comprised of translations in verse of parts of
Genesis and important passages from the canonical and apocryphal gospels.
Christian centos are classicizing poems that belong to the burgeoning genre of
classicizing poetry that often (but not solely) drew on biblical texts.27 The content of biblical centos varies: both Proba’s Cento and the I HC include narrations
of the Fall, the plan for Salvation, and the incarnation, ministry, passion, and
Resurrection of Jesus, while other editions of the Homeric Centos omit Genesis
and diverge significantly in the choice of and length of passages, especially with
respect to Jesus’ miracles they chose to narrate. We know that by the fifth century, epic poetry—​including centos—​was composed in writing28 and performed
orally.29 The lack of book sections and the emphasis on self-​contained episodes
in the Homeric Centos based on Gospel pericopes, highlighted for example by
typical introductory lines about the coming of dawn or the arrival of another
suppliant, as we shall see in Section 1.2.1.3, also betray the late antique taste for
shorter epyllion-​like sections even within larger epic compositions that could
be performed in different time frames.30 Late Antiquity is famous for its penchant for variation, ποικιλία, which, prima facie, may seem antithetical to the
formularity of Homeric epics, especially since the author of the I HC was probably a near contemporary of Nonnus, whose magnum opus, the Dionysiaca, is
the epitome of poikilia.31 Yet as I will show below, even when reusing the standard
Homeric constituents, such as Homeric verses and type scenes, these poems are
not archaic but late antique poetic compositions. This is because of their peculiar
relation to their source inspiration texts, Homer and the Bible. The transposition
of a biblical story into cento poetry simply added to the layers of intertextuality
inherent in the technique. The cento poem thus stands in dialogue with both the
texts (Homer or Virgil) that offer it verses for re-​composition and their ancient
reception, as well as its theme text (the Bible) and its exegesis. Albeit a transposition, the recomposed cento poem is, in fact, a new poem, endowed with its own
intertextual affiliations and poetic and aesthetic aspirations.32 This complex intertextual entanglement and the interplay between tradition, imitation, and innovation lie at the core of cento poetics and are typical of late antique poetry in
general, and of cento poetry in particular.
In a seminal article, Klaus Thraede coined the useful terms Usurpation and
Kontrastimitation to denote modes of adapting a verse into a new context. In
the case of Usurpation, reused lines are adapted to fit a new Christian context
without highlighting that adaptation. In that of Kontrastimitation, the “original”
line or set of lines are used to emphasize the disparity between themselves and
the new content, and often to suggest the superiority of the Christian vis-​à-​vis
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12
The Homeric Centos
the pagan reading.33 The perception of these nuances, however, required a more
or less close knowledge of the original text.34 These texts were crafted from the
currency of Graeco-​Roman paideia35 and addressed to those who shared it.
While adaptations, deployed either as imitationes and/​or as aemulationes, are
found throughout ancient literature of various periods and diverse genres, Late
Antiquity provided fertile ground for the consolidation of this extreme technique of literary reuse and appropriation.36 Such self-​conscious and highlighted
interchange between old and new illustrates the “cumulative aesthetic” of Late
Antiquity that also dominated material culture.37 According to Jaś Elsner this
cumulative aesthetic consisted of “a kind of creative syncretism of collected
fragments . . . an ‘aesthetics of discontinuity’ or ‘dissonant echoing’ in which the
different fragments are synthesized in a dense and textured play of repetition
and variation: not only do the seams show, but they are positively advertised.”38
The Arch of Constantine is probably the most expressive imperial monument
constructed out of architectural re-​semanticized spolia—​evidence either of
continuity and/​or discontinuity—​in a new context. The repurposing of pagan
temples and their transformation into churches is another: for example, the
Temple of Aphrodite in Aphrodisias was thoroughly disassembled and all its
materials reassembled to build the new Christian basilica. Similarly, with its
Kontrastimitation and Usurpation of classical and biblical narratives, the late antique cento too participates in the self-​conscious adaptation of the past to new
ends.39
At the intertextual level, and when seams do show, while being fully aware
that more nuanced terms have been proposed to differentiate between the
levels of allusive engagement,40 I have opted against inventing a new metalanguage specifically adapted to the needs centonic compositions. Certainly, lines
drawn verbatim from an original have a closer intertextual relationship with
their “source.” However, overemphasizing the debt of the Homerocentones to
Homer risks reading the poem as a compilation of Homeric formulae and downplay the centos’ biblical and late antique context. For example, Usher wrote his
1998 monograph in a time when the Parryan paradigm was still reverberating
in Homeric studies: formulae were an important ingredient of archaic oral composition and the focal point of scholarly analysis.41 Academic interest recently
has moved beyond formularity and oral composition, even in Homeric studies,42
and centers instead on the conscious citation and repetition of earlier text. On
the other hand, the toolkit of intertextuality, especially when applied from its
application on Latin literature with its strong emulative tint, may prove less detailed for the study of centos and partially assert their mythological rather than
biblical models.43 The amalgamation of a highly literary culture, the constrains
of oral performance, and above all the intercultural and interreligious dialogue
detected in Christian epic verse in Late Antiquity encourage holistic approaches
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Homerocentones biblici
13
to this kind of poetry. Taking, for example, a departure from Ausonius’ or Proba’s
centonic compositions, with their abundance of self-​reflexive material that I discuss below, may bias the expectations of a reader of Homeric centos. I have tried
instead to read the Homerocentones as a classicizing Homeric-​inspired poem,
similar to Quintus of Smyrna’s Posthomerica and Nonnus’ Dionysiaca. It may
be that some centos invite more precise metalanguage than others, in particular
when these include more nuanced para-​and meta-​textual remarks.44 However,
not all centos are equally articulate about their authors or compositional technique. Furthermore, the plurality of centonic themes and excerption techniques
discussed above advise against a strict categorization. Centos are a flexible category and addressing them as a specific field of late antique poetry may underplay
their contribution to the larger corpus of late epic poetry.
This study is based on the hypothesis that an ancient audience would have
read/​heard a cento and a non-​cento poem alike, aware of the more demanding
intertextual intricacies but nonetheless familiar with similar decoding inter-​
and intra-​
textual approaches. While acknowledging the more theoretical
scholarly contributions, I will instead use the more standard terminology
in classics for denoting intertextual relations so as not to prioritize the relationship of the hypotext (Homer) with the hypertext (I HC) to the detriment
of other possible models. For exact references to specific verses and passages,
I use the term “allusion”; for less concrete but still text-​based reminiscences,
I use the term “intertext”; broader evocations of other texts and themes I label
“echoes” or “reminiscences”; for references that allude to genre as well, I use
the term “intergeneric”; for formulae-​related textual reminiscences, I use the
term “interformularity”; while for allusions within the same text I use the term
“intratextuality.”45 I also retain the terms Usurpation and Kontrastimitation
proposed by Kurt Thraede to illustrate the relationship of the hypertext, while
acknowledging the cento poem’s less than binary relation with its hypotext, as
argued by Aaron Pelttari.
Should a comprehensive definition of the cento technique be necessary, then
the following may serve as a preliminary definition. Cento is a late antique technique for composing chiefly literary/​artistic works or poems out of phrases/​lines
borrowed verbatim from one or more earlier “model” poems, sometimes with
the addition of consecutive or interpolating lines of the author’s own composition. The range of possible combinations and the reuse of the cento material to
serve a variety of ends (depending on length, theme, source material, and intended genre, differences in quotation practice), suggest an intertextual complexity that is characteristic of the cumulative poetics of Late Antiquity and
illustrate the taste for challenging, multi-​layered and open-​ended texts among
readers of the time. Christian centos adapt prose texts from the biblical canon
and beyond (including apocryphal narratives and biblical prose commentaries)
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14
The Homeric Centos
to the cento technique by borrowing lines from earlier, non-​Christian highbrow poetry. The cultural milieu of Late Antiquity thus encouraged a reading of
Christian Homeric centos through the lens of literary spoliation: these poems
are full of archaic and historically and culturally loaded verses that have been
detached from their original sources, which are nevertheless recognizable in the
new whole, thereby reflecting the tradition of the classicizing Christian poetry of
the period. As we shall see, late antique testimony on centos lays particular stress
on the multi-​layered readings that cento poems enable.
1.1.2 Ancient Audiences
Ancient audiences were well acquainted with the ideas of verbatim quotation, direct borrowing, and reuse. Recent scholarship on the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite
shows that the poem—​formulaic as it may be—​revisits lines of the Iliad.46
Furthermore, quotation thrives in satire and comic revision: Aristophanes puts
together lines that he draws from famous dramatists and mixes with his own,47
while the Satyricon includes a poem constructed out of Virgilian lines48 that are
interpolated into the prose narrative. Working in a more serious vein, Chariton
of Aphrodisias combines two lines describing Helen and Penelope in his own description of Callirhoe as the faithful yet fatefully beautiful heroine of his novel.49
These techniques of re-​appropriation paved the way for subsequent antique
centos, though the theorization of the cento technique did not occur until much
later. This early evidence of its use nonetheless illustrates the response anticipated
from the audience: Aristophanes’ spectators, for example, were expected to grasp
these allusions (at least in terms of style and meter), even if they were unable to
pinpoint the exact source of the quote. The ability to do so would become easier
from the Hellenistic era onward due to the systematization of the Graeco-​Roman
educational system, which encouraged the re-​use of classical literature and poetry, in particular (e.g., excerpts from Homer, Euripides, and Menander), in the
writing, arguing, performance, and discussion of complex philosophical, moral,
political, or aesthetic issues. Yet though the school system encouraged the memorization, copying, and quotation of canonical poems, there was no technical
term for a poetic composition of this kind. All the same, the audience’s acquaintance with the aforementioned quoting techniques indicates that ancient hearers
and readers knew at least their Homer or Virgil by heart.50
The terms later used to designate the procedure of extracting a Homeric line
and reusing it in another epic are κέντρον, κέντρων, or cento. The Greek noun τὸ
κέντρον means anything with a pointy edge (e.g., a goad, spear, sting, instrument
of torture, pin, or needle); the masculine noun ‘ὁ κέντρων᾽, used in the common
Byzantine phrase κέντρωνος δίκην or in Latin “more centonario” (“composed in
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Homerocentones biblici
15
the manner of a cento”), denotes something or someone bearing the marks of the
κέντρον. This could be an animal, a human (slave), or a patchwork of elements,
often composed of textiles, such as rags, or even a poetic compilation. The Latin
cento is first used by Plautus in his Epidicus 455 as a literary metaphor for a patchwork and is part of a longer tradition that metapoetically associates weaving
with poetry. Beginning with Penelope’s and Helen’s famous looms, and continuing with the Ps.-​Aristotelean Peplos, a prose work that brings together heroic
epitaphs,51 and the quilt imagery of Clement’s Stromateis (“Patchwork”)52 and
Optatian’s textile artwork, and even Theodoret’s dialogue Eranistes, alluding precisely to its mix-​match nature, centos have long been associated with fabric, with
textus and texere, a metaphor used both by male and female poets.53
It is late in the second century that centonic poems begin to be more widely
attested. Irenaeus of Lyon, for example, writes a short cento on the twelfth labor
of Hercules by reusing several Homeric lines to exemplify the misunderstandings
that emerge from the pastiche quotation of the Bible by—​in his view “heretical”—​
exegetes.54 Tertullian, in turn, turns to a (mythological) cento to illustrate the
way in which exegetes of the Bible misinterpret its contents.55 Although Irenaeus
and Tertullian seem to use the cento as an analogue for misuse and misreading,56
by the late fourth and early fifth century, Jerome appears to be disturbed by the
fact that biblical misinterpretation resembles centonic pastiche and that some
exegetes are interpolating Virgilian or Homeric lines to support their interpretation. Even Virgil and Homer, if deployed accordingly could be considered as
evoking a Christian message. This, he claims, runs the risk, especially in the understanding of the uneducated masses who are incapable of recognizing the degree of textual reuse, manipulation, and distortion that is inevitable in this kind of
literary practice.57 Jerome’s argument is more subtle than that of his predecessors
in that it differentiates between technique (pastiche), content (intended Christian
meaning/​exegesis), and misinterpretation (secular poetry used for exegesis).58
Another characteristic approach is that of the historian Socrates, who, in
discussing Julian’s School Edict in June 362, reports that the Emperor has found
worthy opponents in the two Apollinarii, father and son,59 as their work offers evidence of the reverse phenomenon, namely, the stylistic classicization of Christian
poetry, and insists that training in classical paideia ought to be used for similar apologetic ends.60 Sozomen, probably writing after Socrates in the mid-​fifth century,
by which time Christian poetry had already been more successfully classicized,
seems more open to the form.61 Although neither author mentions cento poems
in his history, both refer to revisions of biblical texts in hexameter, among other
meters, while Sozomen reports that Apollinaris, emulating Homer’s rhapsodies,
transposed the Ἑβραϊκὴν ἀρχαιολογίαν62 into 24 books. Socrates’ critique is in a
vein similar to Jerome’s, a warning against excess. Sozomen, by contrast, betrays a
fondness for these virtuoso revisions, and, interestingly, comments on the readerly
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16
The Homeric Centos
habitus and subsequent expectations: as he points out, people are used to reading
heroic epic in hexameter, but not the Acts in the guise of Platonic dialogues.63 In
sum, what all these theologians and historians seem to worry about is the danger
(though, for some, like Sozomen, this means the excitement) that arises from the
aesthetic reclamation and re-​or misinterpretation of earlier poetry by the average
(more or less, incompetent) reader due to their limited deductive abilities.64
In fact, the complexities of such a kind of poetry, as Aaron Pelttari wonderfully highlights, are typical of the versatility and intelligence expected by late antique audiences, which were challenged by these open, fluid texts. As the cento was
theorized only later, its aims and techniques in an earlier period can be deduced
solely from the poems themselves, with Ausonius as the chief example. The famous
passage in his Preface to Carmen nuptialis defines the cento as a ludic, witty, and unserious work, written as a pastime, and ridicules as inept the poet who draws more than
two consecutive lines from the “source” poem. One may recall here Seferis’ parody-​
transposition of Eliot’s poem to a “lighter” tonality. This much-​quoted definition of
the cento, elegant as it is, does not hold true for all late antique centos or even those
by Ausonius, most probably because the two-​line limit was already a challenge.65 It is
particularly inapplicable to Christian centos, which include programmatic prefaces
and proems that, as we shall see, contain information on the style, aesthetics, and
ideological motives of classicizing poetry, but show less concern for Ausonian duos.
Sozomen’s testimony, however, demonstrates the popularity of classicizing poetry in the fifth century as well as its highly experimental quality, of which centos are
probably among the most adventurous specimens. Certainly Christians may have
known of earlier biblical hexametric poetry, such as that of the Hellenistc Jewish
poets Theodotus and Philo cited in Eusebius Evangelical Preparation 9.22 nad 37.
But cento was more daring. Isidore of Seville defines the cento in the seventh century and shows an awareness of the difficulties of adapting Homer and Virgil.66
In the eighth century, the grammarian Heliodorus defines the noun “ὁ κέντρων”
as a song-​patchwork (ἑρραμένην ᾠδήν) associated to a wrap (περιβόλαιον) in
his scholia on the first-​century Dionysius Thrax, offering as an example his own
six-​line Homeric cento—​a poem on Echo’s alleged words to Pan when fleeing.
According to this commentator, cento is related, but not identical to the rhapsody,
which he uses as an overarching term for poetic compositions that involve making
wholes out of parts.67 A later scholiast on Aristophanes’ Clouds defines “κέντρων”
as a rag used for saddling donkeys, a meaning also found in the tenth-​century Suda
lexicon.68 In the second half of the twelfth century, Eustathius goes so far as to formulate a fascinating anachronism; noticing the formulaic character of Homeric
poetry, the erudite bishop—​perhaps to the surprise of the modern, but not ancient Homeric scholar—​concludes that it is like a textile, stitched together from
various lines by talented seamstresses—​rhapsodes and centonists alike—​who have
“woven” the various threads together (ῥάπτω +​ᾠδή) into a poetic whole.69
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Homerocentones biblici
17
As centos were popular throughout the Middle Ages (even the sister and
namesake of Eudocia, the sister of Empress Zoë Porphyrogenita, is credited with
writing one) and beyond, Eustathius’ observations are important for the modern
scholar, primarily for their information on the practice of Homeric centos in his
time.70 Although he claims that centos did not exist in Homer’s era (τὰ ὕστερον
Ὁμηρόκεντρα), he emphasizes the continuity between the archaic bard and the
cento poet. Surprisingly, Eustathius does not even mention the Christian content of centos, which was presumably unproblematic in his own time, as opposed for the poem’s modern editors. For Eustathius writing in a period of early
Humanism the biblical poems are part of an ongoing and seamless rhapsodic
tradition with a “Homeric” touch that adds to their stylistic appeal, thus coming
a long way since Irenaeus’ earlier denigration. Homer is part of the scholar’s paideia, and centos happen to be one of its seams.
1.2 Homeric Centos
When a cento poet was faced with the task of transposing the Bible into Homeric
hexameter, they were backed by a long tradition of Homeric reception.71 Far
from randomly stitching together “relevant” Homeric lines “from memory,” the
selection of suitable lines for centos required a long process of reading, painstaking memorization,72 excerption, quotation, and commentary (on) the poet,
traces of which can be found in both pagan and Christian texts from the Imperial
era onward.73 Although not all lines used in Homeric centos are drawn from
prominent passages, most of those used to frame the re-​composed Gospel would
arguably have been recognizable to the readers of the time due to the importance
of Homer to the elites and their shared paideia. Studying with a grammatikos,
their children would have learned to read and copy Homeric “maxims,” that
is, lines with gnomic and didactic content.74 They would also have consulted a
plethora of dictionaries, glossaries, anthologies, and mythographical handbooks
that facilitated the reading/​teaching and memorization of the epics. Some lines,
such as several gnomae,75 would also have been available in other media and
used in non-​Homer-​related contexts, such as proverbs, for example. Others were
granted a second life after being counted among models for rhetorical genres
in the progymnasmata, demonstrating, as Rafaella Cribiore suggests, the entanglement of poetry and rhetorical prose and the importance of Homer to high
and late imperial declamation.76 In short, thorough knowledge of Homeric and
Homericizing language and style, shared between the poet and his/​her audience,
enabled the deciphering and appreciation of the “new” cento poem.
One of the most characteristic examples of this kind, undeservedly omitted
from most discussions of Christian centos, is Dio’s speech to the Alexandrians,
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The Homeric Centos
Oration 32, sections 82–​85, which was recently analyzed in detail by Gilles
Tronchet.77 After quoting Iliad 23.368–​372, the passage on the funeral games in
honor of Patroclus, the rhetor taunts his Alexandrian audience about their fondness for spectacles.78 This is not the place to analyze in depth Dio’s passage,79
but simply to highlight the technical touches that are useful to the analysis of
the Christian cento. The passage is a humoristic reworking of the chariot race in
the funeral games, one that undermines the heroic Homeric context in order to
accommodate the gossipy Alexandrian crowd.80 Equally parodic is the monologue of the horse, which borrows lines not only from the famous speech by one
of Achilles’ horses but also from the hero’s own periautologia, a speech of self-​
praise, to Polydorus.81 The latter, which is quoted in ancient rhetorical manuals,
is here reworked to comic effect as Achilles’ horse impersonates their master.82
As far as the cento technique is concerned, there are several divergences from the
Ausonian aesthetic.83 The “Iliadic centos” are a blend of the Homeric and Dio’s
own text in a ratio of 36:6. The cento is constructed from chariot-​related lines and
other evocative verses describing battle-​scenes in which similes, formulaic lines,
and gnomic verses play a vital role. Ausonian duos are likewise transgressed as
three consecutive Homeric lines, quoted in 10–​12,84 while two consecutive lines
are quoted elsewhere (e.g., 1–​2, 5–​6). These citations are aimed at an audience
that knows the Iliad well, but the repetitive formulae and the widespread use of
gnomic verses (e.g., 20) make the decipherment easier. It is in the same spirit that
certain famous passages are also condensed (31–​32 ~ Il. 21.108 and 110) through
the omission of one line (Il. 21.109). These are what Sean Adams calls “composite
citations,”85 that is, quotations that summarize a given passage by giving the first
and last lines and often omitting some in between, though with the expectation
that the audience will recall the full passage. Of course, Dio would not have been
aware of Ausonius’ rules on the cento but his use of earlier imperial Homeric
quotation as an example is illuminating for our study of the reprise of Homer
in Late Antiquity with regards to readerly expectation and compositional continuity as it shows the fluidity of the technique.
It is within a similar cultural context that we need to understand the popularity of the magical use of Homer in the so-​called Homeromanteion, a collection
of Iliadic and Odyssean lines that were given as answers to specific requests for
consultation and assistance. The Homeric lines in the Homeromanteion are more
disconnected than those in cento poems and suggest a kind of bibliomancy: a
quasi-​random, tarot-​like approach to the Homeric text.86 Andromache Karanika
has tried to associate the Homeromanteion technique with that of the Homeric
Centos, arguing that the compositional technique and performative pragmatics
(with its focus on orality) of the former recall those of the latter. The content
and the theme of the Homeromanteion and the Homeric Centos, however, encourage quite different combinations,87 and Karanika’s presentation of Homer as
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Homerocentones biblici
19
the Theologian in both poems is problematic especially for the Homerocentones,
a point to which we shall return later. Nonetheless the excerption technique
reveals the impact of the cultural and readerly expectations reflected in the reception of Homeric text.88 The following section focuses precisely on the audience’s
expectations when faced with Homeric language and style within a late antique
context.
1.2.1 Formulaic Composition
Formulae are often spotlighted in studies of the translation of Homer into
Christian centos as they are one of the basic epic ingredients which epic poets,
from Hellenistic times onward, redefine in order to re-​claim and innovate hexametric poetry.89 Yet, though Mark Usher rightly observes the formularity of
Homeric centos, he over-​stresses its impact on the oral composition of the poem
and reads the centos according to methodological approaches used in the study
of Archaic epics. Through his approach to “interformularity,” Egbert Bakker has
shown that in addition to their compositional utility, formulae play an allusive
role even in orally composed poetry.90 Unlike Hellenistic epic, which smooths
out and occasionally subverts Homeric formularity, late antique poetry consciously revamps the “feeling” for formulae and transforms them from “a compositional method . . . into an interdiscursive stylistic feature.”91 Formulae were
among the topoi of late antique engagement with Homer at the school level and
were thoroughly refashioned in the epic poetry of the period. With reference
to Quintus’ Posthomerica, Francis Vian, for example, observes that formularity
(typical scenes, gnomic, ekphrasis, etc.) highlights the scholastic quality of the
poem by making it more accessible. While this is true, neither Quintus’ epic nor
the later ones by Nonnus lack sophistication as they move beyond the needs
of the classroom and rhetorical training.92 Despite their archaizing style, later
epics conform to the late antique aesthetic of epic composition, stressing poikilia
alongside formularity and highlighting moralistic/​didactic tendencies while
maintaining a poetic agenda.93 This is also the case of the I HC and its engagement with Homeric formularity in Late Antiquity.
1.2.1.1 Formulaic Characterization
In general, characters in the I HC, as in Homer, tend to be introduced with stereotypical clusters or word. Here we will focus on two illustrative cases: Jesus and
Judas. Presented as the subject of the poem, Christ is the being about whom
the poet’s heart wishes to sing in order to help their audience “recognize” the
one who is God and man alike: θεὸν ἠδὲ καὶ ἄνδρα, a Homeric rendering of the
second and third chapters of the Nicene Creed.94 Already in the proem of the
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The Homeric Centos
I HC, he is presented as the Lord: ὃς πᾶσι θνητοῖσι καὶ ἀθανάτοισιν ἀνάσσων,
a line repeated with variations.95 He is also god-​like and a mediator to the divine, as evident from the frequent address: εἰ μὲν δὴ θεός ἐσσι, θεοῖό τε ἔκλυες
αὐδῆς.96 His intercession is wonderfully illustrated in the etymological wordplay used in the epithet that typically introduces him elsewhere as: θεοκλύμενος
θεοειδής. Whereas in the Odyssey, Theoclymenus is a seer with a nomen loquens,
in the Christian poem the Christianization of his name probably designates him
etymologically as one to whose opinion God listens.97
Judas is introduced with the Leitmotif: ὃς κακὰ πόλλ’ ἔρδεσκεν, ὅσ’ οὐ
σύμπαντες οἱ ἄλλοι.98 The line, originally used for Oeneus by Phoenix, became
proverbial for an individual deserving divine punishment and is patterned on
and/​or inspired by the earlier instance in which the first hemistich appears,
namely, the punishment of Oeneus by Artemis.99 Since Oeneus neglected the
offerings due to the goddess, the verse is used not only to associate Judas with
sin and hybris, but also on two occasions to introduce Satan, thus to make Judas
Satan’s pawn.100 The formula thus underscores the deeper involvement of Satan
in the arrest and Crucifixion of Jesus, one that is evident in apocrypha but not
in the canonical sources, where Judas appears to act out of greed and takes all
the blame.
1.2.1.2 Formulaic Lines
If we move from characterization to lines that do not refer to character, we
may observe two trends. First, the I HC sometimes draws on a non-​formulaic
Homeric line and turns it into a formulaic one; and second, it sometimes recycles
traditional formulae. I HC 919, for example, is a phrase that appears once in the
Iliad 20.58: γαῖαν ἀπειρεσίην ὀρέων τ’ αἰπεινὰ κάρηνα; but in the Archaic epic
γαῖα tends to be clustered together with the adjective ἀπείρων.101 Porphyry, a
late antique reader, provides a list of adjectives for describing the vastness of the
earth,102 but, for stylistic reasons, Quintus uses the rare adjective ἀπειρέσιος
more often than he does its synonyms ἀπείριτος and ἀπείρων.103 It appears,
therefore, that the selection of this particular line conforms to the late antique
predilection for variations in the original formulaic clusters, which, in turn, become formulaic through repetition. Similarly, a line used once in Homer to describe gleaming copper weapons—​Il. 19.36: αἴγλη δ’ οὐρανὸν ἷκε, γέλασσε δὲ
πᾶσα περὶ χθών—​is reclaimed in an entirely new, and this time epiphanic, context in I HC 290, where it is used for the Star of Bethlehem, and in I HC 460 for
the Epiphany. The II HC recycles the verse in a similar context, but also adds the
line to the scene of the Ascension, where Jesus appears seated next to his Father
in resplendent glory, and thus connects the three epiphanic moments.104 In this
way, the line became formulaic in the I HC and contributed to the inter-​and
intratextuality generated by formulae across the editions of Homeric centos.
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Homerocentones biblici
21
That said, Homeric formulae were also reused without alteration, as, for example, was the line describing the arrival of multitudes: ὅσσά τε φύλλα καὶ
ἄνθεα γίγνεται ὥρῃ.105 Yet this is not merely a formulaic Homeric line, but one
that also appealed to imperial writers from Lucian to Synesius and beyond.106
In other words, it was a stereotypical line that became proverbial and, from the
Imperial era onward, could be used to adorn any learned reference to crowds
and multitudes. The verse for describing chattering crowds—​ὧδε δέ τις εἴπεσκεν
ἰδὼν ἐς πλησίον ἄλλον—​is used in Homer and the I HC more than once, and
also appears frequently in Homeric dictionaries, thereby becoming part of the
shared Homeric style.107 Formulaic in nature, the line was manipulated and already used three centuries prior to Eudocia, in Dio’s “Iliadic cento.”108
1.2.1.3 Typical Scenes
Mark Usher argued that the centonist patterned the “typical scenes” on the matrix and logic of the Homeric ones, and that any variations that may appear are
the product of this accommodation.109 Indeed, the author of the I HC was well
aware of what a typical scene would be and used the Homeric material accordingly. Yet, while they did adapt the Homeric, and often unavoidably stereotypical
material to the Christian theme, they did so in accordance with the late antique
aesthetics of poikilia. Several type-​scenes—​a messenger scene, a congregation
scene, a banquet/​feasting scene, and most commonly, a supplication scene can
be found in Homeric centos.110 Here, I focus on the supplication scene, both because it is the most recurrent type as the ministry of Jesus includes ten miracles
of healing.
I break the supplication scene down to four thematic kernels: the opening/​
arrival of Jesus at the place of healing, the suppliant’s appeal, Jesus’ reply and
the cure he effects, and the closure.111 There are three possible “introductions”
to these supplication scenes: one that stresses the coming of light, another that
underscores the midday context, and yet another that is based on the arrival of
an Odysseus-​like beggar. Other, unsystematic introductions are possible as well.
For example, as Jesus arrives at dawn in Capernaum, a beggar approaches him
at I HC 635, 637 ~ Od. 2.1, 18.1: ἦμος δ’ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος ἠώς.
The healing of the paralytic at the Portico of Solomon likewise takes place early
in the morning at I HC 702 ~ Od. 19.433: ἠέλιος μὲν ἔπειτα νέον προσέβαλλεν
ἀρούρας. The resurrection of Jaïrus’ daughter also takes place at dawn I HC 735
~ Il. 9.707: αὐτὰρ ἐπεί κε φανῇ καλὴ ῥοδοδάκτυλος ἠώς; similarly, Lazarus’ resurrection at I HC 1237~ Il. 11.735: εὖτε δὲ ἠέλιος φαέθων ὑπερέσχεθε γαίης. In
this last case, dawn is explicitly set in contrast to the darkness surrounding the
dead Lazarus.112 Midday is represented by Christ’s meeting with the Samaritan
woman, I HC 1053 ~ Il. 8.68: ἦμος δ’ ἠέλιος μέσον οὐρανὸν ἀμφιβεβήκει. The
settings of these events at dawn and midday highlight the epiphanic symbolism
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The Homeric Centos
of these passages.113 Five out of ten narratives begin with a reference to the course
of the sun and light. This is not a mere reprise of possible Homeric openings
for the action that follows,114 but a tendency that can also be observed in the
practice of imperial and later quotation.115 Aside from its function as a temporal
marker, the light of the sun is also important to the symbolic interpretation of
these miracles. Dawn and midday both allude figuratively to the arrival of the
Messiah,116 which is why, on the day of the Crucifixion, the poet describes Dawn
as the first woman to mourn—​a wonderful personification or prosopopoeia—​
yet another feature typical of late antique poetry.117 When these episodes are
introduced with different lines, we should attribute this to the poet’s conscious
attempt to achieve poikilia through formularity.
A second typical opening for supplication scenes is the intertextual recollection
of Odysseus’ arrival at his palace in Ithaca disguised as a beggar that is alluded to
in several places across the poem, and which evokes the soul’s Platonizing quest
before its reunion with/​return to Christ, the heavenly haven.118 It is within this
context that the paralytic at Capernaum is introduced as a common mendicant,
at I HC 637 ~ Od. 18.1: ἦλθε δ’ ἐπὶ πτωχὸς πανδήμιος, ὃς κατὰ ἄστυ;119 the blind
Bartimaeus as yet another lamenting beggar at I HC 852 ~ Od. 21.327: ἀλλος δ’
αὖτις πτωχὸς ἀνὴρ ἀλαλήμενος ἐλθών, and the demoniac from Gerasa as a vagabond, I HC 859 and 931 ~ Od. 21.327: ἀλλ’ ἄλλος τις πτωχὸς ἀνὴρ ἀλαλήμενος
ἐλθών.120 All these suppliants are described as addressing Jesus in a state of grief,
but their lamentations, though clearly possessing a formulaic core based on the
repetition of the imperative κλῦθι, are characterized by poikilia. The paralytic at
Capernaum cries out in I HC 659: κλῦθί μοι, ὃς χθιζὸς θεὸς ἤλυθες; addressing
Jesus in I HC 833, the man with the withered hand states: κλῦθι, ἄναξ, ὅτις ἐσσί·
πολύλλιστον δέ σ’ ἱκάνω; yet another variant is in the imperative as the blind
man’s utterance in Ι HC 868: κέκλυ⸣θι ⸢νῦν καὶ ἐμεῖο⸣, ⸤μάλιστα γὰρ ἄλγος
ἱκάνει.121 In addition, some of these beggars and suffering outcasts seem subtly
to “recognize” Jesus as a god through the recurrent formula for Christ—​εἰ μὲν δὴ
θεός ἐσσι, θεοῖό τε ἔκλυες αὐδῆς—​that is often used in the poem so as to highlight a person’s implicit testimony that Jesus is the Lord.122 As in the allusions to
Homeric descriptions of dawn above, these slight variations indicate that despite
the formularity of the supplication scene, it is still subject to the aesthetics of
poikilia.
Christ’s response and the closure of these episodes present a similar stylistic
variation. To draw merely one example from the three Odyssean figures above—​
as soon as the paralytic stops speaking, Jesus takes his right hand, delivers a
monologue,123 and the two spend the remaining time until evening in prayer.124
A reference to time—​sunset—​closes some of these miracles as well; the Wedding
at Cana, for example, ends with the participants falling asleep, as does the story
of the feeding of the multitude.125 Elsewhere, the blind man and the attending
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crowds spend the entire day praising God.126 In the case of the paralytic, the
scene ends with an account of the astonished crowds and their comments, as in
the case of the Gerasene demoniac or the resurrection of Lazarus.127
That said, there are also exceptions that seemingly confirm the canon. Most
characteristically, the resurrection of the daughter of Jaïrus ends with a close-​
up of the joy of the parents, an intimate and empathetic indoor scene,128 one
that stands in strong contrast to the outdoor, crowd-​filled scenes of the other
miracles. Accordingly, the passage describing the healing of the Haimorrhoousa
ends with a snapshot of her weaving inside her chambers, which I shall discuss in
detail below.129
1.2.2 Gnomae
Another important and recognizable category of Homeric centos are lines that
are loaded with gnomic content and that fit the moralizing/​didactic quality of
late antique epic and the reuse of Homer in particular as a paraenetic text.130
A characteristic instance of this type is the line describing the power of the divine
and the inability of mortals to “grasp” it: ἀργαλέος γάρ τ’ ἐστὶ θεὸς βροτῷ ἀνδρὶ
δαμῆναι.131 In the Odyssey, Menelaus ponders how he, a mortal, can subdue
the divine shape-​shifter Proteus. Nonetheless, the passage has a long afterlife in
Platonic works, in which Socrates often associates his interlocutors to Proteus
and habitually compares the quest for truth to the capture of the polymorphous
Man of the Sea.132 In addition wise holy men in imperial literature are often associated with Proteus,133 so that by the time the I HC was composed, a the(i)os aner
could be unproblematically likened to a seer. The line appears twice in the I HC,
first to describe Herod’s failure to seize and kill baby Jesus, and afterward in the
tirade of Pontius Pilate, who implicitly recognizes Jesus as God,134 contrasting
the two powerful statesmen. In both cases, the line amounts to a description of
the human inability to comprehend a divine epiphany and seemingly conforms
to the Platonic use of the passage to describe someone who becomes a victim of
the limitations of mortal knowledge.
Another famous gnomic phrase is the one uttered by the Samaritan Woman,
who asks Jesus about his origins by means of the periphrase, namely whether he
makes his descent from an oak or a stone: οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ δρυός ἐσσι παλαιφάτου
οὐδ’ ἀπὸ πέτρης.135 The line is well known not only in its Homeric form—​it
appears in the dialogue between the disguised beggar Odysseus and Penelope—​
but also in its adaptation by Plato.136 It is a line, in other words, of proverbial
and metaphoric import, and was reclaimed as such by imperial writers such as
Plutarch.137 However, due to its reuse by Plato, the line had greater allegorical
appeal to Christian writers. So, for example, Clement of Alexandria used it to
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The Homeric Centos
describe the implausibility of the pagan belief that mankind originated in oak
trees and stones, and thus inaugurated a tradition that continued throughout
Late Antiquity.138
1.2.3 Jeweled Style
1.2.3.1 Ekphrasis
Likewise, typical of later epic is the poem’s predilection for jeweled ekphraseis.139
Although ekphraseis already appear in Homer, ekphrastic passages became the
aesthetic beacons of Hellenistic and subsequent poetry. The description of a boat
in I HC 735–​745 is an intriguing example of a meticulously crafted digression
that elaborates on a very brief passage in the Gospel,140 which is also inspired
from rhetorical manuals but with an interesting late tinge:
αὐτὰρ ἐπεί κε φανῇ καλὴ ῥοδοδάκτυλος ἠώς,
735 ~ Il. 9.707, from Diomedes’ exhortation
ἄκρον ἐπὶ ῥηγμῖνος ἁλὸς πολιοῖο θέεσκεν.
736 ~ Il. 20.229, Dardanus’ filly foals
τόφρα δὲ καρπαλίμως ἐξίκετο νηῦς εὐεργὴς
737 ~ Od. 12.166, Odysseus’ ship passing the Sirens
σπερχομένη· τοίων γὰρ ἐπείγετο χέρσ’ ἐρετάων
738 ~ Od. 13.115, the Phaeacian ship, Odysseus asleep
ἐν δ’ ἄνεμος πρῆσεν μέσον ἱστίον, ἀμφὶ δὲ κῦμα
739 ~ Il. 1.481, Odysseus’ boat returns from Chrysa
στείρῃ πορφύρεον μεγάλ’ ἴαχε νηὸς ἰούσης.
740 ~ Il. 1.482, ibid.; return of Chryseis to Chryses
ἡ δ’ ἔθεεν κατὰ κῦμα διαπρήσσουσα κέλευθον,
741 ~ Il. 1.483, ibid.
τώς κε μάλ’ ἀσφαλέως θέεν ἔμπεδον· οὐδέ κεν ἴρηξ 742 ~ Od. 13.86, the Phaeacian ship, Odysseus asleep
κίρκος ὁμαρτήσειεν, ἐλαφρότατος πετεηνῶν.
743 ~ Od. 13.87, ibid.
ὣς ἡ ῥίμφα θέουσα θαλάσσης κύματ’ ἔτεμνεν, 744 ~ Od. 13.88, ibid.
ἄνδρα φέρουσα θεῷ ἐναλίγκια μήδε’ ἔχοντα.
745 ~ Od. 13.89, ibid.
Thus, when the beautiful rosy-​fingered Dawn appeared, | he ran along the seaside of the surging sea, |
when swiftly a beautifully crafted ship was sailing in, rapidly; | so much in haste the hands of the
rowers in haste; | the wind was blowing the middle sail, and from both sides |the stem the purple wave
was roaring as the boat went by. | And the boat was running against the waves making its way, | and
thus was sailing very safely indeed; not even a falcon | could keep up with it, the lightest of birds. |
Thus, it was sailing across the waves of the sea swiftly, | carrying a man with a god-​like mind.
The first line introduces the pending miracle of the resurrection of Jaïrus’
daughter with the symbolic image of Dawn; next, it associates the young dead
woman with Chryseïs, who, like the resurrected daughter, is soon to be returned
to her parents, and Jesus with Odysseus, as a man of woes. On a structural level,
the passage is conspicuously packed with boat-​related centos, inspired especially
from Odyssey 13, Odysseus’ return on board the Phaeacian ship. This is a popular
passage in the Progymnasmata, as a model on how to compose a propemptikos
logos (a farewell speech to someone being escorted away).141 The corresponding
passage from Odyssey begins with a four-​line simile of the horse chariot,142
which is here replaced with one line 736, Dardanus foals, an image praised for its
ekphrastic power.143 The war–​peace imagery in Homer are evoked by the chariot
versus the boat and allude to Odysseus’ war and sea woes, all now forgotten as
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Homerocentones biblici
25
he sleeps blissfully on his way home. By contrast, the cento ekphrasis elaborates
on the description of the boat and gives details that increase the vividness of the
image by combining two sailing scenes together, Chryseïs’ and Odysseus’: the
rowers, the keel, the blown sail, the alliteration of rho to allude to the sea water at
I HC 740–​742,144 add to the image of the speedy boat from the Odyssey,145 that
now resembles more a late antique description of the Christian ship, the symbol
of the cross.146
Another innovative touch is found in the symbolic description of the River
Jordan in I HC 447–​452, which develops as follows:
ὣς εἰπὼν ὁ μὲν ἦρχ’, ὁ δ’ ἅμ’ ἕσπετο ἰσόθεος φώς.
ἐς ποταμὸν δ’ εἰλεῦντο βαθύρροον ἀργυροδίνην,
ἀλλ’ ὅτε δὴ πόρον ἷξεν ἐϋρρεῖος ποταμοῖο,
ὃς πολὺ κάλλιστος ποταμῶν ἐπὶ γαῖαν ἵησι,
καί μιν⸥ ⸤ἀπο πρὸ φέρων λοῦσεν ποταμοῖο ῥοῇσι,
κρύπτων ἐν δίνῃσι βαθείῃσιν μεγάλῃσιν.
447 ~ Il. 11.472, Menelaus and Ajax
448 ~ Il. 21.8, Achilles steps into the Scamander
449 ~ Il. 14.433, Hector next to the Scamander
450 ~ Od. 11.239, Enipeus in Thessaly
451 ~ Il. 16.679, Apollo rinses Sarpedon’s body
452 ~ Il. 21.239, Scamander hides the Trojans
So he (John the Baptist) started to speak and behind him followed the God(like) Man. | And they
stepped down into the deep crossing of the silver-​streamed river; | but when He arrived at the ford of
the broad river, | which is the fairest river upon Earth | John brought Him forth and baptized him in
the river’s streams | submerging Him entirely in the deep whirlpools of the river.
The lines evoked here also appear in lists in the Scholia and rhetorical treatises;
their grouping suggests that they may have been used by readers as mnemonic
aids for improving their understanding of the Homeric text.147 The carefully
balanced passage (2:1:2) consists of a short ring-​composition built around the
kathodos-​anodos theme of Achilles’ battle in the Scamander.148 In lines 448–​449,
both the hero’s descent into the river and his bloodthirstiness touch on the topos
of death through Kontrastimitation, since Jesus, unlike Achilles, accepts death
willingly for the sake of humanity. In contrast, Xanthus’ efforts to salvage some of
Achilles’ victims, as recounted in lines 451–​452, resonate throughout Usurpation
along with the Christian baptismal imagery of the centos. Between these themes,
is line 450, which references the beauty of Enipeus, evokes the holiness of the
River Jordan and links it to Olympus. The selection of particular lines reveals the
poem’s conscious reclamation of Homer rather than other more popular options.
Eustathius, reports that some Christian centonists used a less famous river in
Elis, called Iardanos, due to the name’s similarity to that of the River Jordan,
Ἰορδάνης ποταμός.149
1.2.4 Similes
For late antique poets and audiences, similes were a means of achieving vividness, energeia and variation, poikilia.150 Homeric similes in the I HC are reworked
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26
The Homeric Centos
with an eye toward variation but also toward their contemporary appropriation.
A typical example is the reuse of the simile of the wasp in Iliad 16 in the scene of
the Crucifixion below:
αὐτίκα δὲ σφήκεσσιν ἐοικότες ἐξεχέοντο
εἰνοδίοις, οὓς παῖδες ἐριδμαίνουσιν ἔθοντες,
αἰεὶ κερτομέοντες, ὁδῷ ἔπι οἰκί’ ἔχοντες.
νηπίαχοι· ξυνὸν δὲ κακὸν πολέεσσι τιθεῖσιν.
1830 ~ Il. 16.259, Myrmidons’ attack
1831~ Il. 16.260, ibid.
1832 ~ Il. 16.261, ibid.
1833 ~ Il. 16.262, ibid.
They surged out at once like wasps | at the roadside, which children tend to provoke, | always stirring
them up, as they take the road home. | Senseless ones; who committed a sin shared by many.
The Christian poem describes the assault on Jesus and compares the crowds
with Patroclus’ Myrmidons, who, after a long break, are deployed to fight with
Patroclus in command. The simile shows the Myrmidons swarming like wasps
trying to protect their offspring, fierce in their attack and fury.151 While bees and
wasps are used interchangeably elsewhere in Homer’s text to denote swarms of
armies, the imperial Life of Homer praises the poet for having depicted wrath
and a vengeful spirit at this particular moment through the image of wasps.152
Quintus of Smyrna too uses it no fewer than three times to describe fierce and
vindictive battles in the Posthomerica, thereby highlighting the simile’s ekphrastic
potential.153 The wasp is also the animal representing Archilochus’ iambic invective to Gregory of Nazianzus,154 in which the Pharisees’ attack on Jesus, as
we shall see in Chapter 4,155 resembles his persecution by the High Priests. By
revisiting and quoting the full simile at length, then, the cento poem establishes a
link between the Homeric simile and its contemporary use in the invective.
A different kind of simile compares Judas to the solitary mountain lion, one
of the many beast similes used for the traitor. Comparisons with wild animals
highlight the resemblance of man’s and beast’s savagery. In our case, Jesus, as the
Lamb of God, is the herbivore victim of his carnivorous assailant. It is Achilles’
cruelty that is used to foil Judas, who is portrayed by Jesus as the raw-​flesh-​eating
lion (I HC 1475 ~ Il. 24.207: ὠμηστής) or seeking to devour his blood (I HC 1474
~ Il. 22.70: ὅς κ’ ἐμὸν αἷμα πιών). These lines are drawn from Priam’s monologue
from the wall of Troy: as he watches Hector’s murder by Achilles, he foretells the
sack of Troy and imagines his cadaver being devoured by his hounds. Another
line used to describe Judas’ swiftness in malice is a typical adjective used for
Achilles and his negative Iliadic foil, Dolon I HC 1487 ~ Il.10.316: ποδώκης.156
Judas then is a valiant opponent, ominous in his wrath like Achilles and dangerous in his wickedness like the spy Dolon. Intratextually, the latter model,
the reader is reminded, was also used to describe the machinations of Juda’s instigator, Satan, who like Dolon carries the very name of deceit, δόλος.157 Thus
Judas’ treason is introduced with lines that draw heavily on Achillean characteristics that are perceived as negative, fierce, swift, and savage.
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27
These comparisons prepare the ground for two longer lion similes in the scene
of the Last Supper. To describe Judas’ entry the poem uses a block of lines, originally belonging to Sarpedon’s aristeia. Juda arrives as a famished solitary mountain lion: I HC 1527-​1528 ~ Il. 12.299-​300: βῆ ῥ’ ἴμεν ὥς τε λέων ὀρεσίτροφος,
ὅς τ’ ἐπιδευὴς | δηρὸν ἔῃ κρειῶν, κέλεται δέ ἑ θυμὸς ἀγήνωρ | μήλων πειρήσοντα
καὶ ἐς πυκινὸν δόμον ἐλθεῖ (“he went onward like some hill-​kept lion, | who for
a long time has gone lacking meat, and the proud heart is urgent upon him, | to
get inside of a close steading and go for the sheepflocks”). This simile was popular in antiquity and deemed worthy of a hero,158 but in the Christian poem the
lion’s might is Csubverted. Here it is reclaimed to describe Judas’ treason and
wickedness since the reader knows that he has already plotted with the Pharisees
(I HC 1493). The negative connotations are furthered through allusions from
the Odyssey that give these lines its ominous tonality: both Menelaus and
Agamemnon compare the latter’s treacherous murder by Aegisthus upon his
homecoming to the slaughter of an ox in the safety of the stable. The victorious
king, the shepherd of people par excellence (Od. 4.532: ποιμὴν λαῶν), becomes
the prey—​the shepherd becomes cattle (Od. 5.535, 11.118: ὣς . . . βοῦν ἐπὶ
φάτνῃ). The simile had a long tradition in the quotation practice of the Empire
as it encapsulated the untimely and treacherous death of a valiant hero in the
safety of his home.159 Though this line originally does not refer to any lions, the
centonist revises and relays it to the series of lion-​related imagery used for Judas
above: instead of τίς (Od. 5.35) the I HC 1537 has λίς (“lion”).
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δείπνησε καὶ ἤραρε θυμὸν ἐδωδῇ, 1536 ~ Od. 5.95 (Hermes) or 14.11 (Odysseus in disguise)
δειπνήσας ὡς λίς τε κατέκτανε βοῦν ἐπὶ φάτνῃ. 1537 ~ Od. 4.535 Agamemnon (nostoi) and 11.411 (Nekyia)
So when he dined and gladdened his heart with food | he killed him after feasting, like the lion the ox
in the manger.
This creative adaptation of the Homeric verse shows how important the lion
analogy is for the characterization of Judas. It also demonstrates the technique
through which the poet scans the Homeric material and collects lists of lion-​
related lines, even “inventing” ones if these fit the scope aim: through Usurpation,
Judas appears cruel, like Achilles, ferocious, yet shrewd, like Dolon, and, above
all murderer, like Aegisthus. An additional deviation from the use of the simile
in the heroic context, where it underlines heroic valiance par excellence, is the
Christian reconceptualization of the theme of devouring: unlike the beast that
feasts on flesh and blood (αἷμα πιών . . . ὠμηστής) the blood Jesus’ especially
in the Last Supper scene is eucharistic. Thus, the banquet-​related terminology
(δειπνήσε . . . δειπνήσας) in these lines would have stressed the paradox of Judas’
crime beyond his cruelty: even though he dined with Christ and communicated
his salvific flesh and blood, he nonetheless betrayed him, a crime greater than
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The Homeric Centos
that of Aegisthus. Still, the blood Judas sheds would become salvific for mankind irrespective, or even because of, Judas’ betrayal. Through Kontrastimitation,
much unlike the heroic universe, in the Christianized lion simile the wild beast
does not prevail but the ox, the carnivore’s fierceness is overcome by the sacrificial Lamb of God.160
1.2.5 Ὀδυσσείας B’
The examples above show that the I HC is not a “Homeric” poem in the sense
of being an archaic epic, but a late antique revision of Homer transposed into a
classicizing Christian register. Homeric epics were part of the school curriculum,
but the practice of quoting them extended beyond the classroom. Below I will expand on the reception of Book 2 of the Odyssey that shows that the centonist was
revisiting themes and books familiar beyond the classroom, but certainly within
the parameters of composing a Christian poem. Book 2, which does not seem to
have been popular in the papyri, provides ample material both as quotation of
specific lines and thematically for banquets and assemblies in the Christian poem
and, above all, the background for discussing the themes of Jesus’ Sonship,161 his
nostos, and the matter of human sin, vividly embodied by Telemachus, Odysseus
and the suitors.
The I HC offers far more evidence on Homer’s late antique readers than on the
state of the Homeric text in its reader’s time. As Raffaella Cribiore has shown with
the help of evidence drawn chiefly from papyri, the most popular books among
ancient readers were Iliad 1–​6, especially Books 1 and 2, followed by Books 5
and 6, and finally Book 11. Although the Odyssey is less frequently represented
in papyri as it was not a major focus of standard education, Cribiore’s findings
reveal a predilection for the Iliadic sequels in the Odyssey, namely, Books 4 and
11.162 If we compare the number of lines drawn from each book of the Iliad and/​
or the Odyssey, for example, we can observe that at least 95 of the lines reused in
all editions of the Homeric Centos are in Book 1 of the Iliad and that some of these
are reused more than once. Second place goes to Books 2 and 24, with 89 and 91
centos, respectively, third goes to Books 5 and 9 with 72 and 77, respectively, and
fourth to Books 6, 8, 10, and 16, each of which provides the I HC with between 60
and 70 centos, some more than once. The least popular Iliadic book in the I HC
is Book 12, which supplies material for only 18 centos. As for the Odyssey, Book
4 is the most admired with 120 centos to its credit. Indeed, it is quoted even more
often than is the popular Iliadic Book 1. Second place falls to Book 2 with 81
quotations, while third goes to Books 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 19, each of which is cited between 60 and 70 times. The least popular is Book 21, which is the source of fewer
than 20 citations. While these numbers indicate the lines used at least once in the
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Homerocentones biblici
29
course of a total of 6,315 lines, namely in all the editions of Homeric Centos, the
difference in the lines selected by individual editions is not massive.163 Despite
their schematic and abstract nature, these figures more or less chime with the
popularity of the Homeric poems and specific books in the Imperial period.164
Thus, the popularity of the first six and especially the first two books of the Iliad
and the popularity of Book 4 of the Odyssey are confirmed, though it may come as
a surprise that the second most popular Odyssean book is not Book 11, a sequel
to the Iliad, but rather Book 2, which is part of the Telemachy. The discrepancy
between Cribiore’s findings and Schembra’s observations makes this a good case
study of the approach used to analyze numerical information, but what needs
to be stressed is that these numbers should not be treated as precise, since given
the kind of composition that this is, it would be easy for lines to drop out during
their transmission. The close examination of the re-​cycling of the Odyssey’s Book
2 below further illustrates that numbers are only one part of the story. It also
shows that specific narratives and their readership invited a more “personalized”
reading and excerption of Homer’s text that differs from that of the classroom.165
Noteworthy too is that 81 lines of the Odyssey’s Book 2 are quoted at least once
in all 6,315 lines of the Homeric Centos in Schembra’s edition. Of these, 66 are
reused at least once in the 2,354 lines of the I HC.166
Table 1.1 Odyssey Book 2 in the Centos
Citations
Od. I HC
Context
Notes
1.
1
635
Ἦμος δ’ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς
form./​day–​night
2.
5
636
βῆ δ’ ἴμεν ἐκ θαλάμοιο θεῷ ἐναλίγκιος ἄντην
form./​movement
3.
6
688
αἶψα δὲ κηρύκεσσι λιγυφθόγγοισι κέλευσε
form./​congregation
4.
9
2,259
αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥ’ ἤγερθεν ὁμηγερέες τ’ ἐγένοντο
form./​congregation
5.
13
538
τὸν δ’ ἄρα πάντες λαοὶ ἐπερχόμενον θηεῦντο.
form./​congregation
6.
36
1,363
οὐδ’ ἄρ’ ἔτι δὴν ἧστο, μενοίνησεν δ’ ἀγορεύειν
form./​congregation
7.
37
383
στῆ δὲ μέσῃ ἀγορῇ· σκῆπτρον δέ οἱ ἔμβαλε χειρὶ
8.
38
228
κῆρυξ Πεισήνωρ, πεπνυμένα μήδεα εἰδώς
9.
264
10.
368
form./​angels—​
prophets,
Christianization
11.
40
1,792
ὦ γέρον, οὐχ ἑκὰς οὗτος ἀνήρ, τάχα δ’ εἴσεαι αὐτός time/​prolepsis
12.
56
107
βοῦς ἱερεύοντες καὶ ὄϊς καὶ πίονας αἶγας
13.
62
2,133
εἴ μοι δύναμίς γε παρείη
14.
63
2,134
15.
64
2,135
form./​banquet
Telemachus about
the suitors/​Hades
οὐ γὰρ ἔτ’ ἀνσχετὰ ἔργα τετεύχαται, οὐδ’ ἔτι καλῶς about demons
οἶκος ἐμὸς διόλωλε· νεμεσσήθητε καὶ αὐτοί
(continued)
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The Homeric Centos
Table 1.1 Continued
Citations
Od. I HC
Context
Notes
16.
81
δάκρυ’ ἀναπρήσας· οἶκτος δ’ ἕλε λαὸν ἅπαντα
form./​supplication
17.
107 1,392 prt. καὶ ἐπήλυθον ὧραι
form./​time passing
18.
108 1,241
καὶ τότε δή τις ἔειπε γυναικῶν, ἣ σάφα ᾔδη
19.
1,783
καὶ τότε δή τις ἔειπε γυναικῶν, ἣ σάφα ᾔδη
The treacherous
handmaiden/​the
Gate keeper
710
20.
112 195
αὐτὸς σῷ θυμῷ, εἰδῶσι δὲ πάντες Ἀχαιοί
mor./​admonition
21.
118 1,002
κέρδεά θ’, οἷ’ οὔ πώ τιν’ ἀκούομεν οὐδὲ παλαιῶν
Penelope/​
Haimorrhoousa
22.
150 1,276
ἀλλ’ ὅτε δὴ μέσσην ἀγορὴν πολύφημον ἱκέσθην
form./​congregation
23.
157 1,767
τοῖσι δὲ καὶ μετέειπε γέρων ἥρως Ἁλιθέρσης
Christianization
24.
170 476
οὐ γὰρ ἀπείρητος μαντεύομαι, ἀλλ’ ἐῢ εἰδώς
prophecy: Odysseus
and Jesus’ return
25.
171 404
καὶ γὰρ κείνῳ φημὶ τελευτηθῆναι ἅπαντα
prophecy: Jesus’/​
Odysseus’ arrival
26.
230 1,788
μή τις ἔτι πρόφρων ἀγανὸς καὶ ἤπιος ἔστω
27.
230 110
28.
231 111
μή τις ἔτι πρόφρων ἀγανὸς καὶ ἤπιος ἔστω
σκηπτοῦχος βασιλεύς, μηδὲ φρεσὶν αἴσιμα εἰδώς
ἀλλ’ αἰεὶ χαλεπός τ’ εἴη καὶ αἴσυλα ῥέζοι
moral. Regarding the
sinners
29.
232 112
30.
236 1,641
ἕρδειν ἔργα βίαια κακορραφίῃσι νόοιο
Suitors/​Pharisees
31.
1,784
ἕρδειν ἔργα βίαια κακορραφίῃσι νόοιο
The gatekeeper to
Peter
32.
254 1,793
οἵ τέ οἱ ἐξ ἀρχῆς πατρώϊοί εἰσιν ἑταῖροι
Odysseus’
supporters/​neutral
33.
258 2,037
οἱ μὲν ἄρ’ ἐσκίδναντο ἑὰ πρὸς δώμαθ’ ἕκαστος
form./​congregation
34.
262 659 prt
κλῦθί μευ, ὃ χθιζὸς θεὸς ἤλυθες ἡμέτερον δῶ
form./​supplication
35.
271 1,957
36.
272 1,958
εἰ δή τοι σοῦ πατρὸς ἐνέστακται μένος ἠΰ,
οἷος κεῖνος ἔην τελέσαι ἔργον τε ἔπος τε,
Telemachus’/​Jesus’
Sonship
37.
273 772
οὔ τοι ἔπειθ’ ἁλίη ὁδὸς ἔσσεται οὐδ’ ἀτέλεστος
prolepsis, Athena’s
prophecy/​positive
38.
279 1,723
οὐδέ σε πάγχυ γε μῆτις Ὀδυσσῆος προλέλοιπεν
neutral
39.
283 130
οὐδέ τι ἴσασιν θάνατον καὶ κῆρα μέλαιναν
The suitors/​the sinners
40.
298 535 prt
βῆ δ’ ἴμεναι
41.
778 prt
βῆ δ’ ἴμεναι
form./​movement for
Peter
42.
303 698
43.
304 699
44.
305 1,436
Τηλέμαχ’ ὑψαγόρη, μένος ἄσχετε, μή τί τοι ἄλλο
ἐν στήθεσσι κακὸν μελέτω ἔργον τε ἔπος τε
Charact. Antinous/​
The paralytic
ἀλλὰ μάλ’ ἐσθιέμεν καὶ πινέμεν, ὡς τὸ πάρος περ form./​banquet
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Table 1.1 Continued
Citations
Od. I HC
Context
Notes
45.
46.
310 1,415 prt Ἀντίνο’, οὔ πως ἔστιν ὑπερφιάλοισι μεθ’ ὑμῖν
δαίνυσθαί τ’ ἀκέοντα καὶ εὐφραίνεσθαι ἕκηλον
311 1,416
Charact. Antinous/​
Judas
47.
323 1,746
οἱ δ’ ἐπελώβευον καὶ ἐκερτόμεον ἐπέεσσιν
48.
1,896
οἱ δ’ ἐπελώβευον καὶ ἐκερτόμεον ἐπέεσσιν
form./​The suitors/​
the assailants
49.
324 1,752
ὧδε δέ τις εἴπεσκε νέων ὑπερηνορεόντων
50.
1,901
form./​The suitor/​ the
assailants
51.
2,097
52.
331 1,949
ἄλλος δ’ αὖτ’ εἴπεσκε νέων ὑπερηνορεόντων
form./​ ibid.
53.
344 2,284
κληϊσταὶ δ’ ἔπεσαν σανίδες πυκινῶς ἀραρυῖαι
Odysseus’ return/​
Jesus’ Resurrection
54.
353 616
δώδεκα δ’ ἔμπλησον καὶ πώμασιν ἄρσον ἅπαντας The Cana Jars
55.
367 145
οἱ δέ τοι αὐτίκ’ ἰόντι κακὰ φράσσονται ὀπίσσω
prolepsis
56.
372 267
θάρσει, μαῖ’, ἐπεὶ οὔ τοι ἄνευ θεοῦ ἥδε γε βουλή
form./​supplication
θάρσει, μαῖ’, ἐπεὶ οὔ τοι ἄνευ θεοῦ ἥδε γε βουλή
Ibid.
57.
1,329
58.
376 2,208
ὡς ἂν μὴ κλαίουσα κατὰ χρόα καλὸν ἰάπτῃ
Penelope/​Magdalene
59.
379 619
αὐτίκ’ ἔπειτά οἱ οἶνον ἐν ἀμφιφορεῦσιν ἄφυσσεν
The Cana Wedding
60.
384 2,236
καί ῥα ἑκάστῳ φωτὶ παρισταμένη φάτο μῦθον
form./​speech
61.
388 633
δύσετό τ’ ἠέλιος σκιόωντό τε πᾶσαι ἀγυιαί
form./​day-​time
62.
397 1,607
οἱ δ’ εὕδειν ὤρνυντο κατὰ πτόλιν, οὐδ’ ἄρ’ ἔτι δἠν form./​sleep
63.
398 2,608
εἵατ’, ἐπεί σφισιν ὕπνος ἐπὶ βλεφάροισιν ἔπιπτεν
form./​banquet-​
sleep/​at the Garden
of Gethsemane
64.
404 1,771
ἀλλ’ ἴομεν, μὴ δηθὰ διατρίβωμεν ὁδοῖο
form./​movement
65.
406 1,009
καρπαλίμως· ὁ δ’ ἔπειτα μετ’ ἴχνια βαῖνε θεοῖο
Epiphany:
Telemachus/​ Blind
66.
1,291
καρπαλίμως· ὁ δ’ ἔπειτα μετ’ ἴχνια βαῖνε θεοῖο
Ibid. Lazarus
Aside from attesting to the popularity of this particular book in all editions of
the Homeric Centos, this does not tell us much about the use to which it was put,
but a closer look at the kind of lines recycled may help explain the predilection
for it across all editions. Book 2 contains useful formulaic lines for describing the
passage of time, for the time frame within which an action must be concluded,
and particularly for prolepsis in the form of prophecies. It also offers basic thematic staples such as verses for describing outdoor gatherings and indoor banquet scenes, as well as some famous moralizing lines. In addition, it provides
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The Homeric Centos
important foils for characters of the Christian narrative, such as Telemachus,
Antinous, Penelope, the wicked handmaiden, or the loyal friend. Most importantly, however, Book 2 contains useful lines for describing epiphany and the relationship of Son to Father across the poem as I will discuss below.
1.2.5.1 Time and Assemblies
The passage of time is often highlighted with a typical verse, I HC 1392~ Od.
2.107: καὶ ἐπήλυθον ὧραι. The arrival of night is equally stereotypical, Ι HC 633
~ Od. 2.388: δύσετό τ᾽ ἠέλιος σκιόωντό τε πᾶσαι ἀγυιαί, while the beginning
of the book offers the popular verse on Dawn (Od. 2.1), which I HC 635–​636
combines with Odyssey 1.5 (used of Telemachus) to create: ἦμος δ’ ἠριγένεια
φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς | βῆ δ’ ἴμεν ἐκ θαλάμοιο θεῷ ἐναλίγκιος ἄντην). This
composite citation is used to describe Jesus as he sets out to heal the paralytic.
Important elements revisited in the cento poems are the proleptical statements
in Book 2 that foreshadow the return of Odysseus; for example, Telemachus’ disclosure to Peisenor regarding who has ordered the assembly is placed into the
mouth of the female gatekeeper in her address to Peter, she intimates that the
offender is nearby, I HC 1793 ~ Od. 2.40: οὐχ ἑκὰς οὗτος ἀνήρ. Eurycleia’s anticipation of the suitors’ conspiracy against Telemachus is revisited in God’s advice to his Son during their discussion of the plan of the Salvation (I HC 145
~ Od. 2.367). Accordingly, Mentor-​Athena’s premonition of the happy outcome
of Telemachus’ plan is reclaimed by Jesus to presage the resurrection of Jaïrus’
daughter that describes the messenger’s path as fruitful, I HC 772 ~ Od. 2.273: οὔ
τοι ἔπειθ’ ἁλίη ὁδὸς ἔσσεται οὐδ’ ἀτέλεστος.
Telemachus’ undertakings in Ithaca before his departure offer much material
suitable to the setting of Jesus’ public ministry. The arrival of clear-​voiced heralds
is used in the orders given to those responsible for filling up the jugs at Cana, I
HC 688 ~ Od. 2.5: αἶψα δὲ κηρύκεσσι λιγυφθόγγοισι κέλευσε; the description
of the gathering crowds is revisited in the Baptist’s setting but also in the Last
Supper and the reunion, I HC 382, 1360, 2259 ~ Od. 2.9: οἱ δ’ ἐπεὶ οὖν ἤγερθεν
ὁμηγερέες τ’ ἐγένοντο. Other lines revisit the themes of public humiliation
and mockery, e.g., the suitors’ mockery is used for different types of mocking
crowds, young men, or assailants during the Crucifixion, I HC 368 ~ Od.
2.323–​324: οἱ δ’ ἐπελώβευον καὶ ἐκερτόμεον ἐπέεσσιν· ὧδε δέ τις εἴπεσκε νέων
ὑπερηνορεόντων.167 A most characteristic case is the Christianization of the formula used for the wise herald Peisenor which is reclaimed for the angel Gabriel,
I HC 228, 264 ~ Od. 2.38: κῆρυξ Πεισήνωρ, πεπνυμένα μήδεα εἰδώς. Intriguingly
these are stereotypical lines that ancient commentators also collected in their
discussions of Homeric formulae and reused as such in the Homeric Centos,168
demonstrating thus the sensitivity of the epics’ readers to their compositional
technique.
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1.2.5.2 Suitors and Sinners
While the speech of Telemachus offered much material for invective,169 the behavior of the suitors could easily be related to that of sinners in the Christian
world. The most characteristic transposition of the Odyssean text lies in the
reuse of the offensive suitors as models for the sinners or assailants in the biblical narrative. An extensive cluster of reused lines consists of Mentor-​Athena’s
words to the Ithacan assembly—​repeated later on Olympus—​on the kingly piety
embodied by Odysseus. The lines describing the ideal king as wise, gentle, and
kind by contrast to an impious, vicious, and godless one, would have a gnomic
future Od. 2.230–​232 and Od. 5.8–​10: μή τις ἔτι πρόφρων ἀγανὸς καὶ ἤπιος ἔστω
| σκηπτοῦχος βασιλεύς, μηδὲ φρεσὶν αἴσιμα εἰδώς, | ἀλλ’ αἰεὶ χαλεπός τ’ εἴη καὶ
αἴσυλα ῥέζοι.170 In the I HC 110–​112, the lines are placed in the mouth of the
Father during his dialogue with his Son who is the ideal role model for Christian
kingship. The treacherous handmaiden of Penelope becomes the model for the
evil gatekeeper, I HC 1241, 1783 ~ Od. 2.108; the scheming wickedness of the
suitors is projected onto the scheming Pharisees, I HC 1641 ~ Od. 2.1641: ἕρδειν
ἔργα βίαια κακορραφίῃσι νόοιο; and a general connection is made between the
sinful mortals and the suitors who disrespect death and fate, I HC 130 ~ Od.
2.283: οὐδέ τι ἴσασιν θάνατον καὶ κῆρα μέλαιναν—​Antinous in particular serves
as a foil for the treacherous Judas, who is among the arrogant convives, I HC
1415–​1416 ~ Od. 2.310–​311: οὔ πως ἔστιν ὑπερφιάλοισι μεθ’ ὑμῖν | δαίνυσθαί τ’
ἀκέοντα καὶ εὐφραίνεσθαι ἕκηλον.
Banquets and sacrifices or related themes are also linked to the excessive
behavior of the suitors whom Telemachus publicly denounces, but also to the
Christian condemnation of animal sacrifice. For example, Telemachus’ complaint that the suitors are slaying his best ewes and goats—​I HC 107 ~ Od.
2.56: βοῦς ἱερεύοντες καὶ ὄϊς καὶ πίονας αἶγας—​is reused to argue against those
offenders whom God and his Son attempt to save from death. In the Christian
poem, animal sacrifice is the first sign of human sin in a list of depravities—​the
others being wickedness, irascibility, cruelty, sacrilege, dishonesty, lack of hospitality, neglect for the divine, debauchery, war, rape and murder171—​that the
Godhead attempts to eradicate through Redemption. Telemachus’ programmatic accusation of the suitors heightens the suspense around Odysseus’ incognito return and justifies their cruel punishment. Its re-​use here, on the other
hand, heads a list of depravities associated with Hesiod’s list of the sins and
debaucheries of the first generations of men that resulted in their extinction172
and thus offers yet another interesting subversion: unlike the God of Greek
myth or of the Old Testament, the God of the New Testament saves and does not
punish. Thus, the ideal depiction of the king, which is inspired by Telemachus’
speech, itself a highlight of Book 2, is precisely the model for both the Godhead
and the mortal ruler.173
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The Homeric Centos
Still, Telemachus’ demegoria, and his emotional turmoil were often deemed
excessive and awkward in antiquity.174 Proclus reads it closely, quotes several
nonconsecutive lines from the original, and argues that on this occasion the
poet creates an interesting specimen of a kingly supplication.175 Proclus’ analysis
showcases the possible manipulation of the Homeric material in order to prove
both its point and the difference between earlier readers of the epic and later
rhetorical tastes. This kingly-​supplication version suits Hades, the ruler of the
Underworld: a variation on his emotional outburst against the suitors and the
blame he lays on his impotence is placed in the mouth of Hades, as we shall see
Section 4.4, during his battle with the Achilles-​like Christ.176 The interlocking of
Achilles’ outburst to Apollo—​Il. 22.20: τισαίμην—​and Telemachus’ feebleness—​
Od. 2.62: ἀμυναίμην in I HC 2131–​2136—​confirms a good knowledge of the
Homeric text and also the ability to combine the interpretative potential of two
contrasting passages—​one demonstrating Achilles’ fearlessness and the other
Telemachus’ powerlessness—​into a complex characterization of Hades, who
needs to appear worthy, but less mighty than his adversary, Jesus.
1.2.5.3 Fathers and Sons
The quotation of Telemachus’ demegoria in the scene describing the Father’s
dialogue with his Son echoes the use of Book 2 of the Odyssey as a blueprint
that discusses themes of Sonship and of return-​reunion. Book 2 establishes
Telemachus as Odysseus’ worthy son, who will eventually help him eradicate the
suitors and who looks like him. This is a theme reworked throughout the Christian
poem either by quoting verbatim or by echoing the prince’s relationship to the
hero. A Homeric reader would have recalled that Athena famously encourages the
youth to embark on a dangerous journey as Odysseus’ heir and display a similar
fierceness in word and deed. The line enjoyed a gnomic afterlife as it explains how
offspring could and should equal their parents in words and deeds, I HC 1957–​
1958 ~ Od. 2.271–​272: εἰ δή τοι σοῦ πατρὸς ἐνέστακται μένος ἠΰ, | οἷος κεῖνος ἔην
τελέσαι ἔργον τε ἔπος τε.177 In a Kontrastimitation that juxtaposes human versus
divine Sonship, the lines are uttered by the bad thief, who, during the Crucifixion,
challenges Jesus to prove his status as God’s Son by descending from the cross,
something that the latter refuses to do precisely because he wishes to obey his
Father and his plan for Salvation. Divine Sonship results in death, as opposed to
Telemachus’ successful emulation of his father in the epic.
Ironically, these lines intratextually hark back to the main scene with which
the poem opens, namely, the Assembly of God the Father with his Son and the
subsequent plan for redemption which the latter approves. In Homer’s epic,
the Assembly of the gods decides the fate of Odysseus (Od. 1.78), much as the
Godhead in I HC 135–​136 resolves to save humanity and agrees to the “return”
of his only Son, Christ, among men, an intriguing Kontrastimitation. Besides this
additional epic touch this introduction has several Christian spins: here Jesus is
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Homerocentones biblici
35
the beloved Son whom God “raises,” in the Christian sense of “resurrect,” for the
sake of mankind. This is expressed in the reuse of a line that is used to highlight
the honor that Alcinous pays his guest by asking his son Laodamas to offer his seat
to Odysseus but using instead of Laodamas the nomen loquens Laomedon, that
contributed to the soteriological reading, I HC 94 ~ Od. 7.170: υἱὸν ἀναστήσας
ἀγαπήνορα, λαομέδοντα.178
While Laodamas and other foils are used to explain the father–​son relationship,179 it is Telemachus who is used to best describe his likeness to the father throughout the poem: the Homeric reader knows that Eumaeus claims
the boy to be like his father in body and appearance, Od. 14.177: πατρὸς ἑοῖο
φίλοιο, δέμας καὶ εἶδος ἀγητόν;180 the first hemistich of this line after a “radical Christianization” is echoed in the Christian poem to express the consubstantiality of the Trinity, I HC 96: πατρὸς ἑοῖο φίλοιο φρένας τε καὶ εἶδος ὁμοῖος.
The addition of φρένας τε καὶ εἶδος ὁμοῖος is an invention of the poet as in the
Christian poem the Son’s likeness to the Father is on the spiritual level (φρένας)
rather than the physical body (δέμας). Christians claimed that there was no way
of “seeing” God the Father as an embodied entity, which is why δέμας is replaced
by the more noetic, φρένας. Similarly, εἶδος may be understood in the more general sense more of form, evoking perhaps a passage from John’s Gospel about
human incapacity to grasp the Father in his divine form.181 On the other hand,
ὅμοιος, a problematic term in the previous century,182 in this poem is used to denote Nicene “orthodoxy.”183 Given the other echoes of the Creed in the poem,184
and the reuse of the line in subsequent editions without emendation,185 it appears
that ὁμοῖος, despite its connotations in theological writings, is probably used in
line with Nicaea as there was probably no better suited Homeric line. So, one
may agree with Schembra that ὁμοῖος stresses equality,186 but I would also argue
that it is used as a synonym for homoousios, being a near homophone and the
most closely relevant epic option possible.187
Another theme of Book 2 that is reworked across the poem is the suspense
of the pending return of the suffering. In the Homeric poem, old Halithersis
foresees the return of a disguised Odysseus to Ithaca, Od. 2.170–​171: οὐ γὰρ
ἀπείρητος μαντεύομαι, ἀλλ’ ἐῢ εἰδώς | καὶ γὰρ κείνῳ φημὶ τελευτηθῆναι. This is
the line that Jesus takes up in I HC 476 to disclose his divine identity and Sonship
to his disciples, who, like the suitors, are unable to grasp the truth. It is in a similar spirit that the Baptist foretells the arrival of the Messiah in I HC 404. Jesus
thus combines in himself the Sonship through the foil of Telemachus, but also,
and more importantly, an avatar of Odysseus himself, the Messiah who is returning to Earth and to his people, who, like the Ithacans, are incapable of fully
understanding his identity. The use of Odysseus as a model for Jesus is based on
variations to the famous lines alluding to the suffering hero’s return. Od. 2.343–​
344: εἴ ποτ’ Ὀδυσσεὺς | οἴκαδε νοστήσειε καὶ ἄλγεα πολλὰ μογήσας.188 Jesus
too offers to suffer for human Salvation echoing Odysseus’ woes, I HC 197 ~
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The Homeric Centos
Od. 3.232, Ιl 15.141: βουλοίμην δ’ ἂν ἐγώ γε καὶ ἄλγεα πολλὰ μογήσας | πάντων
ἀνθρώπων ῥῦσθαι γενεήν τε τόκον τε. The poem maintains this Odyssean tint
throughout: at I HC 1101, Jesus, like Odysseus, is a foreigner, a ξένος, even if in
his own land,189 throughout his identity is an issue of repeated inquiry,190 and
like the king of Ithaca, he too needs to be recognized by the scars on his human
body at least by his mortal companions so that the Ascension may take place.191
While the embedded beggars find exoneration from suffering and nostos through
their faith in Christ, Jesus’ return and major nostos reflects his dual nature as man
and God: first his descent to Earth in order to suffer, secondly his return after
the passion as the Risen Christ, and lastly is his return to his Father’s side and
the Second coming. The Odyssean model based loosely on Book 2 is used for
all these returns. As Logos he is expected to make His descent to earth to willingly suffer among men as man, I HC 139: οὐρανόθεν καταβάς . . . 196: ἄλγεα
πολλὰ μογῆσας. As the Risen Christ, Jesus confirms his return among his disciples after his sufferings through a compressed quotation of the lines describing
Odysseus’ return, I HC 2288: ἔνδον μὲν δὴ ὅδ’ αὐτὸς ἐγώ, κακὰ πολλὰ μογήσας |
γινώσκω δ’ ὡς σφῶϊν ἐελδομένοισιν ἱκάνω.192 Additionally, Jesus’ nostos is to the
heavenly realm to which he has already implicitly expressed the wish to return
during his earthly ministry (I HC 1447~ Il. 9.42: ὥς τε νέεσθαι), but that desire
becomes explicit after the Pentecost, I HC 2343: ἤδη νῦν μευ⸥ ⸤θυμὸς ἐπέσσυται
ὥς τε νέεσθαι | οὐρανὸν ἐς πολύχαλκον,⸥ ⸤⸢ἵν’ ἀθανάτοισι⸣ μετείην. The theme
of a return to heaven features emphatically in the poem’s final lines that vividly
recall, among other passages, those describing Telemachus’ return to his father’s
side in Book 22.99 and Odysseus once again assuming his seat before his wife at
their reunion in Book 23, I HC 2353–​2354: βῆ δὲ θέων, μάλα δ’ ὦκα φίλον πατέρ’
εἰσαφίκανεν | ἂψ δ’ αὖτις κατ’ ἄρ’ ἕζετ’ ἐπὶ θρόνου ἔνθεν ἀνέστη. Intratextually
and since God at I HC 138 requested that Jesus descends from heaven among
men, this final line recalls the Assembly of the Godhead by featuring Christ’s
Ascension as return.193 On the theological level this also corresponds with the
fifth article of the Creed (καὶ ἀνελθόντα εἰς τοὺς οὐρανούς, καὶ καθεζόμενον ἐκ
δεξιῶν τοῦ Πατρός), again reminding the poem’s confessional motivation.
Regarding the reception of Book 2, it needs to be stressed that the nostos narrative is not particular to this book. The above analysis showed how the lines
drawn from it contribute to the general Odyssean representation of Christ’s ascent to paradise. Furthermore, these observations show that not only the centos
read the story of wandering and suffering in the Odyssey through an allegorical
lens, as a metaphor for the journey of the soul in the world of the senses, but also
that they do not see the Odyssean quest-​narrative solely as a didactic metaphor.194
The Telemachus–​Odysseus relationship as a model of the inseparable relation of
the Son to the Father, his suffering for their sins, as well as of his journey into the
world of the flesh before his final return to the heavenly realm, not only echo the
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Homerocentones biblici
37
adventures of the king of Ithaca but represent the Son as the embodiment of the
Odyssean ideal. In this case, Jesus qua Odysseus embodies in the flesh the travels
and travails of mortals as they hope for a better afterlife. This Usurpation of the
mythical hero indicates Christian readers’ fascination with the Odyssey altogether;
the perilous sea journey and safe return was the Greek contribution to the interpretation of the story of Salvation on both the allegorical and eschatological level
(Jesus’ eternal return), as well as to the story of His earthly suffering and return to
His disciples as the Risen Christ, a story to which the mortal audiences of the cento
could easily relate. To some extent, the Odysseus myth and its imperial reception
made it easier to recount a tale of wandering and suffering that matched the cultural expectations of the poem’s pepaideumenoi. Apparently the carnal suffering of
the immortal Son of Man, an idea that was downright vexing for Graeco-​Roman
audiences as we shall see in Chapter 4, it was easier for these same audiences to
relate to the (more or less human) suffering of the famously πολύτλας, albeit δῖος,
Ὀδυσσεύς, making the use of this mythical exemplum for Jesus an intriguing, albeit
theologically risky, case of intense anthropomorphism. Book 2 and the intratextual
allusions to it then offered an important introduction to some of the epic’s main
narrative techniques, such as assembly scenes and temporal foreshadowing, and
also an overview of the poem’s crucial themes, such as Sonship, sin, and return.
1.3 Biblical Centos
While the previous section analyzes the relation of the centos to Homer in structural and thematic terms, we now focus on their Christian motivation and ideological engagement with Christianity by discussing a selection of programmatic
passages, such as prefaces and proems to biblical poems. The I HC is not paired
with an unanimously accepted authorial preface but two—​one attributed to
Eudocia (Apologia) one to Patricius (Hypothesis)—​nor is the manuscript tradition
helpful when it comes to issues of authorship. At first glance, were we to bypass the
programmatic prefaces and their transmission, the actual proem to the I HC offers
only scant information on the poet-​narrator, who stands up to proclaim the glory
of the God-​Man in his dual nature (6: ὡς εὖ γινώσκητ’ θεὸν ἠδὲ καὶ ἄνδρα) to
the ecumene (1: κέκλυτε, μυρία φῦλα ⸢περικτιόνων⸥ ⸤ἀνθρώπων), both that in the
East and that of the Western Empire (3–​4: ἠμὲν ὅσοι ναίουσι πρὸς ἠῶ τ’ ἠέλιόν τε,
| ἠδ’ ὅσσοι μετόπισθε ποτὶ ζόφον).195 This minimalist snapshot does not offer any
information on the poet’s gender or aim but only—​and even then schematically—​
on the poem’s subject, Christ’s redeeming incarnation, and its provisional audience.196 In Chapter 3 it will become apparent that the self-​effacement of the
proem’s narrator at the beginning of the poem and in the section on Genesis plays
with and against intra-​and inter-​textual didactic traditions that echo in the Cento’s
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The Homeric Centos
revision of the Creation. What is more illuminating for the purposes of this introductory chapter, however, is the understanding of the metaliterary motivation
expressed in the two prefaces ascribed to the two authors centos, Patricius and
Eudocia, against the programmatic claims of their predecessors, such as Juvencus
and Proba, Gregory of Nazianzus, the “Dorotheus” of the Bodmer Papyrus, and
the “Apollinaris” of the Metaphrasis of the Psalms. Although of these poets, only
Proba composed centos, the other examples are important to our understanding
of the heterogeneity of Christian verse as well as of the cultural milieu into which
the Homeric Centos were launched.
Traditionally, an epic poem begins with an introit that may include metaliterary
highlights and assert the poet’s authority and motivation, or else it may be
introduced with a preface in prose or verse (editorial or authorial) of an explicitly
programmatic nature.197 Throughout antiquity heroic hexametric poems reused,
deconstructed, and challenged the topos of the apostrophe to the Muse.198 Later
poets who wished to begin either a mythological or Christian poem, viewed the
Homeric and Virgilian introits as unquestionable models that lent themselves to
imitation, subversion, or both. In Late Antiquity, a characteristic need for programmatic information and authorial self-​definition led to a rise in the number of
prose or verse prefaces and/​or detailed proems, especially in the Latin-​speaking
West, while the poets’ conversion to Christianity resulted in an additional requisite to set out their credo.199 The practice, however, was far from uniform. In
their current transmitted state—​which implies that the assumptions here may
be subjected to change if more evidence becomes available—​Greek biblical
epics offer little paratextual information. With the exception of the Metaphrasis
of the Psalms that I discuss in detail below, the, the Nonnian Paraphrasis of St.
John’s Gospel that postdates the I HC has not been transmitted with a preface or a
prefatory epigram,200 and is surprisingly modest in its embedded programmatic
and metaliterary claims if compared to Nonnus’ two proems of Dionysiaca and
their accompanying epigram in the Palatine Anthology 9.198.201 As a result, the I
HC had a very divergent pool of models to draw from: the relationship with the
classical past, the conversion of the Christian poet/​poetry, the soteriological and
imperial motivation of Christian verse are some of the recurring programmatic
considerations found in programmatic openings up to the mid-​fifth century.
1.3.1 Salvation and Paideia
1.3.1.1 Juvencus
Standing at the beginning of a Christian classicizing tradition, Juvencus’ Four
Books of the Gospel (Evageliorum Libri Quattuor) were written in around 329
during the reign of Constantine.202 His 27-​line praefatio is exceptional not least
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Homerocentones biblici
39
because it is composed in hexameter, but also because it highlights in detail the
work’s poetic and ideological agenda.203 As Green has already analyzed this
passage in depth,204 I will draw attention only to what is important in the tradition of prefaces to biblical epics in which the I HC stands. Juvencus’ foreword
begins by remarking on the futility of the material world, but quickly moves from
the ephemeral to the eternal. Taking inspiration from the tales of the old epic
heroes praised by Homer or Virgil, who by now had been elevated to the rank
of inspired poets/​prophets (11: nec minor . . . gloria vatum) as opposed to that of
simple poets (8: famam laudasque poetae),205 Juvencus attempts to redefine the
concept of a Christian poem now that he is inspired no longer by the Muse, but
the Holy Spirit and the purifying power of the river Jordan.206 Interestingly, he
describes the act of composing poetry with the metaphor of weaving, while at
the same time insisting on poetry’s woven falsehood (15–​16: meruerunt carmina
famam . . . mendacia nectunt).207 The content of epic poetry had been dismissed
as a lie as far back as Hesiod’s Theogony (27: ψεύδεα πολλὰ λέγειν ἐτύμοισιν
ὁμοῖα) and the tradition of such critiques proved useful to the Christian polemic.
As Carruba rightly observes, the preface makes a clear division between the old
and the new tradition, using antithesis (5: quod si; 6: sed tamen) to signal the
contrast.208
Yet Juvencus does not dwell on this as much as Sedulius or Paulinus of Nola do
later on.209 For him, Homer and Virgil as poets and vates serve as points of reference against which to contrast the theme of his own Christian poem on the gesta
of Jesus (19: Christi vitalia gesta), a much-​debated term in Juvencan scholarship,
as it is uncommon to epic. Whereas gesta have been understood as encompassing
“historical/​truthful facts” or “soteriological deeds,”210 scholars seem to downplay
the importance of the Greek term πράξεις,211 translated as either acta or gesta in
Latin, which was used for a variety of Christian prose narratives in the historiographic mode. For Juvencus, the veracity of the gesta bore extra-​textual meaning
as they contributed to the salvation of both the reader and the poet.212 It is this
hands-​on soteriological approach that is also evident in the description of the
poem’s ecumenical purpose as a gift to nations (20: divinum populis donum),
which coincides with the ecumenical imperial vision of Constantine that is
presented later (4.80: terrae regnator apertae). In such a context the Christian
bard becomes the epic poet of the new Christian kingdom.213 The preamble,
therefore, designates the poem’s content as a new kind of heroic epic poetry with
a soteriological dimension that affects both its author and his audience in the
Christian ecumene.214
1.3.1.2 Proba
By now it scholarly accepted that the late fourth-​century praefatio in verse
was appended to Proba’s Cento215 by a later scribe who edited or copied the
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40
The Homeric Centos
text between 395 and 397.216 Despite its similarity to Juvencus’ quest for a
Christian aesthetic and motivation, this text’s agenda appears to be more polemic. Composed as a dedication to Theodosius I and the young Arcadius, the
praefatio is particularly illuminating with regard to the kind of reading that
the poem inspired. The dedication famously highlights the didactic objective
of the poem, but as Sigrid Schottenius Cullhed accurately detects, the didacticism in this case is overstressed by Proba’s critics due precisely to her gender.217
Schottenius-​Cullhed further shows that her Cento aims as much to docere (to
instruct) as to delectare (to please), much as does Juvencus’ praefatio, discussed
above.218 More important are the sort of classicizing Christian readings that the
dedication invites—​ones based on a re-​evaluation (3–​4: dignare agnoscere) and
re-​reading (13: relegas) of the classical models. Such an approach underscores
the prominence of the audience in deciphering this kind of poetry as well as the
importance of books and their physical transmission (14: tradasque) for late antique audiences.219 In terms of the reception of Virgil implied in the dedication,
the divine poet is presented not simply as a distinguished forerunner, as he is in
Juvencus, but as a model requiring “amelioratation” (4: mutatum in melius). This
is an evaluation by the scribe who regards a cento steeped in a Christian mystical
sense as an enriched classic. Such a statement sets up an immediate competition with Virgil on the level of content, now imbued with a sense of Christian
revelation (5: sensu divino), but above all advises at least some readers to make a
painstaking effort to read Virgil (4: agnoscere) with an explicit Christian agenda
aligned with the trend of times to read Virgil allegorically.220
In contrast to the dedication, the proem of the Cento discusses the poem’s
debt to classicizing literature in less polemical terms. After acknowledging
that she too has written poems in the heroic epic style, that she now apologetically reconsiders,221 Proba’s poetic persona announces that she will now move
away from such unholy topics and sing the feats of Christ. The traditional epic
theme inspired by the Muses (14: nec ducere Musas) is here rejected for a baptismal theme, meant as a kind of inspiration for the poem’s Christian audience
(20: Castalio sed fonte madens imitata beatos). That said, this new poetic initiation takes place in Castalia, the sacred spring of Apollo, and not in the River
Jordan, as it does in Juvencus. Hence pagan prophecy is amalgamated with
Christian baptismal ritual as source of poetic inspiration.222 Yet the baptized
bard is not a mere vessel; Proba notes that Virgil—​perhaps allegorically or perhaps not—​did indeed sing of the feats of Christ, but she does so in a line in which
the ‘I’ of the cento poet/​narrator can be perceived as entirely intertwined with
Virgil (the subject of the infinitive) (23: Vergilium cecinisse loquar pia munera
Christi).223 Taking on the role of the mystic vates, Proba eventually reveals in her
song the truth (content) disclosed to her by the Holy Spirit (26: spiritus) through
the words of Virgil (form), thereby presenting an interesting amalgam. Through
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Homerocentones biblici
41
her employment of the technique of recusatio, the poet turns against one genre
to favor another.224 As a result, the extreme reading of Proba’s Cento as proposed
by the scribe and embodied in the claim that Virgil had been transformed in
melius, should be taken with a grain of salt since for all its polemical appraisal of
classicizing poetry the Cento relies heavily on it. At this point it is interesting to
see whether in the Greek-​speaking East, the other poet, Homer, was treated and
reclaimed in a different manner.
1.3.1.3 “Dorotheus”
The poet of the Vision of Dorotheus, a text found in Bodmer Papyrus 29, was probably writing in Upper Egypt in the fourth century for a monastic audience. His work
is thus a good case study for examining classicizing poetry from the bottom up, due
especially to the interesting metaliterary reflections that emerge at various points
within it. As far as Homer is concerned, Gianfranco Agosti, who has scrutinized
several cases of Homeric Usurpation and allegorical interpretation, concludes that
the combination of Homeric and Christian content in this poem is neither problematic nor in need of justification.225 Still, and while, adapting Homeric language
and style the poem also alludes to the rest of the epic tradition, Hesiod in particular.
This joint reception is particularly interesting for the echoes of Hesiod we will discuss in Section 3 in the I HC and how Christian verse alternates between these two
registers. The narrator of the Vision introduces himself subtly but assertively with a
dativus commodi (1: ἦ μάλα μοι τῷ ἀλιτρῷ), and exhibits self-​awareness of his poetic
skill as he describes the desire “for a graceful path of song” (3: χαρίεσσαν ἐπ’ οἴμην)
in an archaizing didactic Hesiodic manner.226 The poem’s references to light and
divine illumination (2: Χρηστόν, ἄγαλμα ἑοῖο, δῖον φάος ὤπασε κόσμῳ) are a recurrent Christian topos and allude to the understanding they bring to the convert or
penitent.227 The didactic mode returns again in the poem’s sphragis, where the now
neophôtistos Dorotheus presents himself as a Christian bard inspired by the Angel-​
Christ,228 who puts all kinds of songs into his heart (339–​340: καὶ ἐν στήθεσσιν
ἀοιδὴν | παντοίην ἐνέηκε παρεστάμεναι καὶ ἀείδειν).229 The poem maintains its
personal and confessional tone without any of the imperial ecumenical visions
found in the works of Juvencus or Proba, though the poet here too betrays an interest in the evangelical mission of his composition (310: ἄνδρας ἐπ᾽ ἀλλοδαπούς)
using classicizing verse as its vehicle.230 This unapologetic attitude is important for
understanding the engagement with the epic tradition: “Dorotheus” the poet sets
out to preach Christianity in Homeric guise with Hesiodean undertones without
feeling that he needs to compromise one for the sake of the other.
1.3.1.4 Gregory of Nazianzus
Unlike “Dorotheus,” Gregory of Nazianzus is probably the most self-​conscious
and polemical of all Christian poets. In On his own verse (Carm. 2.1.39), he
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42
The Homeric Centos
reflects on the reasons for composing Christian verse and attributes his decision
to do so to the mixture of his personal and a missionary goal to please, instruct,
rival (the gentiles), and bring solace to himself.231 In another poem in which he
speaks of his self-​imposed silence, Gregory fashions himself as an instrument
of God, as another David, who composes hymns (70: ὕμνον φέρω).232 Gregory
consciously fashions his theme in opposition to pagan poetry. In a list of nugatory, and thus programmatically important, topics, he claims he will not sing
of “Troy, like someone did [sc. Homer], of the fair-​sailing Argo [sc. Apollonius
of Rhodes] or of the boar’s head [Homer?], or of mighty Heracles [Peisander?
Panyassis?], or of how the earth’s wide circles are fitted to the seas [Diogenes
Periegetes], or of the gleams of stones [Lithica?], or of the course of heavenly
bodies [Aratus]; . . . or the beauty of young men [Theognis].”233 Instead, he sets
out to sing of God and the Trinity (77), of the glory of the passion of Christ (83)
and of the incarnation from a soteriological perspective (83: οἷς μ’ ἐθέωσεν).
At a metaliterary level, the entanglement of the divine and human nature in
Christ and man (85: μίξιν ἐμήν), may refer to the mixture of genres and meters
in the poem itself, thus adding a poetological dimension to its theological
agenda.234 Gregory’s self-​conscious thematization of his poem reveals his militant transformation of classicizing poetry, which he adapts to a Christian register and thus betrays both his deep knowledge and articulate intent to subvert
his classical models irrespective of the shared stylistic features. Simultaneously
and whilst feeling apologetic about retaining the classicizing style as means to
converse with the gentiles, the overall tone of his poetry is marked by a stark
Christian and theological agenda. Being an ordained bishop and an ascetic may
have contributed to Gregory’s more apologetic and competitive approach to
classical antiquity.235 His poetry however stands to the opposite of the output
of “Dorotheus’ ” monastic community or the Metaphrasis of the Psalms, that is
attributed to another bishop, Apollinaris.
1.3.1.5 “Apollinaris”
This kind of self-​conscious attitude toward classicizing poetry is also evident
in the preface attributed to the bishop of Laodicea, the much-​debated poet of
the hexametric paraphrasis of Davidic Psalms.236 Irrespective of the issues
pertaining of the poem’s knotty authorship the appropriation of the classical past
and engagement with Homer is unproblematic. The Metaphrasis, written under
Constantine (cf. proth. 42) in the fourth century, is the only biblical poem in
Greek to have been transmitted together with a programmatic paratextual 110-​
hexameter-​long agenda, the protheoria. In it the poet “armed with the song of
immortal God” (proth. 1), a detail that alludes to Christian armory found in the
Pauline corpus (Eph 7:10: τὴν πανοπλίαν τοῦ θεοῦ), claims to bring a different
kind of light (proth. 3: φάος ἄλλο) through his song despite his blindness. The
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Homerocentones biblici
43
theme of spiritual blindness alludes to Apollinaris’ engagement with Homer,237
this time the poet’s legendary blindness associated with but not contrasted to
the theme of Christian illumination: in a fine case of Usurpation the Christian
armory safeguards the poet who sings of a different, though not necessarily
competing theme, φάος ἄλλο. Elsewhere he also compares his didactic motivation to Hesiod’s advice to Perses and poses as a kind of “Davidic Hesiod.”238
The poet of the Metaphrasis is intensely inclined to defend his metrical choice
but not so much in terms of appropriation of classical verse as with respect to
the transposition this entails. After all, he was rearranging into verse a lyric text
(proth. 15: μέτροις Ἑβραίοις) that had already been translated into Septuagint and
supposedly faithful prose (proth. 20–​21: μῦθοι δ’ ὧδε μένουσιν ἐτήτυμοι . . . ἐπέων
Πτολεμαῖος ἐέλδετο). His choice, he claims, is justified by the consolidation of
Christianity as the official religion across the ecumene (proth. 23–​26); the choice
of meter is based on its prestige among the gentiles as opposed to the plain style of
the Septuagint (proth. 22: ἔνθεν Ἀχαιοὶ | μείζονα μὲν φρονέεσκον ἐπὶ σφετέρῃσι
ἀοιδαῖς), and on its originally sacred appeal (105–​106: γλῶσσαν Ἰήονα . . . ἐκ
παλαχῆς θεότευκτος), and thus suitable to broadcast of the Christian message.239
By claiming hexameter to be the vehicle of Christian truth the poem deconstructs
centuries-​old pagan and Christian debates about the falsehoods inhabiting verse
versus prose and shows that the new topic purges the medium.240 Moreover,
it proposes a seamless, albeit thematically and self-​
consciously different
(φῶς ἄλλον), continuity between epic poetry, the Davidic hymns, and their new
hexametric amendment: by re-​transposing the hymns to their “original” metrical format (poth. 31: ἐγείρομεν αὖτις ἀοιδήν) the Metaphrasis does not show
Homer to have become Christian; instead, it implies that David (ought to have)
composed “originally” in Homeric hexameters, a stylistic choice that would have
guaranteed the popularity of his poem among the gentiles. As this did not happen,
in a striking demonstration of the cultural and imperial reclaim of Christianity
for the gentiles, the praise and the appropriation of the Christian message and the
success of its dissemination are credited to the pepaideumenos poet of the hexametric Psalms.
From the above it emerges that just as ancient readers attest to a versatile reception of Homer and the Bible, so too biblical poets treat both these sources of
inspiration quite differently. Some overarching shared tropes can be nonetheless
highlighted. All poets—​from that of the highbrow poet “Apollinaris” and Proba
to the “Dorotheus” of the Bodmer collection—​affirm that the subject matter
of the epic has changed, and that Christ and Salvation are henceforth the new
themes that guarantee both personal (Juvencus, Proba, Gregory, “Dorotheus,”
Apollinaris) and imperial salvation (Juvencus, Proba, Apollinaris). Beyond
Salvation the proclaiming of the evangelical truth seems to be yet another shared
motivation in composing Christian verse. Yet with respect to the re-​claim of the
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44
The Homeric Centos
classicizing tradition the attitudes differ. For example, unlike programmatic evidence from Latin works, the Greek poems and proems surveyed here—​with the
exception of Gregory’s—​indicate a seamless and less competitive appropriation
of both Homer and Hesiod.241 The very medium, as Apollinaris argues, could
benefit their cause, as it addresses a similarly educated cultural milieu which
made its Usurpation rather unproblematic: the Christian Muse and the Christian
bard were certainly converted but they didn’t always have to be baptized in the
Jordan or in Proba’s, more ambiguously pagan, Castalian source, nor did they
need to broadcast their conversion in apologetic terms, as Proba’s revision of her
old poetry does.
1.3.2 Homerocentones, a Biblical Poem
1.3.2.1 Patricius’ Hypothesis
Likewise, the two prefaces that the manuscript tradition associates with the
Homeric Centos reveal their dialogical relationship with Homer and shed light
on their treatment of biblical material. As these are composed from the writers’
own rather than borrowed centos, they offer personal and unmediated as well
as metaliterary reflections.242 The 38-​line-​long preamble transmitted in the
Palatine Anthology 1.119 (Waltz) is usually attributed to the Patricius to whom
the manuscript tradition credits a Homeric cento, and begins as follows:
βίβλος Πατρικίοιο θεουδέος ἀρητῆρος,
ὃς μέγα ἔργον ἔρεξεν, Ὁμηρείης ἀπὸ βίβλου
κυδαλίμων ἐπέων τεύξας ἐρίτιμον ἀοιδήν,
πρήξιας ἀγγέλλουσαν ἀνικήτοιο θεοῖο·
This is the Biblos of the god-​like243 Patricius, the priest, | who achieved a great deed: from the glorious
epics (ἐπέων) of the Homeric book | he crafted a precious song (ἀοιδή), | which preaches the deeds
(πρήξιας) of the unvanquished God.
The Hypothesis likens Patricius’ physical book to his cento (1) and sets it in
contrast to the book of Homeric epics (2–​3). Regarding Homer and his glorious
epics (2), these too only contribute to the confession of Christ, while Patricius
poses as a poet-​editor (3) in a seamless tradition from Homer to the Christian era.
The word ἐπέων encompasses a plethora of meanings—​from spoken or written
words in general, to hexameters, and to poetry in general. Here it summarizes the
centuries-​old oral and written reception of the Homeric text (βίβλος), which has
assumed a sacred character. The performative aspect of Patricius’ text is further
highlighted by the reference to the precious song (ἀοιδή).244 The poetic intention
appears in the self-​reflexive term (τεύξας)245 that balances in the middle of the
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Homerocentones biblici
45
verse between the old Homeric model (κυδαλίμων ἐπέων) and the new poem
which is presented in the jeweled fashion as a precious song (ἐρίτιμον ἀοιδήν).
The participle is carefully chosen to signify the poet’s and the poem’s craft, one
that in both the Homeric context and in Late Antiquity, was closely related to the
painstaking creation of ekphraseis, and did not simply indicate the “editing” of
the Homeric model but also the forging of a new poem.
The actual contents of the new Christian poem are described as the deeds
(πρήξιας) of Christ, and though not as unambiguous as Juvencus’ phrase vitalia
gesta, the term does have a similar historiographic tinge: in a Christian context,
the Greek word alludes to such more or less canonical Christian narratives as the
Acts (πράξεις) of the Apostles. That said, the Hypothesis does not draw attention
to any contrast between the poem’s classical models and its content, a detail all
the more striking as he was a priest, and, as such could have been more polemical
in his approach, as for example Gregory in his defense of his verses. Instead, like
“Apollinaris” and “Dorotheus,” the cento poet simply lists his theme in the form
of a catalogue, a popular feature of didactic poetry, meant primarily to engage
readers in the text and provide them with a panoramic ekphrastic overview.246
Patricius’ catalogue stretches from the incarnation to the Resurrection,247 and
ends, as in the case of Juvencus or “Dorotheus,” with the ultimate confession
that the risen Lord is the Son, begotten in times of old, of the everlasting God
(28): ἀνστὰς ἐν τριτάτῃ φαεσιμβρότῳ ἠριγενείῃ | ἀρχέγονον βλάστημα θεοῦ
γενετῆρος ἀνάρχου.248 This profession is tantamount to a declaration of credo as
it evokes the second chapter of the Nicene-​Constantinopolitan Creed.249 As such
the end of the poem, which in its current version recounts the Ascension, and its
Hypothesis, corresponds to a ritual performance of personal faith.
1.3.2.2 Eudocia’s Apologia
The so-​called Apologia (transmitted in Vat. Suppl. Gr. 388)250 attributed to
Eudocia may cast more light on the artistic program of Christian cento poetry
as it explains both the purpose and the content of the poem, and also includes
some self-​conscious editorial remarks. Yet for all its apologetic connotations the
Apologia is rather unapologetic regarding its Christian motivation. The apology
Eudocia, as it appears from the text below, offers concerns more about technical
and editorial challenges she encountered:
ἧδε μὲν ἱστορίη θεοτερπέος ἐστὶν ἀοιδῆς.
Πατρίκιος δ’, ὃς τῆνδε σοφῶς ἀνεγράψατο βίβλον,
ἔστι μὲν ἀενάοιο διαμπερὲς ἄξιος αἴνου,
οὕνεκα δὴ πάμπρωτος ἐμήσατο κύδιμον ἔργον.
ἀλλ’ ἔμπης οὐ πάγχυ ἐτήτυμα πάντ’ ἀγόρευεν· 5
οὐδὲ μὲν ἁρμονίην ἐπέων ἐφύλαξεν ἅπασαν,
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46
The Homeric Centos
οὐδὲ μόνων ἐπέων ἐμνήσατο κεῖνος ἀείδων,
ὁππόσα χάλκεον ἦτορ ἀμεμφέος εἶπεν Ὁμήρου.
ἀλλ’ ἐγὼ ἡμιτέλεστον ἀγακλεὲς ὡς ἴδον ἔργον
Πατρικίου, σελίδας ἱερὰς μετὰ χεῖρα λαβοῦσα, 10
ὅσσα μὲν ἐν βίβλοισιν ἔπη πέλεν οὐ κατὰ κόσμον,
πάντ’ ἄμυδις κείνοιο σοφῆς ἐξείρυσα βίβλου·
ὅσσα δ’ ἐκεῖνος ἔλειπεν, ἐγὼ πάλιν ἐν σελίδεσσι
γράψα καὶ ἁρμονίην ἱεροῖς ἐπέεσσιν ἔδωκα.
εἰ δέ τις αἰτιόῳτο καὶ ἡμέας ἐς ψόγον ἕλκοι, 15
δοιάδες οὕνεκα πολλαὶ ἀρίζηλον κατὰ βίβλον
εἰσὶν Ὁμηρείων τ’ ἐπέων πόλλ’ οὐ θέμις ἐστίν,
ἴστω τοῦθ’, ὅτι πάντες ὑποδρηστῆρες ἀνάγκης.
εἰ δέ τις ὑμνοπόλοιο σαόφρονα Τατιανοῖο
μολπὴν εἰσαΐων σφετέρην τέρψειεν ἀκουήν, 20
δοιάδας οὕνεκα κεῖνος Ὁμηρείων ἀπὸ βίβλων
οὔ ποτε συγχεύας σφετέρῃ ἐνεθήκατο δέλτῳ,
οὐ ξένον, οὕνεκα κεῖνος Ὁμηρείης ἀπὸ μολπῆς,
κείνων δ’ ἐξ ἐπέων σφετέρων ποίησεν ἀοιδήν
Τρώων τ’ Ἀργείων τε κακὴν ἐνέπουσαν ἀϋτήν, 25
ὥς τε πόλιν Πριάμοιο διέπραθον υἷες Ἀχαιῶν,
αὐτὴν Τροίαν ἔχουσαν, ἐν ἀργαλέῳ τε κυδοιμῷ
μαρναμένους αὐτούς τε θεούς, αὐτούς τε καὶ ἄνδρας,
οὕς ποτε χαλκεόφωνος ἀνὴρ ἀΰτησεν Ὅμηρος.
Πατρίκιος δ’, ὃς τῆνδε σοφὴν ἀνεγράψατο δέλτον 30
ἀντὶ μὲν Ἀργείων στρατιῆς γένος εἶπεν Ἑβραίων,
ἀντὶ δὲ δαιμονίης τε καὶ ἀντιθέοιο φάλαγγος
ἀθανάτους ἤεισε καὶ υἱέα καὶ γενετῆρα.
ἀλλ’ ἔμπης ξυνὸς μὲν ἔφυ πόνος ἀμφοτέροισι,
Πατρικίῳ κἀμοί, καὶ θηλυτέρῃ περ ἐούσῃ· 35
κεῖνος δ’ ἤρατο μοῦνος ἐν ἀνθρώποις μέγα κῦδος,
ὃς πάμπρωτος ἐπήξατο κλεινὸν ἕδος γε δόμοιο251
καλὴν ἐξανάγων φήμην βροτέοιο γενέθλης.
This is the story of a god-​pleasing song. | Patricius, who wrote it down wisely in a book, | is, of
course, obviously worthy of eternal praise, | because he first of all invented this holy work. | But still
he did not preach everything fully truthfully; | nor did he keep intact the metrical harmony; | nor
did he evoke only those verses that he (Homer) was singing; | all those the copper-​hearted blameless
Homer was telling. | But I myself, when I saw Patricius’ praise-​worthy work unfinished, | picked up
the holy pages with my two hands, and those verses in his books that seemed disorderly | I entirely
discarded from that man’s wise book. | But those that remained [I copied/​wrote again in pages] | and
I harmonized the sacred verses. | If now one were to blame us too | because there are many couplets
in the distinguished book | from the Homeric verses against the [cento?] rules, | let this be known to
him: we are all Necessity’s assistants. | If now one delights his ears by listening to the wise song of the
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Homerocentones biblici
47
hymn-​singer252 Tatian | because he did not compile couplets from the Homeric books, | nor write
them in his own booklet, | it comes as no surprise: for he composed his song | from the Homeric
song but also from his own verses, the song, namely, that spoke about the war-​cry of the Trojans and
the Argives | and how the Argives sacked the city of Priam | and how Troy resisted, and in the horrible battle the gods and men alike were battling, | those who once the copper-​voiced Homer recited
aloud. | But Patricius, who wrote this wise booklet, | instead of the Argive army spoke about the
Jewish kin, | and instead of the phalanx of demons and antichrists, he sang about both immortals,
and Son and Father. | But truly the labor was shared for both of us, | for Patricius and myself alike,
although I am a woman; |Though he alone will receive great glory among men | because first of all he
fastened together the glorious foundation of the structure, | setting out the noble fame of his mortal
origin.
The Apologia addresses the four following topics in this order: the gender
of the poet, the poem’s cultural milieu, the poet’s editing/​compositional
skills (in comparison to Patricius’), her cento technique (in comparison to
Tatian’s), and her reuse of Homer. This preface clearly indicates female authorship (10: λαβοῦσα; 35: καὶ θηλυτέρῃ περ ἐούσῃ) and is rightly attributed to
the Empress (Eudocia) as a famous poet of centos.253 Fascinating is the reference to the physical output of this toil in the form of a book intended for
oral performance.254 The poet presents the contents of the preface as a historical account255—​ἱστορίη ἀοιδῆς—​of the composition of the song, which
was meant to be performed, given the emphasis given on song in it (1: ἀοιδή;
5: ἀείδων; 33: ἤεισε). Then follows the description of the editing of Patricius’
physical book as a careful philological activity (10: σελίδας; 11: ἐν βίβλοισιν
ἔπη; 13: πάλιν ἐν σελίδεσσι). The disambiguation between performed song/​
epic and its bookish layout is also stressed in the case of Tatian’s poetry256 but
also Homer’s.257 This interplay between the oral/​aural and the written, and the
merging of philology with performance are of primary importance to our understanding of the cultural context in which I HC appeared: because the interplay modulates between orality, philology, and a reading culture give the
impression of a seamless transition from Homer to Tatian, to Patricius and finally Eudocia.
The philological touch is evident in the preface’s information about the expectations raised by such compositions.258 For example, the reference to Eudocia’s
painstaking co-​composition and co-​editing of Patricius’ text (34: ξυνὸς πόνος)
included restoration of the poem to metrical, chiefly, “harmony” (6: ἁρμονίην),
to thematic accuracy (5: ἐτήτυμα),259 for which the emendation of several, probably, non-​Homeric or Patricius’ own or other (7: οὐδὲ μόνων ἐπέων), lines was
required.260 We cannot be certain whether these terms address more thematic
rather than technical amendments but probably they refer to both with a focus
on the first. The latter is discussed in a digression about Tatian, a poet, who
may have been a poet of centos.261 A letter of Libanius of ca. 390 reports that he
wrote what seems a sequel or a cento that reused Homeric lines in some kind of
combination and possibly with his “own” lines: ποιήσεως συναφθείσης τῇ παρ’
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The Homeric Centos
Ὁμήρου δι’ αὐτῶν τῶν Ὁμήρου.262 Additionally, the term δοιάδας, which the
Apologia mentions in relation to his virtuosity, equally is contested.263 The difficulty begins with the assumptions regarding Ausonius’ two-​line handicap, as it
excludes other possibilities of cento composition, for example with interpolated
lines or from different poets, from which the first is probably at Apologia 7 and
21: οὐδὲ μόνων ἐπέων . . . κείνων δ’ ἐξ ἐπέων σφετέρων ποίησεν ἀοιδὴν.264 On
the other hand, more helpful in this respect than Libanius’ letter, the Byzantine
paratexts tell another tale about Tatian,265 whom they present chiefly as a composer of centos as Mark Usher has convincingly argued. Both manuscripts with
Schembra’s sigla N (=​Vatican Ottob. gr. 301) and m (=​Munich gr. 243) imply
that Tatian wrote centos that never borrowed two consecutive lines from
Homer. The scribes then were inclined to interpret δοιάδας in the way that
Ausonius did, that is, as evidence of poetic virtuosity, and to see Tatian as an
author of some kind of cento poetry.266 Surely cento poetry would have been
a particularly good field in which to flaunt one’s poetic virtuosity—​the more
challenging the feat, the greater is the one who masters it—​and this is to what
Libanius’ mention of a third editing of Tatian’s poems attests. As for Eudocia,
her understanding of the need for editing seems to acknowledge a middle way
between the virtuosic reuse of Homer in non-​Christian poetry and the conveyance of the veracity of the Christian message, which unlike the Homeric content, may have called for a less adventurous approach as her appeal to Necessity
(18) suggests.267
The other fascinating bit of information in the Apologia has to do with
the poem’s debt to Homer. In the work, Homer is described as blameless
(8: ἀμεμφής),268 yet his verses are said to have been dictated (8: εἶπεν) to him
by his bronze (i.e., valiant) heart and not by the Muse, the traditional source of
inspiration, which may seem as a downplay of the traditional topos of divine inspiration. However, Patricius too appears reciting (31: εἶπεν) a Christian poem
that is to be performed as a song (33). The use of εἶπεν here reveals two manners of reciting which are not in the same register. Homer’s voice is louder, an
acoustic metaphor that juxtaposes brass sounds to a war cry and relates them
to the typical themes of epic, heroic wars. In other words, the performance of
Homer’s epics—​at least to a late antique audience—​must have complemented
their subject matter, i.e., a bombastic recitation evocative of a battle cry.
By contrast, Patricius did not sing about battle cries (25: ἀϋτήν, “shout”) or
themes such as the ones once recited by the brass-​speaking/​shouting Homer
(29: χαλκεόφωνος . . . ἀΰτησεν). Accordingly, the subject matter of the Christian
cento seems to have been performed differently—​though the poem does not reveal exactly how—​irrespective of the shared medium, the hexameter, and performative style, recitation (εἶπεν . . . ἀϋτήν/​ἀΰτησεν). The preface then suggests
the same as what Patricius had written in a booklet on the Jewish genealogy
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Homerocentones biblici
49
(31: δέλτον . . . γένος εἶπεν Ἑβραίων) and sung (33: ἤεισε) of the Godhead. The
new theme changes the manner of recitation and its epic content from battle cry
about heroic deeds to a softer timbre that implies a historicist/​didactic poem
with hymnic character.
Despite the highlighted tone of heroic war-​themed epic, the subversion of
epic’s traditional content in the Apologia is less apologetic than Proba’s. Although
we know that Eudocia the poetess composed other epic poetry, such as an epic/​
panegyric poem about her husband’s campaign against the Persians, she does not
refute her previous work, as Proba does. This may imply that her non-​Christian
work was not necessarily as contested as Proba thinks of her own or that she
did not feel the urge to defend Christian verse like Gregory. Yet more central is
the impression given in the preface that cento continues to incorporate Homer
seamlessly into the Christian poem, in which Tatian’s is fused with Patricius’
theme. The Apologia is not a defense of Christian poetry in classicizing verse,
but rather a metaliterary account of Eudocia’s own poetic revision of a religious
song: ἱστορίη θεοτερπέος ἀοιδῆς. In the preface, the proof of veracity lies not in
the actual truth of the Homeric or Christian text, but mainly in the content and
style. The criticism at stake here (5: οὐ πάγχυ ἐτήτυμα) is not one directed at
the original Homeric/​mythological poetry, but at the quality of her predecessor’s
already biblical-​themed work. The same philological motive seems to lurk behind the references to the harmony achieved (6) through the editing, which
highlights prosodic issues. However—​and ironically—​as much as Homer was
often considered throughout antiquity as the fountainhead of every literary and
scientific invention, credit for the “first invention” (4: πάμπρωτος) of Christian
centos is bestowed upon Patricius and his half-​finished work.269 The references
to Patricius imply a praiseworthy connection to valiant Homeric heroes
(4: κύδιμον ἔργον; 36: μέγα κῦδος),270 and epigraphic sepulchral testimony,271
indicating, perhaps, that Patricius is no longer alive,272 which would explain the
subtlety with which Eudocia revises and critiques his work and downplays her
own additions. In the epilogue of the preface, Patricius is no longer merely the
protos heuretes of Christian Homeric centos, but also the founder of an artistic
edifice (37). This may have been done to create the illusion that the preface was a
kind of sepulchral inscription to celebrate the now-​deemed monumental poetic
construction of Patricius.273
At the metaliterary level, the spolia aesthetic echoes in the architectural metaphor, accentuates the amalgamation of cultures as well as the seamless reception and re-​editing of Homeric verse in a Christian poem. In such a context, the
role of the poet-​editor is not necessarily downplayed, as one modern critic may
have thought,274 but rather elevated as s/​he participates in a poetic production
that has gone on for centuries. The Apologia is neither Eudocia’s justification of
her motives to compose or edit classicizing Christian poetry, nor apologetic with
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50
The Homeric Centos
respect to epic’s pagan themes; rather it is primarily a confession of faith, a diary
of her poetic endeavors, and a defense of her editing method, especially if this involved the revision of a half-​finished work by a man who was now dead. According
to Apollinaris, hexameters are divine (proth. 17: θεσπεσίων τὸ πρόσθεν) and according the Apologia belong to a blameless poet (8: ἀμεμφέος),275 with whom
one needs not compete overtly.276 In the Apologia, Homer is not necessarily
“mutatus in melius” or transformed into a Christian saint and bard as Virgil is
in the preface to Proba’s Cento,277 but serves instead as a vehicle for promoting
the Christian message, as do the Vision of Dorotheus and the Metaphrasis of the
Psalms. Notwithstanding the copyreader’s tact, Patricius falls short not only of
Homer but also of his editor as the Byzantine manuscript tradition reserves the
title of “most illustrious” (λαμπροτάτη) for Eudocia, the admired Theodosian
empress and poetess.278
1.4 Summary
Was Homer mutatus in melius when transposed into a Christian register?
Programmatically, this chapter has aimed at unweaving the Homeric from the
biblical threads in the I HC in order to show how they were used in the new
Christian context. The analysis above demonstrated in particular the variety of
secular and religious cento compositions that existed in antiquity. In terms of ancient readership, the Christian exegetes’ strong condemnation of the cento practice suggests that the laity was quite fond of this kind of poetry, which demanded
that the audience play an active role in decoding its meaning. The discussion of
the ancient readership of cento poetry stresses the difference in attitude based
on the background of each reader: Jerome is more critical, the Church historian
Socrates less so, while Sozomen writing in the heyday of cento composition may
actually have been an enthusiastic reader. For later critics such as Eustathius,
who was influenced by Humanism, the Homeric potential of this kind of composition far exceeded that of their Christian theme. The Christian cento was a bold
experiment in late Christian classicism whose interpretation depended mainly
on the reader. While some saw the Homer epic as endorsing the Christian cause,
others believed that it distorted the “purity” of the Bible, and yet others were
simply mesmerized by the virtuoso results. One could read more or less Homer
and more or less Bible into it. The ambiguous relationship between the Homeric
and biblical character of the centos was propagated in their early modern reception: whereas the earlier editions treat the Homerocentones as biblical poems
and combine them with other Christian literature, later editions pair them with
Homer, a practice that was eventually to contribute to their negative reception by
modern critics who were unimpressed by their less-​than-​Homeric polish.
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Homerocentones biblici
51
The I HC is Homeric with respect not only to its compositional units, centos,
but also to other Homeric features, yet is still a late antique epic poem. The examination of the selected Homeric lines illustrates above all the debt of this kind
of poetry to the centuries-​long practice of reading, memorizing, commenting
on, and quoting Homer at both the school level and beyond. Homer was part
of Greek cultural identity and could be used to various ends. At the rhetorical
level, the Homeric Centos revise Homer to make him fit the aesthetics of Late
Antiquity. Even when formulaic characterization and type scenes do appear,
they obey the new rules of poikilia. Similarly, the extensive adaptation of formulaic language, typical scenes, ekphraseis and similes in the poem and its
moralizing touches, all reflect the rhetorical and literary culture in which they
were used than their archaic models. On the other hand, the reception of the
Homeric language highlighted here moves beyond the lexical unit and rhetorical practice, and certainly far beyond school practice. Although the Homeric
Centos reflect the overall reception of Homer that emerges also in the analysis by
Raffaella Cribiore, it cannot be stressed enough that the popularity of particular
books or passages also hinged on the particular circumstances of a Homerizing
poem. Although ancient readers favored Book 4 of the Odyssey, the second most
commonly referenced book in the I HC was Book 2, as its thematic constituents
resonate with the content of the new poem. Book 2 then was read in a Christian
manner, pillaged for outdoor-​
assembly scenes, used for reconsidering sin,
and especially for discussing nostos and the Sonship of Jesus in Odyssean and
Telemachean terms respectively.
This kind of Homeric appropriation is important for understanding the engagement with the Homeric text. Whereas the lines we looked at may exemplify
Usurpation or Kontrastimitation or “non-​referential allusions,” the kind frequently found in the poem were chiefly part of the rhetorical education. This
complex reception of the poet’s work suggests the existence of a Homeric koine.
By vulgate I mean not only the common Homeric Kunstsprache vivid in poetry
from the Archaic era onward,279 or the Homeric koine in the edited and authorial Homeric text in circulation,280 but rather the shared use in Late Antiquity of
epic style with respect to meter, formulae, and thematic, to cite one of his many
contributions to this topic.281 This kind of Homeric koine must be seen not only
as a literary language, but also as a cultural currency. The Second Sophistic movement in the Greek-​speaking world that followed the Roman conquest prompted
the Greeks to re-​evaluate their relationship to their past in Homeric terms, among
others. The Christian cento attempts the same rhetorical re-​claiming of Homer,
following the linear tradition of reading, commenting, reusing, criticizing, and
inventing with and/​or against Homer. In this sense, the Homeric Centos participate in the long ancient debates on Homeric criticism. As for the Bible’s reception, we saw that compared to the programmatic statements expressed in other
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52
The Homeric Centos
biblical poems composed in Latin, Greek Christian poetry is less homogenous
in its ideological programmatic exhortations and displays various degrees of
self-​reflexivity; both Juvencus and Proba emphasize their turn away from the
classicizing past, and Proba in particular renounces her prior works of non-​
Christian content, an attitude we find in the polemical claims of Gregory of
Nazianzus. By contrast, other Greek hexametric poems such as the Metaphrasis
of the Psalms do not compete directly with the tradition. Other works such as
the Vision of Dorotheus allude to the classical, Hesiodean and Homeric models,
without dwelling on their pagan content. In such a variegated environment, the
programmatic statements found in the Hypothesis of Patricius or the Apologia
of the Homeric Centos are puzzling. The first provides a rough summary of the
poem, while the second acknowledges both the technique of contemporary secular poets, such as Tatian, and the invention of Christian poets, such as Patricius.
And while the author notes the change in theme—​the incarnation of the Word
instead of Iliadic battles—​she does note that Homer is the cornerstone of a tradition that she too followed when composing, editing, and performing her song.
The idea of Virgil singing of the Christian God, as he is characterized in Proba, or
of an ameliorated Virgil, as in the scribe’s cento dedication has no parallel in the
Greek cento, in which Homer, despite no longer being inspired explicitly by the
Muse, is and remains ἀμεμφής. The poetess of the Apologia set out to compose a
biblical poem in Homeric hexameter according to a long tradition that stretched
from the Bard to the mythological-​themed epics of Tatian and the biblical centos
of Patricius. The I HC is stitched with both Homeric and biblical threads in a
dense composition whose craft offers insight into both the classicizing technique
and the Christian message. Balancing on this dual register and cultural inheritance, we now turn to the third focus of this book: the question of the poem’s
female focalization and audience.
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