Note sul genere letterario della poesia parafrastica biblica latina

In the space that poetry came to occupy in the context of Christian Latin literature, with strict adherence to the modules of classical Latin poetry, we find the Heptateuchos, a paraphrase of the first seven books of the OT by an anonymous author, which may be dated to the 5th century. It is aimed at exalting the truth of the biblical message, and was initially intended for a cultured public, then later used as an exemplum in medieval scholastic texts of a metricprosodic and grammatical nature. The results of a recent detailed critical treatment of the poem of the Heptateuchos are presented, with a systematic investigation of its structure, its relationship with classical – in particular Virgil – and Christian models, and of the complex modes of textual transmission in the direct and indirect tradition (M. R. Petringa). We also assess evidence supporting the theory that the poem – transmitted by miscellaneous manuscripts where “the criterion of attribution based on direct tradition is weakened” – is anonymous. We agree with the validity of the methodological criterion to be applied to late antiquity paraphrastic poetry, where biblical sources interfere in pagan and scholastic models, and we should not overestimate the mechanical reuse of common motifs and formulas from the repertoire. The suggestive and elegant paraphrastic technique of the Heptateuchos poet who, interpreting biblical texts, gave new meanings to the lexicon of Roman epic, exemplifies the real innovative value that should be attributed to this type of Christian exegesis and Christian epic, of which ancient Christian poets were well aware (A. V. Nazzaro).