A Commentary on Augustine's De cura pro mortuis gerenda : Rhetoric in Practice (Amsterdam Studies in Classical Philology) (English and Latin Edition)

In De cura pro mortuis gerenda Augustine interweaves an assessment of burial near the memorial of a martyr with a series of dream narratives. The seeming lack of coherence between argument and narrative in this treatise has puzzled many scholars. Combining an analysis of the overall structure of the argument and a detailed philological commentary, this study shows that Augustine's text forms a well-composed unity. The study is based on discourse-linguistic and narratological concepts as well as an analysis of the global structure of the narratives. Relying on this combined approach Rose demonstrates how Augustine explores the full breadth of his narrative material in the service of his argument. In addition, this book situates Augustine's text in its cultural-historical context. Contents 6 Acknowledgements 10 Abbreviations 12 1. Works of Reference 12 2. Books of the Bible 13 Preliminary Remarks 16 The Aim of This Commentary 16 The Structure of the Commentary 17 The Lemmata 18 The Author of De cura pro mortuis gerenda 19 Late Latin 19 The Text Edition by Zycha 19 Division of the Text into Chapters and Sections 21 Prose Rhythm 22 PART ONE. GENERAL INTRODUCTION 24 Chapter One. Epistolary Friendship 26 1.1. Augustine's Life at the Time of Writing De cura pro mortuis gerenda 26 1.1.1. Death and Burial in Augustine's Inner Circle 26 1.1.2. Changing Aspirations 29 1.1.3. A Network of Writing Friends 30 1.2. The Dating of De cura pro mortuis gerenda 30 1.3. Paulinus of Nola 35 1.3.1. Life of Paulinus 35 1.3.2. Paulinus' Correspondence with Alypius and Augustine 40 1.4. Lady Flora 42 1.4.1. Possible Family Relations 42 1.4.2. Social Background 44 1.4.3. Geographical Background 44 Chapter Two. Death, Burial and the Hereafter in Augustine's Works 48 2.1. A 'Topography' of the Hereafter: Metaphors of Space 48 2.1.1. An Afterlife in Two Stages 48 2.1.2. Conceptions of an Undivided Afterlife 51 2.1.3. The Martyrs in Paradise 52 2.2. Tools for the Living: Prayers, the Eucharist and the Giving of Alms 53 2.2.1. Commemoration of the Deceased: Three Augustinian Sources 53 2.2.2. Commemoration Rituals and the Church as the Body of Christ 54 2.2.3. Commemoration Prayers 56 2.2.4. The Giving of Alms as an Alternative to Commemoration Meals 59 2.3. Depositio ad sanctos 60 2.3.1. The Saints and Their Power 60 2.3.2. Great Expectations 61 2.3.3. Different Views on the 'Making of Martyrs' 63 Chapter Three. The Structure of De cura pro mortuis gerenda 68 3.1. Current Views 69 3.1.1. The Relation between the Two Main Parts of the Treatise 69 3.1.2. The Main Theme of the Treatise: Problems and Views 70 3.2. Towards a New Interpretation 72 3.3. Textual Coherence and Rhetorical Strategies 75 3.3.1. Method of Analysis: A Mixed Literary-Linguistic Approach 75 3.3.2. Scriptural References Used as a Rhetorical Device 81 3.3.3. De cura pro mortuis gerenda: A Survey of the Argumentative Structure 84 PART TWO. COMMENTARY 96 What Is the Usefulness of Burial ad sanctos? 98 Introduction to Sections 1.1-1.3 98 Section 1.1 99 Section 1.2 119 Section 1.3 130 Worst-Case Scenario: No Burial at All 138 Introduction to Sections 2.3-3.5 138 1. Between Virgil and Luke 138 2. Putting the Value of Burial into Perspective 139 3. Possible Influence from Tusculanae Disputationes 1 140 Section 2.3 141 Section 2.4 155 Section 3.5 182 Burial ad sanctos: Interaction between Place and Prayer 200 Introduction to Sections 4.6-5.7 200 1. Care for the Place of Burial 200 2. The Relation between Soul and Body 201 3. Refrigerium interim 201 Section 4.6 202 Section 5.7 228 Attachment to the Body versus Care for the Soul 244 Introduction to Sections 6.8-9.11 244 1. Martyrdom: Overcoming the Attachment to One's Own Body 244 2. The Story of the Two Prophets in IIIRg. 13 246 3. The Story of IIIRg. 13 in Other Texts by Augustine 247 4. God Allowing Evil 248 Section 6.8 250 Section 7.9 264 Section 8.10 287 Section 9.11 301 What about a Request for Burial in a Dream? 310 Introduction to Section 10.12 310 1. Section 10.12 as a Hinge in the Text 310 2. The Structure of Section 10.12 312 3. Misled by the Deceased 312 Section 10.12 314 Augustinus Narrator: Dreaming of the Deceased 338 Introduction to Sections 11.13-13.15 338 1. The Structure of Sections 11.13-13.15 338 2. Visions: Between Appearance and Reality 340 3. The Dreams in cura mort. 11.13: Internal Cause or External Source? 343 4. Section 11.13: The Analogy of the Two Narratives 344 5. Section 12.15: Wandering the Nether World 349 Section 11.13 352 Section 12.14 369 Analysis of the Narrative in Section 12.15-13.15 377 1. The Narrative in Section 12.15: A Case of Multiple Complexity 378 2. Discourse Modes 379 3. Narratological Concepts 381 4. Combined Narratological and Discourse-Linguistic Analysis 383 5. Conclusion 398 Section 12.15-13.15 399 Present Angels, Absent Deceased 428 Introduction to Sections 13.16-15.18 428 1. Section 13.16: si rebus uiuentium interessent animae mortuorum É 428 2. Section 14.17: Abraham nesciuit nos 429 3. The Deceased Resting in Abraham's Bosom 430 4. Section 15.18: Exceptional Cases of Interaction between Dead and Living 433 5. The Witch of Endor (IRg. 28: 3-25) 433 6. The Story of IRg. 28 in Augustine's Works 435 Section 13.16 440 Section 14.17 463 Section 15.18 476 Asking an Expert: John of Lycopolis 494 Introduction to Sections 16.19-17.21 494 1. The Structure of Sections 16.19-20 494 2. Miracles 499 3. The Structure of Section 17.21: John of Lycopolis 503 4. The Structure of the Complex Interrogative Clauses 508 Section 16.19 510 Section 16.20 524 Section 17.21 540 Appendix. Historia monachorum 1.10-17 (Ed. Schulz-Fluegel, Berlin 1990) 578 Burial ad sanctos: An Incentive for Recommending the Deceased 580 Introduction to Sections 18.22-23 580 1. Section 18.22: A Selective Conclusion 580 2. Section 18.23: Politeness for the Benefit of Unity 582 3. A Disappointing Answer? 583 Section 18.22 583 Section 18.23 593 Bibliography 606 Editions, Translations, Commentaries: Augustine 606 De Academicis 606 De anima et eius origine 606 De ciuitate dei 606 Confessiones 607 De continentia 607 De cura pro mortuis gerenda ad Paulinum episcopum 607 De diuersis quaestionibus octoginta tribus 607 De doctrina christiana 607 Enarrationes in Psalmos 608 Enchiridion de fide spe et caritate 608 Epistulae 608 De Genesi ad litteram 608 De gestis Pelagii 609 In Iohannis euangelium tractatus CXXIV 609 De moribus ecclesiae catholicae et de moribus Manichaeorum 609 De octo Dulcitii quaestionibus 609 De ordine 609 De patientia 609 De praedestinatione sanctorum 609 Retractationes 610 Sermones 610 De spiritu et littera 610 De trinitate 610 De uera religione 610 Editions, Translations, Commentaries: Other Antique Writers and Texts 610 {Ambrose} 610 {Ammianus Marcellinus} 611 {Arnobius of Sicca} 611 {Aulus Gellius} 611 {Bible} 611 {Celsus} 612 {Cicero} 612 {Codex Theodosianus} 613 {Columella} 614 Q. Curtius Rufus 614 {Cyprian} 614 {Eusebius Pamphili} 614 {Fulgentius of Ruspe} 614 {Gerontius} 614 {Hagiography} 615 {Hilary of Poitiers} 615 Historia monachorum in Aegypto 615 {Horace} 615 {Inscriptions} 615 {Jerome} 615 {Lactantius} 615 {Livy} 616 {Lucan} 616 {Lucretius} 616 {Macrobius} 616 {Origen} 616 {Ovid} 616 {Palladius of Helenopolis} 616 {Paulinus of Nola} 617 {Placitus of Papyra} 617 {Plato} 617 {Plautus} 617 {Pliny the Elder} 617 {Pliny the Younger} 618 {Propertius} 618 {Prudentius} 618 {Quintilian} 618 {Rufinus of Aquileia} 618 {Sallust} 618 {Seneca} 618 {Sulpicius Seuerus} 619 {Tacitus} 619 {Terence} 619 {Tertullian} 619 {Valerius Maximus} 619 {Varro} 620 {Virgil} 620 {Jacobus de Voragine} 620 {Zosimus} 620 Secondary Literature 620 Index of Latin Words 640 General Index 644 This Study Demonstrates That Augustine's De Cura Pro Mortuis Gerenda Forms A Well-composed Unity Of Narrative And Argument. It Combines An Analysis Of The Argumentative Structure With A Philological Commentary, Situating The Text In Its Cultural-historical Context. By Paula J. Rose. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.