Repository logo
 

Joseph as a model for Faunus-Hermes: myth, history, and fiction in the fourth century

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorGarstad, Benjamin
dc.date.accessioned2020-11-03
dc.date.accessioned2022-05-31T01:16:14Z
dc.date.available2022-05-31T01:16:14Z
dc.date.issued2009
dc.description.abstractFaunus-who-is-also-Hermes is one of the composite god-kings dealt with in the polemical Christian 'Picus-Zeus narrative' of the fourth century. The narrative of his life is based on the Biblical account of Joseph, along with the elaborations on Joseph's life in Hellenistic Jewish fiction. Whereas Joseph is a virtuous hero, however, Faunus-Hermes is a villain who practices sorcery and usurpation and ultimately induces men to worship him as a god. The Hellenistic novels and especially the philosophical considerations of Philo of Alexandria accentuate the ambiguities in Joseph which might allow a bad character to be developed out of his good character. The Clementine Recognitions, moreover, offer an understanding of history and human character according to which good and evil come in contrasting and inimical pairs. Altogether, the use of Joseph as a model for Faunus-Hermes allows the author to subtly introduce a moral message in what seems to be a blunt and unadorned history.
dc.description.urihttps://library.macewan.ca/full-record/edsjsr/edsjsr.20700339
dc.identifier.citationGarstad, Benjamin. “Joseph as a model for Faunus-Hermes: Myth, history, and fiction in the fourth century.” Vigiliae Christianae 63 (2009) 493-521.
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1163/157007208X389875
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14078/2012
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen
dc.rightsAll Rights Reserved
dc.subjectChristian fiction
dc.subjectClementine literature
dc.subjectEuhemerism
dc.subjectFaunus-Hermes
dc.subjectJoseph
dc.subjectmagic
dc.titleJoseph as a model for Faunus-Hermes: myth, history, and fiction in the fourth centuryen
dc.typeArticle

Files

Collections

Department of Humanities