Paul the god in Acts 28: A Comparison with Philoctetes
This essay treats an instance of literary aemulatio. Paul in Acts 28, like the famous hero Philoctetes, is bitten by a poisonous snake on a secluded island. The responses of these two figures to the bite, however, are fundamentally different. Philoctetes suffers extreme agony after his snakebite; Pa...
| Published in: | Journal of Biblical literature |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Scholar's Press
[2017]
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| In: |
Journal of Biblical literature
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Bible. Apostelgeschichte 28
/ Paul Apostle
/ Philoctetes
/ Snakebite
/ Healing
/ Hero (Motif)
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| RelBib Classification: | BE Greco-Roman religions HC New Testament |
| Further subjects: | B
PHILOCTETES (Mythological character)
B Bible. Acts B Paul, The Apostle, Saint B Suffering B Healers B Snakebites |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This essay treats an instance of literary aemulatio. Paul in Acts 28, like the famous hero Philoctetes, is bitten by a poisonous snake on a secluded island. The responses of these two figures to the bite, however, are fundamentally different. Philoctetes suffers extreme agony after his snakebite; Paul does not register any pain at all. Philoctetes issues horrible cries illustrating the depths of his suffering; Paul does not let out a whimper. Philoctetes begs to be burned with fire; Paul casually shakes off his viper into a fire. Philoctetes must be healed by doctors; Paul himself, after being bitten, becomes a healer. In this depiction, Paul transcends the values undergirding Greco-Roman conceptions of the manly hero. Paul is portrayed as a new kind of hero, one who is invulnerable and divine. |
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| ISSN: | 1934-3876 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Biblical literature
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.15699/jbl.1363.2017.288402 |