Reception and Rejection

doi:10.1017/9781009008631.012

Chapter 9 - Reception and Rejection

Thecla and the Acts of Paul and Thecla in the Passion of Eugenia and Other Latin Texts

from Part II - An Act to Surpass

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 May 2022

Klazina Staat

Edited by

Ghazzal Dabiri and

Flavia Ruani

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Ghazzal Dabiri: Affiliation:
University of Maryland, College Park
Flavia Ruani: Affiliation:
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris

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Summary

In this chapter, I compare the characterization of Thecla in the Latin translation of the Acts of Paul and Thecla (henceforth APT) and of Eugenia in two Latin versions of the Passion of Eugenia (BHL 2667 and 2666). As scholars have already noted, the two Passions of Eugenia differ remarkably: the references to the APT in the oldest version (BHL 2667, second half of the fifth century) are removed in the later rewriting (BHL 2666, sixth or seventh century). Based on earlier scholarship, I contextualize this rewriting as a signal of the wider tendency to use Thecla as a model of virtue, while the APT is rejected for its problematic canonicity; I do so by delving deeper into the wider Latin literature of the late antique and medieval periods. I then demonstrate the ways in which both Passions of Eugenia engage with the figure of Thecla as a model to imitate even as Eugenia surpasses her in terms of rhetoric.

Keywords

Latin hagiography Eugenia apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla characterization imitation rewriting

Type: Chapter
Information: Thecla and Medieval Sainthood
<I>The Acts of Paul and Thecla</I> in Eastern and Western Hagiography
, pp. 256 - 281

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009008631.012 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2022

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Chapter 9 - Reception and Rejection

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