De ave Phoenice

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De ave Phoenice is a narrative elegy of classical style about the legendary rebirth bird phoenix . It was probably written in Latin at the beginning of the 4th century . The time of origin is just as controversial as the question of whether the early Christian church father Laktanz is the author and what basic stance he represents in this work.

Author, time of creation and attitude

The attribution to Laktanz is based primarily on two of the oldest three surviving handwritten codices of the work with the heading, which indicate Laktanz as the author. However, since these also date from the 8th century at the earliest, many philologists assume that it is an assignment that was made later or another author of the same name. On the other hand, Gregor von Tours mentions Laktanz in his De cursu stellarum ratio as the author of the table of contents of the work which he reproduced below under changes. The fact that the church father Hieronymus did not list the title among the works of lactant in his writers' catalog De viris illustribus spoke against the authorship of lactant . Ever since Hermann Dechent's remarks on the Christian conception and embedding it in lactantine thought patterns, the nowadays generally widespread opinion of recognizing the originator of writing in lactance has become increasingly popular.

There is further discussion about the basic attitude of the work. It is undisputed that it is rooted in the ancient world. This is supported by the chosen material, the phoenix, but also by numerous references ( Phaeton line 11, Phöbus line 41, Sol personified line 43, etc.). It would then have to have originated before the conversion of lactance to Christianity at the end of the 3rd century. Many philologists, however, consider a hidden Christian interpretation to be possible, see for example a description of paradise (lines 1–32) and the phoenix as a symbol for the resurrection of Jesus Christ . This means that the poem would only have been written at the beginning of the 4th century after the author's conversion.

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The “miracle bird” is a main motif of myth in ancient times. From Hesiod (7th century BC) to Gregory of Tours (6th century AD), more than 70 literary treatments, from the brief mentioning to the elaboration of its history, can be found, most of them before the time of the work in question . Which of these writings Laktanz knew was discussed in detail and partly controversially due to the motifs used. The use of the poetic literature of classical Roman antiquity is indisputable. There are z. B. in the first 30 lines numerous echoes of Virgil's Aeneid and in lines 107-108 even a literal borrowing from Ovid ( met. 15,372–374). But also the Physiologus , an early Christian doctrine of nature in the Greek language, was known to lactance, which was also rooted in the Greek tradition. There he found a basic Christian attitude, but only a few of the motifs he used.

Content and design

The poem deals with six topics in 85 distiches :

  • Lines 1-30. The heavenly place of residence of the phoenix in an ancient ideal landscape or the paradise of the Bible without all evils such as storm, old age, death etc.
  • Lines 31-58. The phoenix as the priest of Phoebus by greeting the dawn and singing.
  • Lines 59-94. Preparation for death and death of the phoenix. After a lifetime of 1000 years, the phoenix flies to Syria, builds a nest full of aromatic herbs on a tall palm tree and dies there. The 1000-year lifetime parallels chiliastic currents in early Christianity. The phrase commendat animam = command my spirit ( NT , Luk. 23,46) for the death of the phoenix also refers to Christianity . Poetic is the five verses long list of aromatic herbs ... sweet Kassiazimt ... fragrant incense acanthus ... tears ... mature ... nard .
  • Lines 95-114. The rebirth of the phoenix. The dead body burns to ashes. A seed-like lump forms from this, from which a new phoenix emerges.
  • Lines 115-160. Trip to Egypt. The new phoenix carries the remains of the burnt bird's body to Egypt and places them on the altar in the sun city ( urbs Solis ) in the temple. Then he flies to his place of residence described at the beginning. The poetic climax of the poem are the 14 stanzas in which Laktanz praises the beauty of the new phoenix with a flood of images and comparisons ( ... the sweet berry of the pomegranate - iris, which paints cloudy in the breeze - brilliant white with mixed emerald size hardly reaches a winged creature, be it an animal, be it a bird ... ).
  • Lines 161-170. Closing hymn of praise to the happy fate of the phoenix. In particular, ..Venus foedera nulla colit (..does not maintain the alliance of Venus ). This shows the basic Christian-ascetic attitude of Laktanz '.

Continuation of action and tradition

As early as the end of the 4th century, a poem by Claudius Claudianus has survived that is clearly influenced by lactance. But in general the work is of great importance as the first (known) Christian poem in ancient tradition and in the Latin language and thus the beginning of Latin Christian poetry. In the 6th century, Gregory of Tours referred to him in his book De cursu stellarum ratio and also mentions him by name.

However, in addition to numerous later codices, only three early ones from the 8th – 10th centuries have survived. Century preserved. In 1468 the poem was included in an edition of the works of Laktanz (editio Romana) and in 1618 the scholar Johannes Gryphiander commented on it in the Christian sense.

Samuel Brandt edited the text in 1893. Heinrich Kraft translated it into German.

Text editions and translations

  • Samuel Brandt : L. Caeli Firmiani Lactanti opera omnia. Accedunt carmina eius quae feruntur et L. Caecilii qui inscriptus est De mortibus persecutorum liber (= Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum . Volume 27). Prague / Vienna / Leipzig 1893, pp. 1–64 ( digitized version ).
  • Sister Mary Francis McDonald, OP (translation): Lactantius, The minor works (= The Fathers of the Church. Volume 54). Catholic University of America Press, Washington DC 1965, pp. 5-58 (English translation).

literature

  • Heinrich Kraft : The Church Fathers up to the Council of Nicaea , Bremen 1966.
  • Marieluise Walla: The Phoenix bird in ancient literature and the poetry of Laktanz , Vienna 1969.
  • Antonie Wlosok : De Ave Phoenice (Phoen.). In: Reinhart Herzog (ed.): Restoration and renewal. The Latin literature from 284 to 374 AD (= Handbook of Classical Studies . Eighth section: History of Roman literature. Volume 5). CH Beck, Munich 1989, pp. 389-401.
  • Antonie Wlosok: Res humanae - res divinae , Heidelberg 1990

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Antonie Wlosok: De Ave Phoenice , p. 398f
  2. ↑ Marieluise Walla: The Phoenix Bird in Ancient Literature and the Poetry of Lactant , p. 120.
  3. ↑ Marieluise Walla: The Phoenix Bird in Ancient Literature and the Poetry of Lactant , p. 120
  4. ^ Antonie Wlosok : De Ave Phoenice (Phoen.). In: Reinhart Herzog (ed.): Restoration and renewal. The Latin literature from 284 to 374 AD (= Handbook of Classical Studies . Eighth section: History of Roman literature. Volume 5). CH Beck, Munich 1989, p. 400.
  5. ↑ Hermann Dechent: About the authenticity of the Phoenix by Lactantius. ( PDF from the University of Cologne)
  6. ^ Antonie Wlosok: De Ave Phoenice (Phoen.). In: Reinhart Herzog (ed.): Restoration and renewal. The Latin literature from 284 to 374 AD (= Handbook of Classical Studies . Eighth section: History of Roman literature. Volume 5). CH Beck, Munich 1989, p. 400; Heinrich Kraft: The Church Fathers up to the Council of Nicaea , p. 467
  7. ^ Antonie Wlosok: De Ave Phoenice , p. 399
  8. ↑ Marieluise Walla: The Phoenix bird in ancient literature and the poetry of Laktanz , p. 197f
  9. ↑ Marieluise Walla: The Phoenix bird in ancient literature and the poetry of Laktanz , pp. 148–157
  10. ^ Antonie Wlosok: Res humanae - res divinae , p. 260
  11. ^ Sister Mary Francis McDonald, OP (translation): Lactantius, The minor works , Introduction, pp. 207f
  12. ↑ Marieluise Walla: The Phoenix bird in ancient literature and the poetry of Laktanz , pp. 148-183
  13. ^ Translation: Heinrich Kraft: The Church Fathers up to the Council of Nicaea , p. 464
  14. ^ Translation: Heinrich Kraft: The Church Fathers up to the Council of Nicaea , p. 465f
  15. ↑ Marieluise Walla: The Phoenix bird in ancient literature and the poetry of Laktanz , p. 135f
  16. ^ Antonie Wlosok: Res humanae - res divinae , p. 250
  17. ↑ Marieluise Walla: The Phoenix bird in ancient literature and the poetry of Laktanz , p. 139f
  18. ^ Samuel Brandt: L. Caeli Firmiani Lactanti opera omnia. Accedunt carmina eius quae feruntur , Prolegomena, S. XVIII
  19. ^ Samuel Brandt: L. Caeli Firmiani Lactanti opera omnia. Accedunt carmina eius quae feruntur , Prolegomena, p. XXII
  20. ↑ Heinrich Kraft: The Church Fathers up to the Council of Nicaea , pp. 462-467