Acción parcial y desarticulada de las organizaciones del sector

My presentation of Tatian of Syria (c. 120–80 CE) will begin with his Oratio ad Graecoswhich contains the following statement: ‘The origin of your nonsense is the grammarians [ajrch; th'" fluariva" uJmi'n oiJ grammatikoiv]’ (Or. 26.2).19 Tatian came to Rome and embraced the Christian faith there, and also became a student of Justin Martyr.20His Oratio ad Graecosis usually listed among the apologetic literature, but in comparison with contemporary apologies such as those by Justin,

17 Thus also Barnard 1997: 163 with reference to 1 Apol. 21 and 23. 18 Thus also Glockmann 1968: 182–83.

19 The reference is from Whittaker 1982. In Marcovich’s edition (1995) this statement is 26.5.

Quadratus and Athenagoras, there are some significant differences. Tatian addresses himself to a wider audience (a[ndre" {Ellhne") (Or. 1.1), not political authorities or the emperor, as do the other works mentioned above. It is, of course, possible that the exclusive address of other apologies is due more to rhetorical or literary fiction, expressing a wish to be able to address those in power, rather than any objective reality. Oratio ad Graecos belongs to the category of protreptic literature, i.e. texts aiming at recruiting supporters by demonstrating the superiority of one’s own position.21Tatian’s Oratio fits this genre nicely; his text is polemical and sometimes even arrogant vis-a`-vis Greek culture. His purpose is to demonstrate the superiority of Christian faith, with reference to content, consistency and antiquity. In this task he is the herald of truth (kh'rux th'" ajlhqeiva") (Or. 17.1-3). Tatian emphasizes that Moses is older than Homer (chs 31, 35–41), a viewpoint which was a commonplace in Christian apologetics.22 This conviction justified the use of Hellenistic philosophy since the best thereof, in fact, had been plagiarized from Moses.23

Tatian’s own conversion (Or. 29) is crucial to an understanding of the attitude he takes to Greek education. As pointed out by Emily J. Hunt, Tatian’s conversion to some extent parallels that of Justin, particularly in that the conversion is described in terms of ‘searching for truth’, and that the conversion itself forms the goal of this search.24 She says that these stories therefore belong within a philosophical context. There is much to suggest that. However, the basic structure pointed out by Hunt also brings to mind the characteristic trope of ‘climbing to the top’. It is therefore no accident that Tatian, in his discussion of pagan literature, draws very much on his conversion. It marks the peak of his education, and is decisive for his view of Greek learning. His conversion story is, properly speaking, a story about which literature is to be considered the best. Before his conversion, while occupied with philosophy, Tatian came to read some ‘barbarian writings’ (grafai; barbarikaiv) (Or. 29.1-2), which were, in fact, the Hebrew Scriptures. The quality of these texts changed his life:

21 See Malherbe 1986: 55, 122–24, 141. In his classical study from 1933, Nock demonstrates how different ancient philosophical groups competed for adherents, and that embracing a group was considered a kind of conversion. This is the context in which protreptic literature is supposed to work. Swancutt 2004 emphasizes that protreptic literature aims at bringing a new and different way of life to the addressees.

22 The Jewish historian and apologete Josephus, who lived in the last part of the first centuryCE, argued likewise in his apologetic writing Contra Apionem; see e.g. 2.154-56, 220- 31, 279–81. On this logic, see also MacDonald 1994: 20–21.

23 Tatian’s ambivalent attitude to Greek philosophy is well described by Hunt 2003: 98– 108.

The outcome was that I was persuaded by these because of the lack of arrogance in the wording, the artlessness of the speakers, the easily intelligible account of the creation of the world, the foreknowledge of the future, the remarkable quality of the precepts and the doctrine of a single ruler of the universe. My soul was taught by God and I understood that some parts had a condemnatory effect, while others freed us from many rulers and countless tyrants, giving us not something we had never received, but what we had received but had been prevented from keeping by our error. (Or. 29.2)

Both chronologically and theologically he found the Christian literature superior to Greek doctrines. The last sentence in the quotation demon- strates that Tatian speaks of Greek philosophy as a corruption of an ancient wisdom common to human beings. This wisdom originated with Moses, was handed down to the barbarians but then corrupted by the Greeks.25

Tatian’s turning away from Greek literature to embrace the Scriptures exemplifies a general Christian experience: ‘We have abandoned your school of wisdom, even though I was myself very distinguished in it’ (Or. 1.3). This conversion owed much to the fact that Tatian discovered the true nature of Greek literature; the poets wrote only to tell about warfare, gods who fell in love, and spiritual corruption, thus his somewhat biased report of Homer’s writings (1.3).26This was the literature to which he was first introduced. He closes his Oratio in the following way: ‘All this, men of Greece, I have compiled for you – I Tatian, a philosopher among the barbarians, born in the land of the Assyrians, and educated first in your learning [paideuqei;" prw'ton me;n ta; uJmevtera], and secondly in what I profess to teach’ (Or. 42). But now he has embraced true knowledge and paideia(Or. 12.5; 35.1-2). Tatian thus emphasizes that identity and texts belong together; Christian and pagan identities had their respective texts. Naturally, this led to a negative view of sources associated with encyclical studies.

The statement from Or. 26, which introduced my presentation of Tatian, claims that the beginning or root (ajrchv) of false wisdom among the Greeks is the instruction given by their grammarians – in other words, the curriculum in the schools where students were introduced to the poets and Homer (cf. Or. 22.3). Tatian’s special target is the part of encyclical

25 See Droge 1989: 84–91. Droge suggests that Tatian’s emphasis on Christianity being older and superior to Greek culture derives from his knowledge of Celsus’ criticism of the Christian faith, which he rebuts on the principles of age and tradition; see pp. 97–101. See Ch. 11.3 in the present study.

26 This echoes Plato’s criticism. Thus also in Minucius Felix’s Octavius 24.1-8, a long passage blaming Homer and the poets for corrupting the minds of the boys (corrumpuntur ingenia puerorum); for the text see the LCL edition.

studies concerned with the interpretation of poetry. His dictum in Or. 26.2 is found in a context (Chapters 22–26) in which Tatian addresses areas in which Christians conflict with Hellenistic culture, such as theatre, dance, mime and gladiatorial spectacles. This means that the statements on encyclical studies in Or. 26 should be interpreted as conflict with Greek culture and paganism. Tatian thus anticipates Tertullian, who discusses liberal studies in light of the idolatry which he found ancient culture to be full of (see Chapter 10).

From this it follows that he approaches Greek learning from a perspective of ‘us versus you’. The grammarians are ‘yours’, and the book stacks are ‘yours’ (uJmw'n tw'n biblivwn aiJ ajnaqevsei"). The books used in the schools are like labyrinths and the readers are like the jars of Danaus’ daughters (Or. 26.1). A labyrinth leads nowhere, and hinders people from escaping from it. Danaus’ daughters killed their husbands with daggers, and were punished by having to draw water in leaking jars in Hades for ever.27 The ‘us versus you’ perspective is summarized in 26.3: ‘we have abandoned you and cut off contact28 with you; we follow God’s word’. Again, Tatian combines texts and identity, thus paving the way for the rejection of Greek learning.

He also addresses the pride in their own wisdom found among the Greeks: ‘Why do you claim that wisdom belongs to you alone?’ (26.2). Since this pride includes the teaching of the grammarians, it is misleading. The teachers’ instruction in fact, leads to war and murder.

Tatian turns to ironic polemics when he says that the Greeks are being led into a pit by their pride in wisdom: ‘You ask continually who God is, and overlook what is in you; gazing open-mouthed towards heaven you fall into pits’ (Or. 26.1). This looks like an intertextual reference to an anecdote about Thales of Miletus, rendered in Diogenes Laertius, The Lives of the Philosophers1.33-34.29According to the anecdote, Thales was looking up at the stars while he fell into a ditch. To his cry for help, a woman bystander replied: ‘How can you expect to know all about the heavens, Thales, when you cannot even see what is just before your feet?’ This anecdote served Tatian’s polemic well.30

This negative attitude to Greek education finds support in Chapter 21, where Tatian says that Christians have replaced the narratives of the Greeks with their own stories. Tatian calls the Greeks’ stories ta; oijkei'a ajpomnhmoneuvmata (your own records) as opposed to ‘ours’ (21.2) – a

27 See March 1998: 125–26.

28 The Greek verb yauvein indicates that the former relationship to a beloved, expressed in touching, has now ceased; see LSJ s.v.

29 Thus also Guyot and Klein 1994: 284 who wrongly give the reference 1.8 here. 30 The context in Diogenes Laertius emphasizes the pride of Thales in being Greek. He was born a human being, not an animal; a man and not a woman; a Greek and not a barbarian (cf. Lk. 18.11-12).

statement which recalls the presentation of his conversion and the ‘us versus you’ pattern. Tatian does not speak explicitly of the ajpomnhmoneuvmata of the Christians; he rather speaks of the Christian dihghvmata (narratives) as opposed to the mu'qoi (tales) of the Greeks; Homer is mentioned in particular (21.1). The comparison between the two bodies of stories implies that they are somehow working similarly. These stories of the Greeks should not be interpreted allegorically, says Tatian (21.2). The stories must be interpreted in a literal sense, which will then prove their true nature: they are immoral. His rejection of allegorical reading thus serves as an argument to unmask the poets. The fact that Greeks are interpreting their stories in a figurative way is to Tatian a sign of their embarrassment about their own narratives. He mentions a textbook example in antiquity, namely that of Zeus’ baneful dream (Il. 2.3-6),31which led Agamemnon to wage war against Troy. Zeus deceived him into believing that it would be a swift and victorious campaign. This example of the poetic stories calls for allegorization, but by doing this the Greeks are continually deceived.

The appearance of the term ajpomnhmoneuvmata in a text addressing the replacement of Greek stories with those of the Christians, and by a student of Justin, makes a reference to Justin’s 1 Apol. 67.3 relevant. Justin refers to the ajpomnhmoneuvmata of the apostles, which most likely refers to the Gospels. This is made explicit in 1 Apol. 66.3 where ‘the memoirs of the apostles’ are called Gospels (a} kalei'tai eujaggevlia). Labelling the Gospels in this way associates them with Xenophon’s Memoirsof Socrates. Oskar Skarsaune has pointed out that Justin quotes a passage from this work (2 Apol. 11.3-5 and Mem. 2.1.21-33), and makes allusions to it as well. The charge brought against Socrates, mentioned in 1 Apol. 5.3 and 2 Apol. 10.5 (see above), owes more to Xenophon’s presentation than to Plato’s in e.g. Apol. 24B.32With Skarsaune I hold the ‘memoirs of the apostles’ mentioned by Justin to be the four Gospels, not a gospel harmony. Tatian did compose a gospel harmony, Diatessaron, and it is just possible that by ‘our stories’ (hJmevtera dihghvmata) (21.1), Tatian has a precursor of this gospel harmony in mind. For our purposes it is important to observe that the narratives about Jesus, in whatever form, replace the narratives found in Homer’s writings.

In contrast to pagan education, Christian instruction does not take place in public, and it is not earthly or based on human pride (Or. 32.1-3). The reference for this seems to be Christian teaching in the congregations. Tatian emphasizes that Christians teach without payment, and therefore also include people of no means. Instruction in the divine doctrine is given

31 This dream is mentioned repeatedly in Il. 2, and it was considered, even by Greek intellectuals, an example of why Homer’s writings called for a critical interpretation.

free. Accordingly, says Tatian, all are welcome: women, old and young.33 This is probably a polemic against greedy teachers, a point which Tatian mentions e.g. in Or. 25.1. Encyclical studies were, as we have seen, in practice reserved for people of some means. Tatian contrasts this with the instruction given by the Church in the Scriptures. The impression is that Tatian appears more hostile in his criticism of pagan literature than his teacher Justin.

7.3 Two Ps.Justins

Tradition has ascribed to Justin the so-called Oratio ad Graecos34 and Cohortatio ad Graecos.35 Neither of these writings directly addresses encyclical studies, but they have a lot to say about the poets in general and Homer in particular, and this has a bearing on the question of liberal studies. The Greek term paideiva and its cognates appear six times in Oratio, the shortest extant Christian apology. As for the Oratio, Justinian authorship is out of the question; it was probably composed in the first half of the third century.36 The main target of the critique is the immorality found in the worship of the Greeks and their heroes. The compositions of the poets are monuments of madness and intemperance (aujta; ga;r ta; tw'n poihtw'n uJmw'n sunqevmata luvssh" kai; ajkrasiva" ejsti mnhmei'a) (Oratio 1.1). To substantiate this, in Chapter 1 the author mentions a number of stories preserved in various Greek traditions about Homeric heroes. The whole rhapsody, he says, as found in the Iliad and the Odyssey, has its beginning and end (ajrch; kai; tevlo") in a woman. Homer’s two-volume story is framed by reference to two women. This observation leads Ps.Justin to scorn Homer. This story of madness and intemperance was set in motion by the attempt to rescue Helen, and it was brought to an end with Odysseus’ return to his wife Penelope.37

This criticism of Homer is relevant to the question of education. This is further suggested in Chapter 4 where the author mentions children who imitate Zeus’ conduct, and thus defraud their parents: ‘Why do you count him your enemy, and yet worship one that is like him?’ (Oratio 4.4). The Greeks have, according to this author, no reason to be indignant at immorality, fraud and adultery among their children and youngsters, since these are precisely the things about which their poets sing, and which their stories make loudly known. The Oratio ad Graecos, therefore, closes

33 See Ch. 2.6 on girls’ participation in education.

34 Not to be confused with the writing of Tatian by the same name.

35 The translation of Justin’s writings in ANF Vol. 1 attributes these writings to Justin. 36 See Marcovich 1990: 103–06. The Greek text is also available in this book. 37 One is here reminded of Celsus who brought similar accusations against the Christian faith; see Cels. 2.55 where he says that the risen Christ was first met by hysterical women.

with an appeal to participate in the true paideia. Terms of instruction abound in Chapter 5: ‘Come, be instructed; become as I am, for I too, was as you are’ (Oratio 5.6). The superiority of Christian paideia, which here probably has a somewhat general reference, is its power to bring peace to the soul, to quench the passions. The Christian paideia, which the author simply calls oJ Lovgo", does not make poets, equip philosophers or skilled orators, but it makes mortals immortal and to become like gods (sic!), and brings them from the earth to far beyond Mount Olympus.

Ps.Justin of Oratio ad Graecos is likely to have turned his back on encyclical studies, due to the role they assigned to the poets and their stories. From a critical point of view, however, Ps.Justin is not sufficiently precise in his polemic. By consistently describing Christian faith in terms of paideia, he is obliged to consider any other paideia a rival. This concept of Christian faith, which was a commonplace among many Christian writers, leaves little room for an independent evaluation of liberal studies. This might have aggravated the conflict and the opposition against such training on the part of Ps.Justin, and of many other Christians as well.

Cohortatio ad Graecosmerits some attention here since it demonstrates a more ambivalent attitude, maybe even inconsistency, towards Homer. Eusebius lists the books written by Justin (Hist. eccl. 4.18.4), and Cohortatiois probably to be identified among them, which thus implies that it was composed before 311/12CE.38There is general agreement that Justin cannot be the author. Chapter 1 presents this literature as a discourse on true religion (qeosevbeia), examining the teachers of religion, those of the Greeks and the Christians. The discourse first addresses the poets, among whom Homer is reckoned as the most distinguished and the prince (oJ korufaiovtato" par j uJmi'n kai; prw'to" tw'n poihtw'n) (Cohortatio 2.1).39The author then launches into traditional criticism of Homer. The poet appears ridiculous when his theogony says that the gods were generated from water (Il. 14.302). Emphasis is, however, given to Homeric examples of the immorality of the gods, of which the author gives an extensive list of examples.40Homer is therefore not fitted to be a teacher in religion; he is either telling true stories about the gods, who are then evil, or else the gods, as known through the poems, do not exist.

The philosophers are hardly any better since they are not consistent and contradict each other. There is hardly any agreement between them on matters that pertain to religion (Cohortatio 3–7). Interestingly, his most prominent example of the ignorance of the philosophers is Socrates, of

38 So Markovich 1990: 3–4. Riedweg 1994: 28–49, 167–82 suggests a somewhat later date of composition.

39 The Greek text is taken from Marcovich’s edition. 40 See Marcovich 1990: 13.

whom it is said: ‘Of all men, Socrates is the wisest’ (Cohortatio 36.1).41 Socrates openly claimed his ignorance, a well-known topos in Socratic dialogues. The author says that this claim was not due to strategy or rhetoric. Socrates was, in fact, ignorant in matters of religion. This is substantiated in Plato’s Apology 42A where Socrates’ final words are: ‘But now it is time to go away, I indeed to die, but you to live. And which of us goes to the better state, is hidden to all but God’ (Cohortatio 36.2). Implicit is, of course, the argument that Socrates was ignorant about death, a topic so important to teachers of religion. How then can his followers claim to comprehend heavenly things? The concluding appeal is, therefore, to listen to the Sibyl and the prophets who have spoken about Christ (Cohortatio 38). This is an argument which in practice must have led to the abandonment of Homer and encyclical studies. The design of this literature is that true knowledge of qeosevbeia can only be revealed by God. This knowledge has been imparted to the prophets only; not even Socrates, the wisest among the Greeks, had a part in it.42 This design brings to mind Paul’s emphasis on revealed wisdom as opposed to the wisdom of Greeks as well as Jews in 1 Cor. 1–2.43 This polemical understanding of knowledge is clearly stated in Cohortatio 8.2. The author here contrasts the knowledge of the prophets, true teachers in qeosevbeia, with Greek poets and prophets. The prophets appeared first; they did not