De mortibus boum - the ecloge about salvation during the plague. Literary and theological approximations and translation

Tadeusz Gacia

Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, Wydział Nauk Humanistycznych , Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1836-9506


Abstract

The article presents the poem De mortibus boum, most probably written by Endelechius at the beginning of the 5th century. The poem refers to the classical bucolic tradition, and at the same time breaks with the convention of this literary genre, as it realistically depicts the deadly cattle plague, but is allegorical in nature. It is a praise and promotion of Christianity that permeated the countryside. The cross marked on the foreheads of animals by the Christian shepherd symbolizes the victory of the new religion over paganism and the hope of mankind, whose image is the flock. The author of the article presents and systematizes the thoughts of several philologists who deal in detail with this poem. An integral part of the study is the translation of De mortibus boum into Polish.

Keywords:

Key terms: Endelechius, Christian bucolic, allegorical interpretation, deadly plague, the cross as a sign of salvation.

P. Vergilius Maro, Georgica, III, 478-566.

T. Lucretius Carus, De rerum natura, VI, 1090-1286.

Severus Sanctus Endelechius, De mortibus boum, wyd. F. Piper, Titi Flavii Clementis Alexandrini hymnus in Christum Salvatorem Graece et Latine. Severi Sancti Endelechii rhetoris et poetae Christiani carmen bucolicum de mortibus boum Latine et Germanice, Gottingae 1835. s. 69-154; wyd. Jo. A. Giles, Severi Sancti, rhetoris et poetae christiani, «De mortibus boum»; carmen ab Elia Vineto et Petro Pithæo servatum, cum notis atque præfationibus Johannis Weitzii, Wolfgangi Seberi, et Jo. Christiani Wernsdorfii, Londini 1838; wyd. J.-B. Martin, F. Monnier et A. de Boudard, libr. Girard et Josserand, Lyon/Paris, 1864, texte et trad. en ligne http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/eglise/endelechus/boeuf.htm ; Anthologia latina sive poesis latinae supplementum, pars prior, fasc. II, rec. A. Riese, Lipsiae 1870, s. 314-318; C. White, Early Christian Latin Poets, London ad New York 2000, s. 70-75.

Curtius E.R., Literatura europejska i łacińskie średniowiecze, tłum. A. Borowski, Kraków 1997, s.198.

Cytowska M., H. Szelest, Literatura rzymska. Okres cesarstwa – autorzy chrześcijańscy, Warszawa 1994, s. 229-230.

J. Fontaine, « Le baroque romain antique: un courant esthétique persistant à travers la littérature latine », w: Questionnement du baroque, red. A. Vermeylen, Louvain-la-Neuve, 1986, s. 14-38.

Gacia T., Topos locus amoenus w łacińskiej poezji chrześcijańskiego antyku, "Vox Patrum" 52/2 (2008) s. 192-193. (Crossref)

Helbig M., «De mortibus boum» – sielanki ostatnie starcie, „Scripta Classica" 6 (2009), s. 125-135.

Opelt J., Endelechio, DPAC t. I,, kol. 1153-1154.

Petringa M.R., Il signum crucis nel De mortibus boum di Endelechio (vv.97-132), „Commentaria Classica. Studi di filologia greca e latina” 6, 2019, Supplemento. Tenax memoria. In ricordo di Sandro Leanza, a cura di M. A. Barbàra e M.R.Petringa, s. 147-175.

Starowieyski M. Wstęp, w: Muza łacińska. Antologia poezji wczenochrześcijańskiej i średniowiecznej, opr. M. Starowieyski, Wrocław 2007.

Warburg I., Proposals tradition of the poem “De mortibus boum” by Severus Sanctus for the textual Endelechius, „Museum für Philologie” 158, 1 (2015), s. 185-198.

Warburg I,, Problemas de edición, traducción einterpretación en el poema De mortibus boum (vv. 8,17 y 128), „Stylos” 2015, 24(24), s. 277-287.

Warburg I., El barocco Teodosiano en el poema De mortibus boum, „Revue des Études Anciennes” 118 (2016), s. 511-525.


Published
2021-06-15


Gacia, T. (2021). De mortibus boum – ekloga o ocaleniu w czasie zarazy. Przybliżenia literackie i teologiczne z dodaniem przekładu. Vox Patrum, 78, 141–156. https://doi.org/10.31743/vp.11819

Tadeusz Gacia  cato1961@gmail.com
Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, Wydział Nauk Humanistycznych https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1836-9506



License

Papers published in Vox Patrum are covered by the Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) licence. Authors and users can use published works licensed under the CC-BY-ND since 2018. For earlier publications, copyrights are available under fair use rights in accordance with the Act of February 4, 1994 on copyrights and related rights.