Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Roald Dijkstra on Juvencus and His Positive Portrayal in Euangeliorum libri quattuor (c. 329)

  

Background to Juvencus:

 

Gaius Vettius Aquilinus Juvencus was the first writer of a considerable oeuvre in a Christian classicising poetical tradition. Nearly all the information that we have about his life and career can be found in Jerome’s De uiris illustribus 84: he was a Spanish presbyter from noble birth and lived under Constantine.

 

The only work of Juvencus that is extant in the Euangeliorum libri quattuor, a versification of the gospel of Matthew, with additions based on the gospel of John and the other synoptics. It is the first Biblical epic, starting a long-lasting tradition. The Ev. Were written or published around the year 329, according to Jerome’s Chronicon ad 329 p. Chr. (Roald Dijkstra, Portraying witnesses: The Apostles in Early Christian Art and Poetry [Enschede, Netherlands: Ipskamp Drukker, 2014], 91)

 

Text of Matt 16:16-19:

 

In contrast with the group of the twelve apostles, Peter as an individual is often openly depicted in a positive way by Juvencus. . . . A striking addition by Juvencus regarding the Biblical text can be found in Eu. 3,534: Tum Petrus fidei munitus moenibus infit. This Is the versification of the Biblical phrase: Tunc respondens Petrus dixit ei (Matt 19.27). The phrase fidei minitus moenibus is added by Juvencus and immediately calls Matt 16.18 to mind: Et ego dico tibi quia tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam, a Biblical verse that exalted Peter as the most important disciple and leader of the Church. Juvencus’ text runs as follows (Eu. 3,271-87):

 

Sed stabilis Petrus: 'Tu Sancti filius, inquit,

Christus, magnifico terras qui lumine conples.'

Tum Dominus forti respondit talia Petro:

'Petre, beatus eris, nam talia pandere certe

humanus sanguis vel terrae portio corpus

haut umquam poterit. Genitoris munera sola

possunt tam validum fidei concedere robur.

Tu nomen Petri digna uirtute tueris.

Hac in mole mihi saxique in robore ponam

semper mansuras aeternis moenibus aedes.

Infernis domus haec non exsuperabile portis

Claustrum perpetuo munitum robore habebit;

caelestisque tibi claues permittere regni

est animus; terrisque tuo quae nexa relinques

arbitrio, caelo pariter nodata manebunt;

soluerit et rursus tua quae sententia terris,

haut aliter uenient caeli sub sede soluta.

 

‘But firm Peter said: ‘You, Christ, the son of the holy one, you fill the earth with your magnificent light.’ Then the Lord answers to strong Peter as follows: ‘Peter, you will be blessed, for surely human blood nor part of a body of the earth can ever reveal this to you. The gifts of the Creator alone can grant such a powerful strength of faith. You are bearing the name peter deservedly through your virtue. On this rock and on the strength of this boulder I will build my ever standing house with its eternal walls. This house, invincible for the infernal gates, will have a lock protected with eternal strength. It is my will to entrust you the keys of the heavenly kingdom. What you will leave bound on earth, according to your judgment, will equally be tied in heaven. But what your judgment will have unbound on earth, will be likewise unbound in the seat of heaven.’

 

This passage is the versification of Matt 16.16-19:

 

16 Respondens Simon Petrus dixit: ‘Tu es Christus, Filius Dei uiui.’ 17 Respondens autem Jesus, dixit ei: ‘Beatus es Simon Bariona: quia caro et sanguis non revelavit tibi, sed Pater meus, qui in cælis est. 18 Et ego dico tibi tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram ædificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portæ inferi non præualebunt eius. 19 Et tibi dabo claves regni cælorum; et quodcumque ligaueris super terram, erit ligatum et in cælis et quodcumque solveris super terram, erit solutum et in cælis

 

Juvencus clearly wanted to emphasise this passage about Peter’s position. Eu. 1,422 already foreshadows it: praesolidum Simonem, Dignum cognomina Petri (Matt 4.18: Simonem qui dicitur Petrus). Juvencus had added praesolidum and Dignum, which shows his partiality for Peter more elaboroately found in the passage cited above. There, peter’s strength and dignity are also mentioned throughout the passage (stabilis, v. 271; forti, v. 273; tam validum fidei concedere robur, v. 277; digna uirtute, v. 278) just as his connection with heavenly powr (certe, 274, umquam, v. 276). Likewise, Peter’s own opinion is held in great esteem by Jesus in Juvencus text (tuo . . . arbitrio, vv. 284-5; tua sententia, v. 286). Line 279 has rightly been called an ”überbordende Periphrase” for the simple petra in Matthew. Verse 280 is almost entirely invented by Juvencus (only the classical word aedes has an equivalent in the Biblical ecclesiam meam. This verse stresses the strength and everlastingness of the church. Exsuperabile (v. 281) is also used in Vergil’s Georgica 3,39 where it agrees with the saxum that Sisyphus has to roll up the hill. This could again be a reference to the saxi in v. 279 and petram in the corresponding Biblical text. After Jesus’ speech (Eu. 3,274-95/Matt 16.17-21), Peter’s grief about the impending death of Jesus (predicated to the apostle in Eu. 3,290-5, cf. Matt 16.21) is accentuated in vv. 296-9:

 

Tum Petrus magno percussus corda dolore.

'Absint, Christie, tuis,' inquit, 'tam tristia sanctis

monstra procul membris; nec fas est credere tantum,

nec tibi tam durus poterit contingere casus.' (Then Peter said, overcome by great grief in his heart: 'May such sad terrors be away from your holy limbs; one should not believe something like that, nor that such a hard fate could reach you")

 

This text is the versification of Matt 16.22: Et adsumens eum Petrus coepit increpare et dicere: ‘Absit a te, propitus tibi, Domine, non erit istud.’ The direct discourse of Peter is spread out over three lines by Jevencus. The word increpare, which could be interpreted as presumptuous, has been omitted. The grief and reverence of Peter towards his master are emphasized by the addition tam tristia sanctis (297). (Ibid., 107-10)

 

Attempt to Rehabilitate Peter’s Denial of Jesus:

 

One of the most famous stories about Peter in the Gospels is his denial of Christ (Matt 26.69-75; cf. Eu. 4,570-85). The passage highlights the apostle’s lack of courage. But Juvencus tries to attenuate the negative depiction of Peter. This is already visible in the preamble to the passage, where Peter follows Jesus to the Sanhedrin. Matt 26.58 reads: Petrus autem sequebatur eum a longe usque in atrium principis sacerdotum, et ingressus intro sedebat cum ministries, ut uideret finem rei. Juvencus versifies as follows (Eu. 4,539-41):

 

At Petrus longe seruans uestigia solus

occulte maestus sedit cum plebe ministra

extremum opperiens tanto sub turbine finem.

 

‘And Peter alone followed the footprints from far and secretly upset he sat down with a group of servants, waiting for the ultimate outcome of the great tumult.’”

 

Juvencus emphasises the fact that Peter is the only one (solus, v. 539) who followed Christ after his arrest, in spite of the seriousness of the situation (tanto sub turbine, v. 541). Moreover, he shows Peter’s compassion with his master in the words occulte maestus (v. 540). His sorrow is also stressed in v. 570 (Petrum . . . tristem) and vv. 583-4 (mentem Simonisque . . . tristem). In his versification of Matt. 26.70 (At ille negauit coram omnibus dicens: ‘Nescio, quid dicis, neque intellego.’), coram omnibus has been omitted by Juvencus (Eu. 4,573). In the passage where peter’s denial is announced by Christ (Matt 26.33-5), Juvencus elaborates Jesus’ prediction: Peter will be pauidus and he will tell mendacia (v. 472). Peter himself boasts even more than in the Bible, by saying that he will accept even a hard death (durman mortem, Eu. 4,475). But these additions, which do not contribute to a positive image of Peter, are compensated by an adjective used by Christ himself: he calls the apostle fortissime Petre (v. 473). Moreover, the denial of Peter was much discussed among Christians who sometimes doubted and could not believe, but were still to be given mercy by God (see II.1.3.1.1.). (ibid., 112-13)