Original scientific paper
Marulić’s Tropology in The Light of Patristic Allegoresis (IV)
Miroslav Palameta
; Filozofski fakultet, Split
Abstract
The paper Marulić’s Tropology (IV) considers the prose part of Marulić’s Davidiad, which is entitled Tropologica Dauidiadis expositio, and is informed not only by the poet’s interpretation of the events narrated but also by the intellectual basis of the poem. Reinvestigating the structure of this interpretation of biblical events described in Cantos VIII-IX of the epic, the author analyses the nature of Marulić’s firm conviction of the connectedness of the Old and New Testaments, that is, his interpretation of the fulfilment of the OT events and prophecies in the context of the traditional Christian exposition of Biblical texts.
Marulić’s identification of the hidden meanings in the Biblical events in his poem, whether they are allegorical, tropological or anagogical, is based on the whole on a more complex sentence level. The decoded meanings that seem unclear to today’s reader because of the unforeseen changes in given codes relating in the cantos mentioned to Christ and the Church, to the apostles and martyrs, pagans and Jews, virtue and vices, or the last things after death. Many interpretations relate to the Scriptures and the relation of Jews and pagans to them.
Marulić’s interpretation of the Biblical contents about King David is in essence correlated to the long tradition of Christian commentators, although it is more detailed, exhaustive and complex than in them. The Split writer does not repeat previous interpretations in a single case, but often counts on and clearly refers to them, as long as they do not collide with his interpretative angle of vi-sion. Particularly interesting are Marulić’s interpretations of the psalms, as far as they relate to the figures and events from the cantos. He has a similar, selective, attitude to the etymologies, on which he often founds his own deciphered meanings.
Although in the Tropologia his attitude towards the interpretative tradition seems to be Humanist and critical, the same tradition is relevant in the actual composition of the poem. There are many places in the hexameters of Davidiad in which the poet has mediated with supplements or concrete examples, not only from other books of the Bible or the Psalms, but actually from interpretations that be-long to the tradition of Patristic exegesis or from authors whom this tradition respects, such as Josephus Flavius. The very patent Christianisation of the Old Testament original, particularly with its frequent moralisations, the Christian invocation to Canto X, with its echoes in the continuation of the text, the establishment of contrasts with respect to pagan versifying and the numerous Christian metaphors are clear signals that the whole of the piece is open to allegorical dis-course.
Deviation from the contents of the original, or rather, of adjustment of it, in given situations during the cantos mentioned, so that it will fit allegorical interpretation, in order that the content can be received at the level of the historical and at the level of mystical sense, means a departure from the traditional of the Homeric or Virgilian epic narrative pattern. Places in the poem with clear and extensive allegorical treatment, as is very much the case in Canto VIII, first of all legitimate all the signals of allegorical discourse, and then show very clearly that Davidiad, in the definition of its kind, does genuinely belong in sacra poesis.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
23924
URI
Publication date:
22.4.2008.
Visits: 2.631 *