The Human Being in the Poetry of Gregory of Nazianzus

Huian, Georgiana (2021). The Human Being in the Poetry of Gregory of Nazianzus. Studia patristica, 115, pp. 29-39. Peeters Publishers

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The poems of Gregory of Nazianzus are meant to bring together the desire for beauty emerging from contemplation (θεωρία) and the progress towards the good. They express the pedagogical intention to lead young people to more useful teachings, echoing the attitude towards Greek poetry in Plato’s Republic, Plutarch’s De audiendis poetis, and Basil’s Ad adolescentes. The article investigates how the verses considered as a pleasant medicine (φάρμακον) depict the human condition in its present fragility, as well as in its journey to deification. It analyses metaphors attached to human vulnerability (e.g. swan, ant, ship, shadows, dream, dust, the movement in circle) in contrast with the motif of light reflecting the participation in the divine. Moreover, I approach the notion of ‘image of God’ imprinted in the human being, and I analyse how the divine image makes possible the ascent (return) from ‘misery’ and ‘mortal condition’ to resplendence, spiritualisation and incorruption.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	01 Faculty of Theology > Institute of Old Catholic Theology 01 Faculty of Theology > Institute of Old Catholic Theology > Systematic Theology, Ecumenical Theology, Practical Theology
UniBE Contributor:	Huian, Georgiana
Subjects:	200 Religion > 230 Christianity & Christian theology 200 Religion > 270 History of Christianity
ISSN:	0585-542X
Publisher:	Peeters Publishers
Language:	English
Submitter:	Georgiana Huian
Date Deposited:	24 Mar 2022 14:51
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 16:14
Additional Information:	978-90-429-4762-7
Uncontrolled Keywords:	human being, image of God, theological anthropology, beauty, contemplation, deification, vulnerability, participation in the divine, Gregory of Nazianzus
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/166995