Benjamin Garstad
MacEwan University, Humanities, Faculty Member
- Humanities, Late Antiquity, Patristics and Late Antiquity, John Malalas, Alexander Romance, Euhemerism, and 30 moreEuhemerus, Barbarians and Romans in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, Barbarians Perception, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, John Malalas Chronography, Jean Malalas, Malalas, Robert E. Howard, Robert E. Howard Studies, Nonnus, Patristics, Nonnus of Panopolis, Pseudo-Callisthenes, Chronicon Paschale, Ancient Antioch, Paulus Orosius, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Justin, Pompeius Trogus, Justin, Epitome, Langobards, Lombards, Longobardi, the Longobards, Lombard Italy, storia dei Longobardi, Barbarians, Barbarian societies, Late Antique and Byzantine History, and Byzantine Studiesedit
Euhemerus, the famous theorist on the nature of the gods who lived around 300 BC, has usually been discussed as a disembodied intellectual figure, with scholars focusing on his literary and philosophical sources and influence. Although he... more
Euhemerus, the famous theorist on the nature of the gods who lived around 300 BC, has usually been discussed as a disembodied intellectual figure, with scholars focusing on his literary and philosophical sources and influence. Although he is called ““Euhemerus of Messene,”” there is uncertainty as to where he was born, lived, and worked, in particular whether he came from Sicilian or Peloponnesian Messene. Until now, the conquests of Alexander the Great and the establishment of the Successor Kingdoms have been considered the only context for Euhemerus. This paper will draw upon literary, historical, and archaeological evidence to argue that Euhemerus belongs in a Sicilian context. The long history of the worship of rulers in Sicily from the oikistai to the tyrants of Syracuse, the wealth of Sicily, the proximity of the Lipari Islands, the multiethnic milieu of Sicily with its vigorous interaction and syncretism, all contributed to Euhemerus' experiences and thought. We suggest t...
Research Interests: Plato, Interdisciplinarity, Hybridity, Religious Syncretism, Alexander the Great, and 10 moreGreek Sicily, Phoenician Punic Sicily, History and archaeology, Hellenistic Ruler Cult, Classical Antiquity, Multiethnic societies, Language Culture and Communication, Euhemerus, Ancient culture and social space, and Euhemerism
The ahistorical return to suppress a revolt may reflect the author’s misunderstanding of some statements in Plutarch’s De fort. Alex. , as well as his desire to make Alexander the principal in every action.
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One of the interpretive models applied by the ancient Greeks to their myths was the recasting of heroes as generals and their lonely quests as elaborate military campaigns. In the first instances, this reimagining of mythic narratives was... more
One of the interpretive models applied by the ancient Greeks to their myths was the recasting of heroes as generals and their lonely quests as elaborate military campaigns. In the first instances, this reimagining of mythic narratives was intended to explain the esteem in which heroes were held, lend credibility to their legends, and extend the period of recorded history. Rather than “debunking,” the interpretation of heroes as generals was a positive attempt to bolster the reputation of the heroes and their cults. Over time this particular kind of historicization seems to have enjoyed extensive popularity, so much so that its rationale crept into even the most inhospitable genres, like epic, which rejected rationalization on the whole. Indeed, so popular was the understanding of heroes as generals, it was not necessarily made explicit in accounts that took it as a premise. The very prevalence of this historical interpretation of myth seems to have resulted in a return to at least t...
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As a rule in the historical tradition, over time the larger cast of characters behind a series of events, the king and his court, is distilled down to the person of a single actor, the king, while his ministers and lieutenants are... more
As a rule in the historical tradition, over time the larger cast of characters behind a series of events, the king and his court, is distilled down to the person of a single actor, the king, while his ministers and lieutenants are consigned to oblivion. Alexander the Great is by and large an exception to this rule. His Companions play important roles in his reign and campaigns, his character is developed to a great extent in his relations with them, and they rise to prominence in their own right as his successors; they form an indispensable part of the memory of Alexander. This is certainly true of the account of Alexander in the Chronographia of John Malalas, the seminal work of the Byzantine chronicle tradition. The men surrounding Alexander are referred to repeatedly, in marked contrast to the other historical personages who feature in the Chronographia. The terms that Malalas uses of Alexander’s Companions, however, are unusual, and require some interpretation. And the prominenc...
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The late antique Christian chronicle preserved as the Excerpta Latina Barbari contains a brief, but extraordinary notice on the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar; many of its unusual details can be understood in the contexts of traditional... more
The late antique Christian chronicle preserved as the Excerpta Latina Barbari contains a brief, but extraordinary notice on the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar; many of its unusual details can be understood in the contexts of traditional stories about Nebuchadnezzar and the interests of the work itself. The best clue to the meaning of the passage on Nebuchadnezzar is the Excerpta's closely parallel passage on Alexander the Great. In the Excerpta Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander reflect one another and in a sense compete with one another. Many of the odd details of the notice on Nebuchadnezzar can be explained as directing the reader toward this parallelism. The parallelism itself seems to serve two purposes. First, to provide symmetry to the Excerpta's idiosyncratic account of world history in which Alexander liberates the world conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. And second, to show Nebuchadnezzar subtly outdoing Alexander, so that Alexander's encounter with the God of the Jews, as...
Research Interests: Cultural Studies and Iraq
Research Interests: Alexander the Great, Langobards, Scylla, John Malalas Chronography, Gregory the Great, and 45 moreLombard Italy, Langobarden und Thüringer in Österreich im 6. Jahrhundert, Orosius, Lombards, Paul the Deacon, Byzantine influence on the Regnum Langobardorum according Paul the Deacon, Quintus Curtius Rufus, Langobards, Italy, Waltharius, kinship, Lombard Italy, Alexander Romance, Borders and limits in the Alexander Romance, Ennodius, Langobarden - Niederösterreich, Reggio, Gregorius Magnus, John Malalas, Historia Langobardorum, Flavius, Grimoald, Tarpeia, Historiola, Paulus Orosius, Paulus Diaconus Historia Langobardorum, Pope Gregory the Great, Italy sixth century, Paulus Diaconus, Ennode de Pavie, Metz epitome, agilulfo, Itinerarium Alexandri, Flavius Authari, Authari, Theudelinda, Agilulf, Secundus of Trent, Secundo di Non, Deutsche Sagen, Romilda, Julius Valerius, Justin, Epitome, Brautwerbung, Pillars of Hercules, Liber de morte Alexandri, and Gian Piero Bognetti
Research Interests: Alexander the Great, Charisma, Diodorus Siculus, Deification, Euergetism in antiquity, and 19 moreEusebius, Euhemerus, Hecataeus, Alexander the Great, Alejandro Magno, Alessandro Magno, Lactantius, Histories of Philip II and Alexander the Great, Euergetism, eusebius of Caesarea, Cultural Legacy of Alexander the Great, Proskynesis, The perception of Alexander the Great in Late Antiquity, Prodicus, Euhemerism, Eusebio De Cesarea, Eusebius of Casaraea, Callisthenes of Olynthus, Euergetism/evergetism, Deification of humans, and Hecataeus of Abdera
Cet article retrace les sources du récit sur la fondation de la ville de Tarse en Cilicie par le héros Persée dans la chronique de Jean Malalas et identifie aussi cer- taines allusions faites dans ce récit. Persée fut auparavant reconnu... more
Cet article retrace les sources du récit sur la fondation de la ville de Tarse en Cilicie par le héros Persée dans la chronique de Jean Malalas et identifie aussi cer- taines allusions faites dans ce récit. Persée fut auparavant reconnu comme l’un des fondateurs de Tarse, mais l’histoire de cette fondation emprunte des éléments pro- venant d’autres versions dans lesquelles Sardanapale, Bellérophon et Pégase occupent une place plus importante. Le récit de Malalas fait aussi référence à l’his- toire de la fondation d’Alexandrie telle qu’elle est présentée dans le Roman d’Alexandre et à l’inauguration à Athènes du culte de Démétrios Poliorcète sous le nom de Démétrios Kataibatès. Ces allusions indiquent que l’auteur serait Bouttios, une source pour Malalas datant du quatrième siècle, qui a rendu le récit de la fon- dation de Tarse par Persée aussi polémique qu’historique.
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We tend to think of translation as an exercise that crosses cultural boundaries, and quite naturally. The very word we use for the process indicates in its original tongue a 'carrying over' of the wealth of knowledge and beauty vested in... more
We tend to think of translation as an exercise that crosses cultural boundaries, and quite naturally. The very word we use for the process indicates in its original tongue a 'carrying over' of the wealth of knowledge and beauty vested in one language to another. But I would like to consider here an instance in which translation and similar acts of literary acquisition and appropriation produced a contrary effect: the erection of barriers segregating one culture from others. The most important barriers are conceptual and metaphorical, but they are signalled by the description of the building of a very concrete barricade, the wall behind which Alexander the Great trapped the Unclean Nations. This episode was transferred from Syriac Alexander lore to the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius and from there to one of the later versions of the Alexander Romance. The Apocalypse and the Alexander Romance were two of the most widely read and widely translated works in the Middle Ages, enjoying a truly international readership. Even as these texts crossed from one language and culture to the next, however, they changed the essential image of Alexander from one of a bold adventurer drawing new people within the ambit of his rule to one of a cautious protector who excludes strange and foreign races from his realm. This
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Research Interests: Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Early Medieval History, Late Antiquity, Barbarians Perception, Barbarians, and 5 moreBarbarians and Romans in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, Barbarians societies, Late Antiquity, Ethnogenesis, Funerary World, Goths, Vandals, Sueves, Alans, Early Medieval Period, Cultural Interactions Between Romans and Barbarians in Central Danubian Limes region from IV-VII century A. D., particulary the impact of Chernyakhov Culture on archaeological findings south of river Danube, and Identity and Otherness among the Barbarians in Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Europe. The difficult relationship between textual and archaeological record.
Faunus-who-is-also-Hermes is one of the composite god-kings dealt with in the polemical Christian 'Picus-Zeus narrative' of the fourth century. The narrative of his life is based on the Biblical account of Joseph, along with the... more
Faunus-who-is-also-Hermes is one of the composite god-kings dealt with in the polemical Christian 'Picus-Zeus narrative' of the fourth century. The narrative of his life is based on the Biblical account of Joseph, along with the elaborations on Joseph's life in Hellenistic Jewish fiction. Whereas Joseph is a virtuous hero, however, Faunus-Hermes is a villain who practices sorcery and usurpation and ultimately induces men to worship him as a god. The Hellenistic novels and especially the philosophical considerations of Philo of Alexandria accentuate the ambiguities in Joseph which might allow a bad character to be developed out of his good character. The Clementine Recognitions, moreover, offer an understanding of history and human character according to which good and evil come in contrasting and inimical pairs. Altogether, the use of Joseph as a model for Faunus-Hermes allows the author to subtly introduce a moral message in what seems to be a blunt and unadorned history.
Research Interests: Ancient Novel, Philo of Alexandria, Book of Genesis, Holy Men/Magicians in Antiquity, Simon Magus, and 15 moreAncient magic, Jewish-hellenistic literature, John Malalas Chronography, Christian Fiction, Pseudo-Clementine Literature, Hermes, Joseph story, Thoth Hermes, Joseph and Aseneth, Euhemerism, Joseph, Jannes and Jambres, Excerpta Latina Barbari, Vedic Pushan Greek Pan and Roman Faunus and Fauna, and Picus-Zeus
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Research Interests: Seleucid Empire, Pausanias, History of the Hellenistic World (Focus: Seleucid Empire), Seleucid kingdom, Seleucia on the Tigris, and 10 moreAncient Antioch, Seleucus, Seleucid chronology, Antioch, seleucus I Nicator, Ktiseis, Perseus, Eagle and city founding, Pausanias of Antioch, and city foundations
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Readers have long appreciated the importance of oaths in Euripides' Medea, 1 but it is open to question whether or not they have always understood the significance of those oaths. Modern readers may assume that these oaths are marriage... more
Readers have long appreciated the importance of oaths in Euripides' Medea, 1 but it is open to question whether or not they have always understood the significance of those oaths. Modern readers may assume that these oaths are marriage vows, such as would be exchanged by a married couple in the modern West, and broken in the case of infidelity or divorce. This reading, in my experience, loses none of the sting of betrayal felt by Medea, or the faithlessness exhibited by Jason, but it is patently not the reading intended by Euripides or understood by his first audience. The oaths that Medea speaks of are not marriage vows. No vows were exchanged by the bride and groom at an ancient Athenian wedding. So, what sort of oaths are these in the Medea? Euripides does not specify, but his imprecision is not an oversight. The oaths are left open to a number of different interpretations which underscore important aspects of the characterization of Medea and Jason, incidents of the on the very interesting problem of how, by eliciting oaths from men, women assume power and direct the action of drama.
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Research Interests: Philo of Alexandria, Comparative mythology, Nonnus of Panopolis, Dares Phrygius, Greek and Roman mythology, and 9 moreDictys Cretensis, Robert E. Howard, John Malalas and Byzantine world chronicles, Euhemerus of Messene and the Euhemeristic Tradition, The Alexander Romance, The late antique and medieval Alexander Tradition, The Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius, Greek and Roman conceptions of Ethiopia and India, and The interpretation of myth
The Greek and Latin texts of the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius, the text of the Excerpta Latina Barbari, with English translations, introduction, and notes.
Research Interests: Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Byzantine Literature, Apocalypticism, World History, Eschatology and Apocalypticism, and 19 moreByzantine Studies, Apocalyptic Eschatology, Early Christian Apocryphal Literature, Alexander the Great, Apocrypha/Pseudepigrapha, Eschatology, Merovingian period, Late Antique Religion, Merovingian and Carolingian, Patristics and Late Antiquity, Interactions between Byzantium and islamic World, Universal Chronicles, Byzantine short Chronicles, Chroniques Byzantines, Euhemerism, Byzantium and Islam, The Ideology of Emperor In the Late Antiquity and Byzantium, Early Byzantine Chronicles, and Byzantine Chronicles
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This thesis is concerned with two subjects: principally euhemerism, but also intertextuality in early Christian literature. All of the fragments of Thallus, a first or second century A.D. Greek historian,... more
This thesis is concerned with two subjects: principally euhemerism, but also intertextuality in early Christian literature.
All of the fragments of Thallus, a first or second century A.D. Greek historian, aredealtwithtosomeextent,andmostarere-evalutedtorenderasummaryofour informationon hislifeandwork.HishistoricizedrenderingofthemythicalTitanomachy,
however, serves as a focus for our investigation of the development of specific subjects in the Hellenistic tradition of euhemerism.
WetracehowtheauthoritativenameofThallusandsomeinformationfromhis
history was passed from Theophilus of Antioch to Tertullian, and from Tertullian to MinuciusFelix.WealsoevaluatethemannerinwhichThalluswas usedbyTertullianasa
euhemeristic and chronological source.
All of the fragments of Thallus, a first or second century A.D. Greek historian, aredealtwithtosomeextent,andmostarere-evalutedtorenderasummaryofour informationon hislifeandwork.HishistoricizedrenderingofthemythicalTitanomachy,
however, serves as a focus for our investigation of the development of specific subjects in the Hellenistic tradition of euhemerism.
WetracehowtheauthoritativenameofThallusandsomeinformationfromhis
history was passed from Theophilus of Antioch to Tertullian, and from Tertullian to MinuciusFelix.WealsoevaluatethemannerinwhichThalluswas usedbyTertullianasa
euhemeristic and chronological source.