From: Christopher Hutson (crhutson@salisbury.net)
Date: Tue Dec 01 1998 - 09:05:56 EST
Joe Weaks asks for recommendations regarding Loeb editions that might
be useful for illuminating the first-century world.
> Anyone
>have a reference, or a list of authors' writing dates, or even a note
>including authors from the period they could send me private? I am
aware
>of Boring, Berger, Colpe's _Hellenistic Commentary to the NT_. I
know the
>biggies such as Josephus, Philo, and church fathers. I am open to
>suggestions of particular works that would be worth reading.
I suppose it depends on what you want to study or what biblical books
you want to place in context.
For entertaining glimpses into the culture, you might consider the
satires of Lucian, the satires of Juvenal, some romances such as
_Daphnis and Chloe_ or Apuleius: The Golden Ass or Petronius:
Satyricon, or the Letters of Pliny. Lucian and the romances will also
give you a wider perspective on narrative strategies.
For insight into rhetorical strategies, you might consider Aristotle:
On Rhetoric; and/or Quintillian; or some speeches of Cicero.
For insight into the writing of "lives" of famous people (not quite
the same as modern "biographies"), you might consider Plutarch:
Lives, or some of Lucian's essays.
For insight into the Greco-Roman thought world, you might consider
some examples of Hellenistic moral philosophy, such as Senecan: Moral
Epistles; Plutarch: Moralia; and agains some of Lucian's satires.
These will not, of course, shed much light on the Jewish thought world
from which Paul largely came, but they will throw light on the thought
world toward which the apostle of the gentiles aimed his message.
This is a select menu offered as a suggestive guide. Some of the
works suggested are earlier of later than the first century, but they
do help fill in the cultural context of the NT writers.
>Are there
>other publishings that print Greek/English side-by-side other than
Loeb
>Classic Library that I should be exploring?
>
Yes. You should take a look at the Society of Biblical Literature
Texts and Translations series, published by Scholars Press. These
have Greek (or Latin or whatever) and English on facing pages,
together with introductory notes. Some also have critical apparatus
on the text. All are in papberback and so are relatively inexpensive.
For Greco-Roman philosophical ideas that illuminate the world of the
NT, you might consider such tasty treats as _The Cynic Epistles_ (ed.
Malherbe) or _Philodemus: On Frank Criticism_ (ed. Konstan, et al.,
or Iamblichus: Pythagorean Way of Life (ed. Dillon & Hershbell).
Other listers may have other specific suggestions. Hope this helps
you spend your $100.00 effectively.
XPIC
------------------------------------
Christopher R. Hutson
Hood Theological Seminary
Salisbury, NC 28144
crhutson@salisbury.net
------------------------------------
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