Stoic Virtues in Tertullian’s Works and Their Relation to Cicero

• Authors: Levente Pap
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Q. S. F. Tertullian was one of the most prominent writers and apologists of the early Christian Church. He had two important goals with his works: on the one hand, to introduce, according to the spirit of the age, the Christian teachings embedded in contemporary Roman culture; on the other hand, to highlight and emphasize the difference between the Christian teachings and the pagan ideas. This dichotomy is characteristic of his ethical teachings as well: while he emphasizes the importance of the Christian virtues, he does not forget about their philosophical background either. Tertullian demonstrably considered Stoic philosophy as the most acceptable philosophical thinking. Virtues have an important status in the teachings of the stoic body, just as they are a fundamental part of Christian ethics. The question arises whether Tertullian’s views on virtues could have been influenced by his pagan Roman ancestor, M. T. Cicero, who also shared stoic doctrines. This is the question the present lecture tries to answer.

Keywords

EN

virtues; Christianity; Tertullian; Cicero; ancient philosophy

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 7-16

Dates

published

2014-12-01

online

2015-01-27

Contributors

author

Levente Pap

• Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania (Miercurea Ciuc, Romania) Department of Humanities

References

• Brachtendorf, Johannes. 1997. Cicero and Augustine on the Passions. Revue des Etudes Augustiniennes 43: 289-308.
• Clark, Mark Edward and Ruebel, S. James. 1985. Philosphy and Rhetoric in Cicero’s Pro Milone. Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 128: 57-72.
• Carter, Jesse Benedict. 1902. Epitheta deorum quae apud poetas latinos leguntur. Lipsiae: Teubner.
• Daniélou, Jean. 1978. Les origines du christianisme Latin. Paris: Cerf.
• Deubner, Ludwig. 1909. Personifikationen. Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie. Berlin: Teubner.
• Eisenhut, W. Virtus. 1974. RE Suppl. XIV. Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler.
• Février, P.-A. 1979. L armée romain et la construction des aqueducs. Dossier de l’archeologie 38: 88-93.
• Forschner, Maximilian. 2008. Oikeiosis. Die stoische Theorie der Selbstaneignung. In Stoizismus in der europäischen Philosophie, Literatur, Kunst und Politik, eds. Neumeyr B. et alii, 169-192. Berlin-New York: Walter de Gruyter. Vol. 1.
• Gosling, J. C. B. 1983. Plato. London-Boston: Routledge.
• Graff, Jürgen. 1963. Ciceros Selbstauffassung. Heidelberg: C. Winter.
• Kaster, Robert A. 2002. The Taxonomy of Patience or when is patientia a virtue? Classical Philology 97: 133-144.
• Kerfeld, G. B. 1972. Cicero and Stoic Ethics. In Cicero and Virgil. Studies in Honour of Harold Hunt, ed. Martyn, J. R. C., 60-74. Amsterdam: Hakkert.
• Latte, K. Spes. 1929. RE III A6. Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler.
• Marót Miklós. 1988. Néhány szó a sztoikus esztétikáról. [A Few Words about Stoic Aesthetics.] In Műalkotás-esztétikum-közönség az antikvitásban [Artwork - Aesthetics - Audience in the Antiquity], ed. László Havas, 28-38. Debrecen: KLTE.
• -. 1999. Ókori filozófia története. [The History of Ancient Philosophy.] In Bevezetés az ókortudományba II. [Introduction into the Classical Studies II.], eds. László Havas and Imre Tegyey, 223-270. Debrecen: Kossuth Egyetemi Kiadó.
• Powell, J. G. F. 1995. Cicero’s Philosophical Works and their Background. In Cicero the Philosopher. Twelwe Papers, ed. Powell, J. G. F., 1-35. Oxford: Calderon.
• Steiger Kornél. 1993. A szofista filozófia. [Sophist Philosophy.] Budapest: Atlantisz Striker, Gisela. 1996. The Role of Oikeosis in Stoic Ethics. In Essays on Hellenistic Epistemology and Ethics, ed. Striker, Gisela, 183-195. Cambridge: CUP.
• Takács Levente. 2013. The Social Status of Roman Land Surveyors. Budapest: Kódex.
• Telwall, S. (transl.). 1866-72. Of Patience. In The Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Fathers down to A.D. 32, eds. Roberts, A. and Donaldson, J., 205-230. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. Vol. XI.
• Tertullien. 1984. De la patience. Fredouille Jean-Claude (trad. ed.). Paris: Les éditions du CERF.
• Valente, Milton P. 1956. L’éthique stoïcienne chez Cicéron. Paris: Librairie Saint- Paul.
• Wallace-Hadrill, Andrew. 1981. The Emperor and His Virtues. Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 30: 298-323.
• Yonge, C. D. (transl.). 1877. Cicero’s Tusculan Disputations. New York: Harper & Brothers.

Identifiers

DOI

10.1515/ausp-2015-0001