Myth and Narrative Fiction in the Works of the Roman Emperor Julian

• Authors: Hilton John
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The writings of the emperor Julian (331–363) reveal an author who was familiar with Greek literature in all its forms, including fictional narratives. He defended Greek myths, such as the story of Attis and Cybele, from the attacks of Christian authors in his Hymn to the Mother of the Gods. He also composed a fictional narrative featuring his imperial predecessors in the satirical spirit of Lucian (Caesars), an allegorical autobiography (Against the Cynic Heraclius), and a sanitised version of the love of Antiochus for his mother-in-law Stratonice (Misopogon, 347A to 348A). This article discusses these short fictional narratives in the context of the polemical use of fiction in the ideological struggle between Julian and Christian writers in the fourth to sixth centuries of our era.

Keywords

EN

Julian; myth; narrative; Christianity; paganism; sacrifice

Discipline

• PHILOLOGY_&_LINGUISTICS: PHILOLOGY & LINGUISTICS

• Publisher: Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Listy filologické (Folia philologica)
• Year: 2017
• Volume: 140
• Issue: 1-2
• Pages: 39-70

Contributors

author

Hilton John

• University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4041 South Africa