What is it about?
After clarifying the theological implications of the phrase τὸ πολὺ πέλαγος τοῦ καλοῦ in Plat. Symp. 210d4 and demonstrating that it cannot be considered the archetype, the article aims to examine the Nachleben of Gregory of Nazianzus’ expression πέλαγος οὐσίας ἄπειρον καὶ ἀόριστον (Or. 38.7 and 45.3): not only is it spread in late antique and mediaeval literature both Greek and Latin, but it is also present in Dante’s Commedia. The huge diffusion of this image across time and space, supported by a careful examination of the use that is made of it by authors who pick it up, makes it possible to demonstrate that πέλαγος οὐσίας ἄπειρον καὶ ἀόριστον became a very well known proverbial topos in the Christian world.
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Why is it important?
The article is important because underlines the huge fortune of Gregory of Nazianzus until the Medieval and Modern eras. It is also useful due to its discussion of the imagery of the sea as a symbol of infinity, which is spread in almost every culture and literary tradition.
Perspectives
I recommend this article for those who are interested in Gregory of Nazianzus, the reception of Platonism, Rufinus of Concordia, Byzantine literature, Latin Medieval literature (especially Thomas Aquinas), Dante and the imagery of the sea as a symbol of infinity.
Marco Settecase
Universita degli Studi di Bologna
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This page is a summary of: Storia e fortuna di una similitudine nazianzenica: οἷόν τι πέλαγος οὐσίας ἄπειρον καὶ ἀόριστον, Philologus, October 2018, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1515/phil-2017-0024.
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