Seeing is believing: the use of ekphrasis in John Chrysostom’s Against games and theatres
Abstract
This paper aims to show that in his homily Against Games and Theatre, the use of narrative resources provided by ecphrasis allowed John Chrysostom to develop his criticism against those churchgoers who stopped attending mass to frequent theatrical performances so often that Chrysostom thought it was his duty to chastise them publicly. To carry out a rhetoricalliterary analysis, first an overview of the criticism against theatrical shows in the imperial and late-antique period will be provided. After that, an ekphrasis from Chrysostom’s homily Against Games and Theatre will be explored. In this description, Chrysostom denounced the dangers that attending theatrical shows entailed for the soul of a Christian by means of the narratological resources provided by ekphrasis (ἐνάργεια and σαφήνεια) and by the frame offered by a τειχοσκοπία meant to underline the temptations that could tantalize a Christian soul
Downloads
Article download
Crossmark
License
In order to support the global exchange of knowledge, the journal Cuadernos de Filología Clásica. Estudios griegos e indoeuropeos is allowing unrestricted access to its content as from its publication in this electronic edition, and as such it is an open-access journal. The originals published in this journal are the property of the Complutense University of Madrid and any reproduction thereof in full or in part must cite the source. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 use and distribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This circumstance must be expressly stated in these terms where necessary. You can view the summary and the complete legal text of the licence.
