Studies on Juvencus' Language and Style

• This thesis deals with the language and style used in the poem Evangeliorum Libri Quattuor by the fourth-century Christian poet Juvencus. The poem, a rendering of the biblical story of Jesus in dactylic poetry, initiated a literary genre, which is referred to as biblical epic.Juvencus’ language is characterized by use of different linguistic features. In parallel with aspects that are characteristic also of earlier poetry, there are many features that have rare or no counterpart in previous poetry. Thus, Juvencus’ linguistic usage is often complex, drawing influence from a wide variety of sources.The thesis deals with features of vocabulary, syntax and stylistics. The principal aim is to show how Juvencus linguistically transformed the text of the biblical model. Throughout, attempts are made to elucidate the sources, from which Juvencus drew linguistic material. Common sources include the language of epic poetry, archaically coloured language, the contemporary Late Latin language, prosaically coloured language and language influenced by the biblical model. As far as possible, attention is drawn to influence from other poets, and to Juvencus’ influence on later poets.It is shown that a number of previous statements concerning Juvencus’ linguistic usage need to be modified, and that a correct description of the Evangeliorum Libri Quattuor must take into account the full complexity of Juvencus’ language.

Keyword

Juvencus

biblical epic

poetic language

archaisms

Early Latin

Late Latin

prosaic language

biblical language

variation

Virgil

Latin

Latin

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

dok (subject category)