Jewish-Hellenistic Epic Poetry

 I just submitted my master's thesis and I decided that I want to share something of my work, so I'm sharing the summary I had to write in English here. If anyone has questions, I'm always happy to talk about this.

The Jewish-Hellenistic poets Theodotus and Philo (3rd-1st century BC) both wrote epic poetry, of which fragments have been preserved in quotations by Alexander Polyhistor, which in term are known through Eusebius of Caesarea. Theodotus versified the episode of Genesis 34, which recounts how Jacob’s daughter Dina is raped by Shechem and how her brothers Simeon and Levi revenge her on the inhabitants of the city Shechem. Philo described the history of Jerusalem. The preserved fragments are about Abraham, Joseph and the waterworks of Jerusalem. In this master’s thesis, I examine Theodorus’ and Philo’s reception of the different traditions we can identify in their work.

Firstly, I investigate how they treat and change the content of the Septuagint and what possible parallels there are with other Jewish-Greek literature. A comparison between the text of the poets and the Septuagint forms the basis of the analysis and is combined with a synthesis of secondary literature. I furthermore examine how Theodotus and Philo treat genre and style. A general description of the features of epic poetry and epyllion lays the foundation of a comparison between those features and the preserved fragments. The chapters on style first discuss the possible influence of the Septuagint and then the influence of Homer and Hellenistic poetry. The analysis is based on a synthesis of the secondary literature.

The content of the verses of Theodotus and Philo is distinctly Jewish. Theodotus changes the story of the Septuagint when it could be taken to paint a negative image of the patriarchs. In this way he justifies the revenge by Simeon and Levi on the inhabitants of Shechem. He also emphasizes the importance of circumcision and the prohibition of interreligious marriages. Philo’s work praises the patriarchs and in particular their wisdom. He links their greatness to the greatness of Jerusalem.

The analysis of the use of genre shows that Theodotus probably wrote an epyllion rather than an epos. Philo remains closer to the genre of the classical epos. Both Theodotus’ and Philo’s poems show characteristics of Hellenistic foundation stories. Theodotus explains how the modern inhabitants of Shechem descend from the Israelites. Philo explains the importance of Jerusalem in Jewish history. Theodotus' text contains further etiological elements, notably the origin of circumcision.

Stylistically, Theodotus' lexicon and morphology are distinctly Homeric. Philo's style bears more resemblance to that of Hellenistic poets, especially Lycophron. He uses many rare words, his syntax is sometimes opaque, and his metaphorical language is complex. Neither is influenced by the Hebraising language of the Septuagint.

Despite superficial differences, Theodotus and Philo make more or less the same choices in terms of form, with a mix of classical and Hellenistic elements. In terms of content, Theodotus mainly aims to present a number of problematic aspects of the Septuagint more positively, while Philo wants to praise Jerusalem and the patriarchs. Both poets succeed in converting exclusively Jewish content into a Greek form, making conscious literary choices in the process. In this, they do not differ from other Hellenistic poets, who wanted to stimulate their readers through an innovative approach to familiar stories and genres.