A Short Note on Seneca's "Hercules Furens" and the Imperial-Critical Reading of Hebrews
In Resisting Empire, Whitlark argues that the depiction of Jesus as a Herculean hero in Hebrews 'communicated covert anti-imperial notions to its audience'. This note draws on an imperial-critical reading of Hercules Furens to support Whitlark’s argument regarding how the author of Hebrews...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
[2020]
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In: |
Biblica
Year: 2020, Volume: 101, Issue: 2, Pages: 282-291 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Hebrews
/ Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, Philosophus -65, Hercules furens
/ Roman Empire
/ Criticism
B Herakles / Jesus Christus / Divinity / Apocalypticism (Motif) |
IxTheo Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion BE Greco-Roman religions CD Christianity and Culture CG Christianity and Politics HC New Testament |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Summary: | In Resisting Empire, Whitlark argues that the depiction of Jesus as a Herculean hero in Hebrews 'communicated covert anti-imperial notions to its audience'. This note draws on an imperial-critical reading of Hercules Furens to support Whitlark’s argument regarding how the author of Hebrews cuts against the grain of the Roman use of the Hercules saga. Hercules Furens stands as an example of a subversive work about Hercules that is more comprehensive and contemporaneous than Whitlark’s other references, and it buttresses the plausibility of his inference that Hebrews uses the ubiquitous imagery for Hercules to communicate a subtle-yet-blistering critique of the empire. |
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ISSN: | 2385-2062 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Biblica
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2143/BIB.101.2.3288268 |