Prodigality, Liberality and Meanness: The Prodigal Son in Greco-Roman Perspective

Abstract

Prodigality, Liberality and Meanness: The Prodigal Son in Greco-Roman Perspective, by David A. Holgate. JSNTSup 187. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999. Pp. 299. E50.00/$80.00 (cloth). This monograph is a revision of Holgate's doctoral dissertation, completed under the direction of Professor P. G. R. de Villiers in Grahamstown, South Africa. With considerable care and an excellent grasp of a wide range of primary and secondary sources, Holgate argues that Luke's parable of the prodigal son should be read in light of the Greco-Roman topos On Covetousness. This argument rests on the assumption that Luke's intended readers were familiar with Greco-Roman ethical and philosophical rhetoric, and that Luke intended to teach them about the benefits of an attitude of toward their Part I of Holgate's monograph focuses on the parable itself. He begins by surveying the analyses of the prodigal son that employed a reading informed by Greco-Roman perspectives, and he notes a number of parallels between this parable and elements of Greco-Roman literature and thought. Of special significance to Holgate are the parallels between the parable and the teachings of the Greco-Roman philosophers. After this survey he examines the composition and message of Luke 15:11-32, establishing the text and its structure. The result of this examination is Holgate's contention that the father plays the central role in this parable, a role Luke designed to teach his readers about the virtue of compassionate liberality. The final chapter of this section searches for a milieu-what Holgate terms co-texts-for the parable. Unhappy with the interpretative strictures posed by limiting the parable to its immediate context of Luke 15 (the lost and parables), Holgate argues that the L parables-those found only in Luke's Gospel-offer a better context for understanding the meanings) of the prodigal son. In particular, these co-texts emphasize the proper use of money and possessions; the parable's teachings about liberality in the use of money fits far better, he argues, with Luke 16 than with the rest of Luke 15. Part 2 of the book examines other Greco- Roman texts for their use of the topos On Covetousness. This chapter offers the reader an extensive tour through this particular arena of classical literature, explaining the use of topoi, examining the teachings about money and possessions across a wide range of texts, and describing the characteristic features of the topos On Covetousness. Having argued that the parable of the prodigal son is better read in light of Luke's messages) about possessions, and having surveyed the ancient literature about the proper use of possessions, Holgate moves to part 3 of his monograph: an analysis of the parable in light of ancient instruction concerning the proper use of possessions. Holgate's term for this analysis is moral reading, and he argues that the parable treats three of the common themes of the topos On Covetousness: the vices of meanness and prodigality, and the virtue of liberality. Holgate argues that the younger son represents the vice of prodigality, as he falls prey to the same life difficulties that plague prodigals in other Greco-Roman literature. The father, on the other hand, represents the virtue of liberality, and his willingness to be free with his possessions indicates that he has the correct attitude toward them. The younger son, faced with the failure and degradation that result from his prodigality, comes to himself and embraces the virtue of liberality. …