Textphilologische Überlegungen zu Commodian, Carmen apologeticum 449f.

Abstract

The feeling that traditional textual philology has largely solved its tasks has become prevalent in classical scholarship. This contribution argues the case for recognising the ongoing necessity of textual-philological work. This necessity is demonstrated by way of discussing a textually and interpretatively difficult passage from the poet Commodian, Carmen apologeticum 449f. In contrast to the opinion hitherto put forward that Commodian quotes freely from Psalm 109, a literal quotation from John 20,17 can be ascertained. This renders the conjecture ascende for transmitted ascendo dispensable, is consistent with the author’s usual quotational practice of actually quoting literally after explicitly introducing a quotation, and, through the quotation selected, seamlessly assimilates into the author’s modalistic-docetic theology. Within the context of the same verses, the variant prophet< ia> should be considered, apart from the conjecture prophet< ae>, in order to heal the corrupt propheti.