Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and the Early Christian Concept of ‘True Light’ in the Metaphrasis Psalmorum (138.9-23) of Apollinaris of Laodicea
Abstract
This paper explores the connection and renegotiation of Plato's allegorical simile of the cave and the spiritual exodus from darkness towards 'true light' in Apollinaris' Metaphrasis Psalmorum 138.9-23. First, to inform non-specialists, I outline scholarly views and debates on Plato’s allegory of the Cave and the concept of True light. Second, I compare the fourth-century metaphrase to the Septuagint text and interpret stylistic embellishments in the former as influences of a long tradition of conceptualising light allegorically, together with explorations over the knowability of the divine. Apollinaris' use of the light imagery is, paradoxically, connected with the concept of God as the one who makes darkness bright. Finally, I present Origen and Gregory of Nyssa as pivotal sources to our understanding of the mystical colouring of darkness in the Metaphrasis and the enigmatic verse 12 of the Septuagint's Psalm 138.
Article Details
- How to Cite
-
Manolis Spanakis. (2022). Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and the Early Christian Concept of ‘True Light’ in the Metaphrasis Psalmorum (138.9-23) of Apollinaris of Laodicea. Pnyx: Journal of Classical Studies, 1(2), 137–162. https://doi.org/10.55760/pnyx.2022.13
- Section
- Articles
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Isegoria believes in the dissemination of research without restrictions. That is why we publish Open Access, digital works under the Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY 4.0), following the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities and the latest developments according to the Plan S (Coalition-S).
This licence allows anyone, including the author, to share, copy, distribute, transmit, adapt, and make commercial use of the work without needing additional permission, provided appropriate attribution is made to the original author or source. Thus, all works published by Isegoria exceed all funder or institutional requirements for research to be published Open Access. Naturally, in case there is a need for a different CC BY licence (i.e. BY-ND/BY-NC-ND) due to third-party permissions, we are happy to discuss and review on a case-by-case basis.
The published Open Access books are discoverable via the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) and can be catalogued without restrictions to institutional repositories, academic research networks, personal websites, and be circulated freely on the web.
