In Ad Donatum Cyprian describes his conversion to Christianity, showing the miraculous change that has come over him after the baptism. By doing so, the Carthaginian had no intention to praise himself, an unseemly behaviour according to a classical proverb. In his first work Cyprian states: in proprias laudes odiosa iactatio, a proverb drawn from Cicero and frequently quoted in classical rhetoric. However, the future bishop gives a new meaning to the ciceronian sentence, and he converts it into a Christian perspective: the long list of the great changes in Cyprian’s life is not a sign of vain arrogance, but a sign of his gratefulness for the gift that was achieved by grace of God and not by human power.
In proprias laudes odiosa iactatio (Cypr., Don. 4): l’accezione cristiana di una sentenza classica
VERONESE, MARIA
2006
Abstract
In Ad Donatum Cyprian describes his conversion to Christianity, showing the miraculous change that has come over him after the baptism. By doing so, the Carthaginian had no intention to praise himself, an unseemly behaviour according to a classical proverb. In his first work Cyprian states: in proprias laudes odiosa iactatio, a proverb drawn from Cicero and frequently quoted in classical rhetoric. However, the future bishop gives a new meaning to the ciceronian sentence, and he converts it into a Christian perspective: the long list of the great changes in Cyprian’s life is not a sign of vain arrogance, but a sign of his gratefulness for the gift that was achieved by grace of God and not by human power.
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