Atticized New Testament

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SalviProSemper
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Atticized New Testament

Post by SalviProSemper »

Does anyone know of an Atticized or "classicized" Greek New Testament?

Thank you!

mwh
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Re: Atticized New Testament

Post by mwh »

I don’t, and I very much hope no such thing exists. The books of the NT are what they are. They have their different styles, which it would be a shame to erase by leveling, but none of them except Revelation is terribly different from classical Greek. (That’s not to deny there are inevitable differences: language doesn’t stay still at the best of times, and certainly not in the complex cultural milieu of 1st-century Palestine.) A 5th-century Athenian would find them laughable and/or offensive, but more on account of what they say than of how they say it.

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jeidsath
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Re: Atticized New Testament

Post by jeidsath »

Christianity's explicit rejection of religious plurality might have been the only thing that really offended a 5th century Athenian. Otherwise, I think that they would have extended tolerance and respect, as seemed to be their tendency with strange gods. It's a very Christian thing to be monomaniacal about Christianity.

I imagine that even Revelation might have have afforded the Athenians an opportunity to create poetry.

ὣς τοὺς μὲν ἔχε φῦζα· θεοὺς δ᾽ ἐπὶ πείρασι γαίης
εἶδον ἐφεσταότας πίσυρας πισύρεσσιν ἐοῦσιν,
κάδ᾽ δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἔχον πισύρων ἀνέμων λαιψηρὰ κέλευθα,
μὴ πνοιῇσιν ὀροίατ᾽ ἐπὶ ζείδωρον ἄρουραν
δένδρεά θ᾽ ὑψιπέτηλα καὶ εὐρέα νῶτα θαλάσσης.
ἐν δὲ ἴδον θεὸν ἄλλον ἀπ᾽ ἠελίου ἀνιόντος
οὐρανόθι πρὸ κιόντα, πατρὸς δ᾽ ἔχεν αἰὲν ἐόντος
χερσὶ ἑαῖς σφρηγῖδα, θεοῖσι δ᾽ ὁ μακρὸν ἄϋσε,
τοῖς κράτος ἐγγυάλιξε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε
σίνεσθαι γαῖάν τε καὶ ἐυρέα νῶτα θαλάσσης,
τοῖς ὁ θεοῖς πισύρεσσιν ἐκέκλετο μακρὸν ἀΰσας·
ἴσχετέ μοι χεῖρας, μὴ πρὶν κακὰ ἔρδετε γαῖαν
δένδρεά θ᾽ ὑψιπέτηλα καὶ ἐυρέα νῶτα θαλάσσης,
πρίν κεν ἐπ᾽ ὀφρύσι τῶν γε πατρὸς σφρηγῖδα βαλῶμεν
αἴσιμα οἳ ἔρδουσ᾽, ὑπάτας τ᾽ ἀλέγουσι θέμιστας.
“One might get one’s Greek from the very lips of Homer and Plato." "In which case they would certainly plough you for the Little-go. The German scholars have improved Greek so much.”

Joel Eidsath -- jeidsath@gmail.com

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