" Vergiliev oracle " ( lat. Sortes Vergilianae ) - a collection of quotations from Virgil (70-19 BC), known from the 2nd century , which was resorted to as an oracle . This method of divination relates to bibliomancy .
The Roman emperor Hadrian (117-138) and his successors addressed the Sortes Vergilianae, moreover, making a guess , they first discovered the volume of Virgil at random. This practice, which was widely used in the Middle Ages , was a consequence of the extraordinary popularity of the Roman poet. A similar perception of the “divine poet” Virgil as a prophet at that time was greatly facilitated by the attitude of the fathers of the early Christian church , who resorted to his works as an oracle, to Augustine , Jerome , Lactantius , Minucius Felix and others, as well as allegorism of the 4th eclogue (winter) from the first work of Virgil " Bukoliki " [1] :
| Virgil Eclogue iv | Virgil Eclogue IV per. with lat. S. Shervinsky |
| Ultima Cumaei venit iam carminis aetas; magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo. iam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna; iam nova progenies caelo demittitur alto. tu modo nascenti puero, quo ferrea primum desinet ac toto surget gens aurea mundo ... | “ The last circle came upon the broadcast of the prophetess Kumskaya , Syznova nowadays, a magnificent system is conceived, The virgin is coming to us again, the kingdom of Saturn is coming. Again, a new tribe is sent from high heaven. Be supportive of the newborn, with whom to replace The iron clan will spread gold on the earth ... " |
Only the writings of Homer (the Homer oracle , Sortes Homericae ) and the Sibyls of the book enjoyed similar authority, and since the spread of Christianity the Bible ( Sortes Sanctorum - fortune-telling condemned by the church council in Agde in 506).
Notes
- ↑ “Bucolica” consists of 10 eclogues and was written in 43-37 years.
Links
- Sortes Vergilianae // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- Virgil, Bucolics. Eclogue IV Translated from Latin by S. V. Shervinsky; Commentary by N. A. Starostina.