The Vision of Dorotheus

First page of the Bodmer Papyrus of the Vision of Dorotheus, containing lines 1–41

The Vision of Dorotheus or Dorotheos (Ancient Greek: Όρασις Δωροθέου, romanized: Órasis Dorothéou)[1] is an autobiographical Homeric Greek poem in 343 lines of dactylic hexameter, attributed to "Dorotheus, son of Quintus the Poet". The poem chronicles a vision, wherein the author is transported to the Kingdom of Heaven and finds himself in its military hierarchy. He is conscripted into and deserts his post, only to receive punishment, be forgiven, and rediscover his Christian faith. The poem, penned sometime in the 4th-century, depicts the Kingdom of Heaven in an Imperial fashion; Christ is enthroned as a Roman emperor, surrounded by angels bearing Roman military and official titles (such as domestikos, praipositos, primikerios, and ostiarios), with the military structures of the Kingdom of Heaven modelled on those of Rome.[2]

The Vision of Dorotheus survives as one of the earliest examples of Christian hexametric poetry.[3] While the Vision's poetic merit has been criticised, its poet being described by Vian (1985) as having been "satisfied with a superficial epic varnish" and its faults denoting "an amateur who had not received a solid academic training";[4] the value of its insight into early Christianity has been noted, Livrea (1986) claiming that such a text "should arouse a burning interest", "even in the eyes of the most superficial reader"[5] and Kessels & Van Der Horst (1987) noting its status as a "unique, autobiographic early Christian poem", giving "much food for reflection to scholars in the fields of patristics, history of religion, classics, and also psychology of religion".[6] Much scholarship has been written concerning the Vision, considering its meaning and its provenance.[7]

The poem is extant in a unique papyrus codex of the 4th/5th-century, as part of the Bodmer Papyri, under the signature "Papyrus Bodmer 29" in the Bodmer Library. The papyrus has taken on some damage, with its many lacunae leaving only 22 lines to survive fully. This papyrus codex of 22 folios, otherwise known as the Codex of Visions, records the Vision on 9 pages, alongside several other early Christian works.[2]

  1. ^ Kessels & Van Der Horst 1987, pp. 320–1
  2. ^ a b Kessels & Van Der Horst 1987, pp. 313–4; MacCoull 1991
  3. ^ Bremmer 2002, p. 133
  4. ^ Vian 1985, p. 47: "Quintus de Smyrne a une bonne culture homerique et il sait eviter aussi bien les centons que les disparates. Dorotheos se satisfait d'un vernis epique superficiel dont il renforce les effets en recourant sans vergogne au centen. En outre, il rompt e bien des egards avec la tradition epique. Les libertes metriques et les fautes de prosodie relevees au e I denotent un amateur qui n'a pas reeu une solide formation scolaire."
  5. ^ Livrea 1986, p. 687: "Ora, anche agli occhi del lettore piu superficiale, questo complesso oscuro dovrebbe destare un interesse bruciante, almeno su cin que piani differenti"
  6. ^ Kessels & Van Der Horst 1987, p. 315
  7. ^ Bremmer 2002, pp. 128–33