The Codex Visionum and the Uses of Greek Christian Poetry

: A systematic socio-cultural study of the uses of Christian poetry in the late antique Greek-speaking Mediterranean is still lacking. Most literary overviews restrict themselves to an overview of the extant texts and some programmatic reﬂections in the poetry by Gregory of Nazianzus. This paper seeks to address this matter by a combined reading of the best-known poetic forms (including the programmatic reﬂections by Gregory) and the poems copied in the Codex Visionum (now in the Bodmer Collection). Since the edition of the latter was completed in 1999, they have often featured in studies on the origin of monasticism and are well known in papyrological circles, but have received insufﬁcient attention from literature and cultural historians.

no reference to the content of their writings, but Gregory gives them the double advice of clinging to God's inspired books (9b-10) and God's inspiration, the Holy Spirit (13). Gregory himself aims to write straight-forward texts (17 ᾿ Αναµϕιλέκτoυς . . . λóγoυς), apparently in prose, but then he consigns his own toil to the writing of poetry (24 Mέτρoις τι δoῦναι τῶν ἐµῶν πoνηµάτων). The only explicit connection between the writing of prose and poetry is the writer's effort (3 ἐν πóνoις, 24 τῶν ἐµῶν πoνηµάτων). The influence of the Scripture and the inspiration of the Spirit remain in the background and are suggested when he wishes "May [God s] word never leave me so alone" (32 Mή µoι τoσoῦτoν ἐκπέσoι Θεoῦ λóγoς). (Christian) poetry, therefore, existed in a literary continuum with prose.
Before actually accounting for his wishes on writing poetry, Gregory rules out fame (25), an empty thing (26b-27a δóξαν . . . κενὴν), although other Christian writers find a way of seeking it for the right motives, the singing of God's praises in opposition with the empty vanity of 'pagan' poets. 18 Then he lists the four aims of his poems. The first one is to put constraints on his prolixity (35 πεδῆσαι τὴν ἐµὴν ἀµετρίαν), because the effort of writing poetry (37a καµὼν τὸ µέτρoν) will prevent him from writing too much. 19 Secondly, to make agreeable the medicine (of faith) by proposing convincing arguments for the most useful (39-40 ῞Ωσπερ τι τερπνὸν τoῦτo δoῦναι ϕάρµακoν, /πειθoῦς ἀγωγὸν εἰς τὰ χρησιµώτερα) and to sweeten bitter commandments (41b τὸ πικρὸν τῶν ἐντoλῶν). The serious content is sweetened by the use of art (41a τέχνῃ), none other than the appropriate metrics, which has a relaxing effect similar to that of music on the audience. 20 This is an intellectual appraisal of poetry, not a suggestion that poetry is expected to be accompanied by the lyre. Christian poetry should have a didactic and religious function, but this is not explicitly linked to a particular context (not school, 21 not specific liturgies conducted in the Church or part of a sermon). 'Didactic' and 'religious' may not be the best labels to describe what Christian poetry seeks and we would be better served by saying that late antique Christian poetry seeks the spiritual deepening of the poet and audience. This may take different forms: renovation of an ancient Biblical text, theological elucidation, advice on how to live as a Christian, celebration of God, discussion of what makes a community a truly Christian one, search for truly Christian emotions and feelings, the definition of beauty with God as the ultimate referent and so forth.
In the third place, to seek superiority with regards to pagan poets (48b-9 oὐδ' ἐν λóγoις/ Πλέoν δίδωµι τoὺς ξένoυς ἡµῶν ἔχειν "I cannot bear that strangers should possess/the prize in letters, rather than ourselves"). 22 Gregory specifies that the competition with them is unequal because although in form they can be superior (50 Toύτoις λέγω δὴ τoῖς κεχρωσµένoις λóγoις), in content Christians will necessarily be better as they offer the contemplation of real beauty in Christian faith (51 Εἰ καὶ τὸ κάλλoς ἡµῖν ἐν θεωρίᾳ). The poetic form is retained because it is useful (96 χρησιµώτερoν) in the greater plan of attracting audiences to God. 23 Christian poetry is thus expected to abide both by the rules, methods and modes of Classical poetry and those of the Old Testament, although the specific influence of the latter is never made clear in In suos versus or in other poems. On the contrary, it seems that the formal link to Hebrew poetry is a notional one, condensed in the reference to model poetic figures such as David or Solomon. 24 Most Greek-speaking poets would not be able to read Hebrew and approached the Old Testament through the Greek translation of the Septuaginta.
Gregory's fourth aim is particularly complex: 54-7 Tέταρτoν εὗρoν τῇ νóσῳ πoνoύµενoς Παρηγóρηµα τoῦτo, κύκνoς ὡς γέρων, Λαλεῖν ἐµαυτῷ τὰ πτερῶν συρίγµατα, Oὐ θρῆνoν, ἀλλ' ὕµνoν τιν' ἐξιτήριoν. "Fourth, I have found these poems a consolation/When, weighed by illness, like an aging swan,/I make the whistling of my wings a song:/Not mournful, but a kind of parting hymn" One can translate 55 παρηγóρηµα (LSJ, s.v.) as 'consolation' but also as 'remedy'. This makes poetry a ϕάρµακoν 'medicine' (39) for the illnesses of soul (ignorance, lack of faith, spiritual suffering) and body (Gregory's infirmity), in its reception and composition, akin to the production and listening to of music. 25 Christian poetry is not only about revisiting Christian topics (the Creation as in the Genesis, the Incarnation in the Gospel of John with subsequent exegetic and dogmatic takes on the subject, God's salvific power), but also a form of personal introspection or spiritual reflection, which has a medicinal effect on the poet who puts his pain in God's hands in metrical form, and in those reading and listening to the poem who can thus undergo a similar vicarious experience.
Threnoi (57 θρῆνoν) were the compositions typically sung on the death of a person in pre-Christian times, and Christian preachers sought to limit their use in Christian funerary rituals. Hymns (e.g., Psalms) should be sung instead, celebrating God in his wisdom and consoling the mourners without allowing them to lose hope and faith. 26 Not all forms/genres are appropriate for a Christian poet: the material (here Gregory's pain, infirmity and parting) should be given a form compatible with the Christian faith of the poet (a celebratory hymn, not a mourning dirge).

The Codex Visionum
The Codex Visionum was part of a library including books in Greek, Latin and Coptic, covering Christian and non-Christian topics. 27 Its finding spot is unknown but assumed to be Upper Egypt, perhaps in the area of Panopolis (Fournet 2015, pp. 17-20). In this miscellaneous codex, 28 six hands copied ca. 400 d.C. one previously known prose text (1) and several poems (2-10) of which this is the first and only extant copy.

1.
P.Bodmer 38 The Shepherd of Hermas, Visions I-IV. A nearly canonical prose text, 29 probably written in Rome in the 2nd c. AD, it narrates the five visions Hermas has, four sent by the Church, who takes the form of an old woman, and the final one by a messenger (the angel of repentance), dressed as a shepherd. A total of 12 ethical instructions (Gr. ἐντoλαί, Lat. mandata) and 10 parables (Gr. παραβoλαί, Lat. similitudines) follow. The Codex included Visions I-IV, but IV, copied in the central folio, is lost.

2.
P.Bodmer 29 Dorotheus' Vision (῞Ορασις ∆ωρoθέoυ), often referred to as the Visio Dorothei (VD). 30 Dorotheus, son of the poet Quintus, 31 retells his vision of God's palace where he commits two serious sins: abandoning the gates he has been ordered to invigilate, and trespassing into the palace, where he follows an old man he accuses of stealing. He is put on trial and condemned to lashing by God himself, but because he has repented he is allowed to return to his previous job, still covered in blood. He is offered baptism and chooses Andrew as his new name, upon which he is endowed with strength and valour (ἀνδρεία-a pun on the name) and dressed in new vestments.
P.Bodmer 31 On the Righteous (Πρὸς δικαίoυς): 33 164 elegiac distichs reminding just men (δίκαιoι) of the dangers of sin, especially the pull of worldly possessions, in the context of divine judgement, and advising on the importance of a complete conversion (µετάνoια), which may lead to martyrial death. In the final lines, Dorotheus becomes a model for reaching heaven. 5.
P.Bodmer 32 [Praise] of the Lord Jesus, or [Works] of the Lord Jesus (here referred to as Lord Jesus) is another alphabetic acrostic. It sings Christ's praises and refers to basic concepts such as his divine filiation, majesty and ἀρετή (virtue and power), bringing peace to earth and freeing humanity of death and sin. 6.
P.Bodmer 33 What would Cain say after killing Abel? (Tί ἂν εἴπoι ὁ Kαιν ἀπoκτείνας τὸ[ν ᾿ Αβελ;-referred to as Cain) is an ethopoea, 34 a 10-line reconstruction of the poetic words Cain would have said, following the cues of Gen. 4:9-19 and focusing on Cain's pain when he realises he has condemned himself. 7.
P.Bodmer 36 (Norelli 2002) is poorly preserved but looks like a hexametric composition that included a description of the Final Judgement, in which the importance of looking after widows, orphans and the poor, as well as of praising God are mentioned. 10. P.Bodmer 37: its scanty remains suggest it was a hymn.
The poems of the C. Visionum are extraordinary pieces of evidence. Not only do we have the text of the poems, but also know the way they looked in Late Antiquity when they were copied and read, how they were gathered next to one another and what other texts were part of the same library. While there is no guarantee that we have the whole of the library-we probably do not as, for instance, there are no copies of the Gospels-the other volumes in the library yield additional information about the categories involved in the anthologisation of Christian texts. In fact, the library included three additional miscellaneous codices, 35 in which Classical and Christian texts were combined.
The Susanna-Daniel-Thucydides codex (LDAB 4120) was copied in different hands but in the same quire: Susanna (P.Bodmer XLV), Daniel 1 (P.Bodmer XLVI), an alphabetic acrostic with iambic moral exhortations on virginity inspired in St Paul's writings (P.Bodmer XLVII (Carlini and Bandini 1991, pp. 164-65)), blank pages and Thucydides VI (P.Bodmer XXVII). The combination of Susanna, Daniel and Thucydides could make this a 'historical' codex, gathering together texts from the Bible and Classical tradition, but the alphabetic acrostic would not match the rest of the content, and cannot be linked to any of the three texts in an easy manner. The layout of the page on which the acrostic is copied would suggest a lack of planning. 36 The Bodmer 'composite' or 'miscellaneous codex' (LDAB 2565), copied by at least three scribes, included 37 the Genesis of Mary (also known as The Protoevangelium of James, P.Bodmer V), the apocryphal correspondence of Paul and the Corinthians (also known as 3 Corinthians, P.Bodmer X), the eleventh Ode of Solomon (P.Bodmer XI), the Letter of Jude (P.Bodmer VII), Melito's Sermon on the Passover (P.Bodmer XIII), a (fragment/excerpt of a) hymn (P.Bodmer XII) 38 and 1-2 Peter (P.Bodmer VIII). 39 These could be broadly considered New Testament texts (Genesis of Mary, 3 Corinthians, Ode of Solomon, Jude, Peter), all of which could be read in liturgy. The same could be said of the hymn and Melito's homily, which presupposes the public liturgical reading of Exodus 12-if not read in the liturgy it could be used in spiritual preparations for Easter, including citations in sermons. 40 In his analysis of this codex, Camplani (2015, pp. 113-19) notes a doctrinal intent, particularly visible in the Genesis of Mary (defending the virginity of Mary and describing the Incarnation), 3Cor (Paul tries to solve a doctrinal crisis on topics similar to those dealt by the Genesis of Mary), Jude (against false teachers), 1 Peter (on baptism and the passion of Christ) and 2 Peter (against false teachers). 41 The Ode of Solomon deals with the resurrection and paradise.
The Barcelona-Montserrat miscellaneous codex (LDAB 552) is probably the work of one copyist: the first four pages are missing; pp. 5-47 Cicero In Catilinam 6-8, 13-30 (Latin); pp. 48-56 Psalmus responsorius, an acrostic hymn which the first editor considered dedicated to the Virgin Mary but which could be taken to address the question of the immaculate conception of Christ (Latin); 42 p. 57 a drawing, possibly Perseus with Medusa's head; pp. 58-64 Greek euchologions (including eucharistic anaphora and thanksgiving prayer, 43 an exorcism over the oil, 44 a prayer for the sick and an acrostic hymn ἁγνὴν θυσίαν, on the sacrifice of Isaac); pp. 65-71 Hexameters on Alcestis (Latin); p. 72 blank; 73-80 story about Hadrian (Latin); pp. 81-106 an alphabetic list of words (Greek). 45 The texts in Latin betray a lack of scribal familiarity and would be connected to the learning of Latin by Greek speakers, not to the presence of Latin speakers in the area (Fournet 2015, p. 13). In Catilinam and the story about Hadrian would be texts for learners everywhere, whereas the acrostic hymn would be appropriate for a Christian religious environment, in which Greek speakers would master the religious vocabulary they needed to participate in liturgy or talk to Latin-speaking Christians. 46 The alphabetic list of words is of educational use too. 47 This particular community had, therefore, several concurrent systems to organise texts in books and Christian and Classical texts were not always separated. In fact, Nongbri (2018, p. 335, fn 111) notes, on speaking of the Thucydides of the Susanna-Daniel-Thucydides codex and the Cicero of the Barcelona codex, "they don't really constitute a distinct grouping . . . 'classical' versus 'Christian' is simply a modern heuristic shorthand. It is very likely that in terms of ownership, readership, and probably copying, these copies of Cicero and Thucydides are Christian books". Perceived literary genre (e.g., historiography) may have been a reason for gathering texts under one roof, but so was the intended use of the codex (didactic aids, in more than one language, of different sorts-basic vocabulary, liturgical texts to be learned by heart; doctrinal). These scribes seemed to always find it appropriate to insert short Christian texts, be it an exhortation (alphabetic acrostic with iambic moral exhortations P.Bodmer XLVII) or hymn (P.Bodmer XII; Latin acrostic Psalmus responsorius) in a project arranged around a different organising principle.
The poems of the Codex Visionum are challenging in terms of materiality (some pages are very fragmentary, especially poems 9 and 10, which will not be referred to in what follows), content, interpretation and interaction with one another. Because of the recurring presence of the figure of a just man (δίκαιoς) who experiences conversion (metanoia) and commits his life to God, it has been suggested that the C. Visionum is the project of a masculine religious community, 48 who had a particular appreciation for poetry and literature in general, 49 and comprised at least of six members who took turns at copying texts (Crisci 2004, pp. 120-21). The Shepherd of Hermas was clearly written before their time, but we do not really know who (singular or plural) wrote the poems in the codex: as they are not autographs, they could have been brought from elsewhere as particularly relevant for the community or composed there using memories of the martyrdom of Dorotheus. It is, however, clear that the poems are not copied randomly: the VD showcases the figure of Dorotheus, picked up in the Righteous, and proposes a model of the suffering just rewarded by God, then developed in the figures of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac (P.Bodmer 30), Abel (P.Bodmer 33 and 35) 50 and the sufferers of The Lord to those who suffer. The connection of the poetic ensemble is highlighted through the repetition of lines of the VD. 51 As for their dating, they would have been composed in post-Constantinian times, when martyrdom was no longer a viable means of reaching heaven but was retained in the Christian imaginary as an image of mortification and complete oblation of one's life to God. 52 The risk for post-Constantinian communities was no longer opting out of martyrdom, but tepid faith, well below that of martyrs: hence the fourth century draw to ascetic rigorism (Morard 2002). 53

Christian Literary Continuum
The poems of the Codex Visionum present themselves as part of a textual continuum with other forms of poetry and prose considered Christian in Late Antiquity: the Old Testament (with special reference to Genesis and the Psalms), the New Testament (Gospels, letters and Revelation are all the sources of relevant concepts exploited by the poems) and other Christian literary forms, in particular in this case visionary literature (The Shepherd of Hermas) and martyr texts.
The Shepherd of Hermas, the first text of the volume, casts a long shadow over the whole set, 54 effectively reminding readers that the first function of Christian poetry is to sit side by side with Christian prose. The Shepherd of Hermas and the VD were clearly copied one after the other because they were thought to belong to the broad genre of visions, featuring prose and poetic texts, inscriptions, Old and New Testament instances as well as Classical referents. The basic narrative of a mortal who has some personal experience of the divine and puts it in writing 55 underpins both the VD, where Dorotheus falls asleep and then composes a poem on his vision of the palace of God and The Shepherd. 56 Similarly, in the Old Testament, the prophet Habakkuk (Hab. 2:1) vows to stand watch at the rampart waiting for God's answer to his queries, and God asks him to write the vision on tablets (2:2), 57 and the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas, a Greek translation of the Latin Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas already in circulation in the early fourth century, 58 begins with a reference to the importance of writing down experiences for the edification of fellow Christians and honouring God. 59 It is not only a case of sharing basic generic traits. The Shepherd touches upon a number of topics which surface regularly in other poems: the call to a complete conversion (metanoia); persecution, martyrdom and punishment (perhaps metaphorical, but crudely described); 60 the gifts, rewards and grace God gives to his faithful. 61 The tower as the allegory of the Church built with the stones provided by the lives of pious Christians, especially those who have undergone martyrdom, appears in The Shepherd and two of the poems of the Codex. 62 This prose-poetry contiguity preempts accusations of the inappropriateness of Christian poetry in Classical style: The Shepherd was considered a near canonic text 63 and poetic texts that share visible connections with it would somehow be covered by its protective mantle. The connection is stronger in the case of the VD as both texts belong to the same genre, and lighter with the remaining poems, which, we have seen, also share some motifs (esp. the call to metanoia) with The Shepherd.
Then there is the visible connection with the Bible, especially with the OT. Not only does the OT record visions (e.g., those of Habakkuk and Ezechiel mentioned earlier), but Abraham, Sarah, Isaac (P.Bodmer 30), Cain and Abel (P.Bodmer 32, 34) are all foundational characters of the book of Genesis. Additionally, P.Bodmer 30 is a loose complement of Genesis 22:1-18 and Cain and Abel develop Genesis 4:9-15, with Abel essentially paraphrasing Ps. 101(102), appropriately "A prayer of one afflicted, when faint and pleading before the Lord". Abel and Isaac inaugurate a vital paradigm followed by Hermas. Dorotheus, and the righteous addressed to in Righteous and Sufferers.
The poems of the Codex Visionum also visibly mark themselves as part of a textual continuum with Classical literature, specifically epic. The spectrum is broad both in terms of authors with whom they posit a relationship (Homer, Hesiod, Apollonius Rhodius) and forms of reference. None of this is surprising, but it is worth analysing the particular choices made in the adaptation of the epic frame. 64 These poems incorporate popular epic vocabulary, appropriate for certain characters (Gabriel as ἄγγελoς ὠκύς 'swift messenger/ angel', 65 God and Christ receive the Homeric title ἄναξ often accompanied by the epithet αἰώνιoς 'immortal', 66 the peoples as the epic laos) 67 or places (the underworld 68 and paradise as the island of Ogygia). 69 Earlier, well-known epic poems are also the source of the vocabulary for sin, 70 terrible images of punishment (VD 158,dogs and vultures devouring entrails), and gestures such as that of supplication or grasping of the knees to make a request. 71 The poet(s) claim for their Christian characters the epic label of heroes (VD 30,272,308,313;Righteous 75) 72 and their paraphernalia of valour, 73 might, 74 reward/booty, 75 glory and fame 76 and grace. 77 In practice, some passages are a combination of Homeric half-lines. 78 Some of the borrowings are unexpected. The use of Greek names for the underworld had precedents in the Septuagint, 79 but what about the use of 'Hephaestus' as a metonym for the fire 80 in Abraham 23, or the references to destiny (µoῖρα) in Righteous 52, 81? Is Christ recognisable as ἀθά[νατ]oς µῦθoς (Sufferers 4), 81 when he is usually known as the λóγoς after the initial hymn in the Gospel of John? Nonnus must have thought that the answer to the latter question was no, and in his Paraphrase of the Gospel of John, he regularly uses the unepic word λóγoς for the Incarnated word (e.g., P. 1.1b ἐν ἀρρήτῳ λóγoς ἀρχῇ for Jo. 1:1 ἐν ἀρχῇ ὁ λóγoς), 82 whereas λóγoς never occurs in the Dionysiaca. Similarly, µoῖρα and Hephaestus do not appear in the Paraphrase.
Additionally, the connection to Classical epics is discussed in a number of programmatic passages in the VD 83 and Righteous. Let us start with the Homeric connection in the VD VD 1-3 ῏Η µάλα µoι τῷ ἀλιτρῷ ἀπ' oὐρανóθ[εν θε]ὸς ἁγνὸς Xρηστóν, ἄγαλµα ἑoῖo, δῖoν ϕάoς ὤπ[ασε κóσ]µῳ, ἵµερoν ἐν στήθεσσι διδoὺς χαρίεσσα[ν ἐπ' oἴ]µην. Surely, it is for me, this sinner, that from heaven the pure God has sent Christ, his own image, to the world as a bright light, while putting in my heart a desire for graceful song.
Line 3 is composed with Homer in mind. The Homeric poems describe song as ἱµερóεις 'exciting desire' or 'lovely Od. 1.421 = 18.304 ἱµερóεσσαν ἀoιδὴν,Od. 17.519), the gods put emotions and resolve into the breasts of mortals (e.g., Il. 5.513 ἐν στήθεσσι µένoς βάλε, 7.68, 13.494), 84 and a minstrel is moved to sing a lay (oἴµη) by the , just as Dorotheus is moved to sing by God. Similarly, Hesiod begins singing from the Heliconian Muses (Th. 1) and says of them that their song glorifies the venerated race of the gods (43b-4), just as Dorotheus' song will glorify his God.
Dorotheus then attributes the content and poetic shape of his words to Gabriel, featuring word by word one of the key lines discussing Hesiod's inspiration by the Muses in the Theogony: VD 176-7 τoῖα δ' ἐνὶ στήθεσσιν ἐµoῖς πoτικάµβαλες αὐδ [ὴν] θέσπιν, ἵνα κλείoιµι τά τ' ἐσσóµενα π[ρ]ó τ' ἐóντα.. "Such were the things that you have laid into my heart as subject of divine song, that I may celebrate all that has been and will come". Hes. Th. 31b-3 ἐνέπνευσαν δέ µoι αὐδὴν θέσπιν, ἵνα κλείoιµι τά τ' ἐσσóµενα πρó τ' ἐóντα, καί µ' ἐκέλoνθ' ὑµνεῖν µακάρων γένoς αἰὲν ἐóντων "And they breathed a divine voice into me, so that I might glorify what will be and what was before, and they commanded me to sing of the race of the blessed ones who always are." (Transl. Most 2006) Dorotheus' song coalesces with a particular streak of epic, didactic, presenting itself as the Christian equivalent to the foundation text of 'pagan theology', the Theogony. At the same time, the differences between the two texts are glaring enough to disavow their superposition. 85 Hesiod sings of the past of the world from its very beginning in the Theogony, and his own present is the subject of his Works and Days, where the future features as the disastrous consequences of not heeding his advice. In both poems, Hesiod's voice introduces an extraneous subject matter, unrelated to his personal experience. On the contrary, in the VD Dorotheus sings of his own present experience of the divine and the past, present and future of the world are actually never mentioned, although the final lines suggest that the VD is only the first of many creations of the singer Dorotheus, all of them dedicated to Christian topics: I prayed to be a messenger in the service of God Most High of all the things that he laid upon me. And in my heart he has laid songs of various kinds as to keep guard and sing about the deeds of the righteous and also of Christ the Lord, year after year ever more delightful for a singer.
The topics of subsequent poems would be 342 ἔργων δικαίων 'the deeds of the righteous', perhaps like himself, or like other the figures praised in the subsequent poems of the Codex (Abraham in P.Bodmer 30, the righteous admonished in P.Bodmer 31, Abel in P.Bodmer 33 and 35) and Xρηστoῖo ἄνακτoς 'Christ the lord' (as in P.Bodmer 32, 34). ἀ]oιδή.ν./ παντoίην (340b-341a) could refer to poems of different types, i.e., all genres, or to internal variation, as a synonym of the ubiquitous πoικιλία, aesthetically valued in Late Antiquity (Miguélez-Cavero 2008, pp. 21-22, 129-30, 139-46, 163-69). In particular, the final line reads both as the projection of a poetic career onto which the poet embarks with progressively growing poetic abilities (he keeps producing more seductive, beautiful lines [γλυκερώτερoν] as time passes) and to the evergrowing impact of this particular poem on his readers, who by revisiting it will be able to derive more and more benefits from its contents. 86 Additionally, VD 343 cites the end of Apollonius Rhodius Argonautica: 87 AR 4.1773-5 ἵλατ᾿ ἀριστήων µακάρων γένoς· αἵδε δ᾿ ἀoιδαὶ εἰς ἔτoς ἐξ ἔτεoς γλυκερώτεραι εἶεν ἀείδειν ἀνθρώπoις . . . "Be gracious, you race of blessed heroes, and may these songs year after year be sweeter for men to sing" As envisaged by the VD, the epic is a living poetic channel of production, reaching back to Homer and Hesiod, its Hellenistic incarnations (Apollonius) and more recent developments. For instance, VD 342b Xρηστoῖo ἄνακτoς harks back to the usage of ἄναξ for gods, kings and heroes in the Homeric poems, 88 but is also a frequent combination in the poetry by Gregory Nazianzen and Nonnus' Paraphrase of the Gospel of John. 89 A number of times the diction of VD is closer to post-Homeric and contemporary poems than to archaic ones. For instance: VD 270-2 ἀλλὰ σύ γε πρóϕρασσαι ὅ τoι θεὸς ὤπασε δῶρo[ν.] χάρµα θεῷ τελέoιτo· σὲ γὰρ θεὸς ἔκϕηνε τoῖσ[ιν] κύδιµoν ἡρώων καὶ ἀoίδιµoν ἐσσoµένoισ[ιν.] But you must proclaim the gift that God has presented to you. May it prove to be a cause of rejoicing for God: for God has brought you forward to them as renowned among heroes and sung of for generations to come.
The phrasing for the presentation with a gift in line 270 does not relate to Homeric turns of phrase, 90 but rather to Apollonius, Quintus and Nonnus. 91 κύδιµoς is in epic terms very much a Quintus word (11.358 κύδιµoι ἄνδρες|, 6.143 = 7.325 κύδιµoν υἷα, 4.460 = 6.430 = 8.162 = 12.243 κύδιµoς ἀνήρ|), 92 even if the second half of line 270 is a Homeric cluster (Il. 6.358 ἀoίδιµoι ἐσσoµένoισι|). Additionally, both the vocabulary and the appropriation of the Classical authors are done in a Christian manner.
Here, 295 µελιγηρυῆσσαν points to the equally programmatic model of the Sirens. In the Od. these raise their clear-toned song (12.183b λιγυρὴν δ᾿ ἔντυνoν ἀoιδήν) and call on Odysseus to steer his ship to listen to their sweet voices (187 µελίγηρυν ἀπὸ στoµάτων ὄπ᾿ ἀκoῦσαι). The Odyssean passage highlights the seductive power of the sung word, capable of distracting sailors to destruction, and requiring being tied to a mast (as Odysseus is) to be resisted. The VD conflates the roles of the singing Sirens and the strong, upright Odysseus resisting them by presenting Dorotheus singing as he stands at the gate, endowed with divine strength and valour. 94 The choice of the cranes as the image for Dorotheus' singing (295 γεράνων) may be an inadequate appropriation of the Homeric simile comparing noisy armies marching to combat with a band of equally shrill cranes (Il. 2.460-73, 3.1-3, 15.691-2), 95 or a reference to the different quality of the sound of Christian poetry, more like a trumpeting call to march in line displaying strength and valour, than a simple beautiful song with no spiritual content whatsoever. Hence the final reflection of the poem: VD 339-40 εὐξάµην ὑψίστoιo θεoῦ ἕνεχ' ἄγγε[λoς εἶναι] πάντων ὧν µ' ἐϕέηκε "I prayed to be a messenger in the service of God Most High of all the things that he laid upon me." Although the rest of the poems of this codex are not as programmatically explicit as the VD, this Christian poetic program of continuity with plurisecular and variegated epic poetry can be seen to seep into them, as it is picked up together with the figure of Dorotheus in Righteous: Righteous 154-6 ἀγλ[α]ῶι δὲ θρóνωι ἱστήκει τηλεθóων ὑµ[ν]είων πατέρα κλυτὸν λιγυρῆι ἐπ᾿ ἀoιδῆι, ἀγγ[έλ]oις ἐστιχóων ἵµερα µελπóµενoς "He [Dorotheus] sits on a splendid throne, with a loud voice, singing a hymn to the renowned Father with a clear song, taking his place in a row of angels, intoning lovely songs" λιγυρὴ ἀoιδή (155) is both the song of the Sirens (Od. 12.44 ἀλλά τε Σειρῆνες λιγυρῇ θέλγoυσιν ἀoιδῇ, 183 λιγυρὴν δ' ἔντυνoν ἀoιδήν|) and the Hesiodic Muses who pass it on to the poet. 96 The Hesiodic Muses sing hymns on their father Zeus, 97 just as Dorotheus sings hymns on his Father (155 ὑµ[ν]είων πατέρα κλυτὸν).
The poetic accomplishments of Gregory of Nazianzus, Synesius or Nonnus may give an impression of extensive compositions of poetry as the art of the few, whereas the Codex Visionum is a healthy reminder that authors that have reached us through Medieval manuscript transmission did not exist and work in a cultural vacuum, but rather anyone who had attended school was equipped with the background readings and compositional tools necessary for poetic practice, and many would indeed try a hand at it. 98

Completing the Arch of Salvation: Synthesis of Christian History and Infinite Reading
The poems of the Codex Visionum also situate themselves within the canon of texts on the Christian history of salvation, a continuous narrative that goes back to Genesis and ahead to the Book of Revelation, including post-evangelical times. One community of believers stretches from the beginning of the world, through the present and reaches the end of time. They do so by means of a number of well-known interpretative principles, the first of which is typology. Because God's modus operandi was thought to be reducible to a number of types or archetypes, effectively events in the Old Testament prefigured or announced elements of the Jesus story. 99 This meant that any figure or event inserted in the arch of salvation could be presented as a retake or summary of similar ones. Additionally, the Old Testament is read spiritually so that Jerusalem and Sion are no longer concrete places, but the Christian immaterial fatherland and all cues can be taken to give an outline of the principles of the Christian faith (Christian dogma can be uncovered in any text related to the arch of salvation).
The second principle is that of scrittura infinita: 100 it is impossible to exhaust the interpretation of Bible texts as their depth grows with the progression of the reader, to whom polysemy and prophetic intensity are gradually revealed. When late antique poets signal a Bible text as their source of inspiration they can be assumed to seek to comment, complete and uncover new meanings in their basic texts. Typology and scrittura infinita turn the composition of Biblical poetry into an exegetical practice which serves readers of different levels of proficiency. This is particularly visible in the three 'Biblical' poems of the Codex, On Abraham, Cain and Abel.
The starting point of P.Bodmer 30 On Abraham (Πρὸς ᾿ Αβραάµ) is the Aqedah or binding of Isaac: in Genesis, God tests Abraham's loyalty by asking him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac (Gen. 22:1-18) and when He has had the proof He needs, He gives Abraham an animal to put in Isaac's place. P.Bodmer 30 expands the episode first chronologically with a reference to the creation of the world (Faulkner 2022, pp. 90-91): 1 ῝Ος κóσµoν συνέζευξε καὶ oὐρανὸν[ ἠδὲ θά]λασσαν "He who put together the world and the heaven [and the s]ea" This first line gives the beginning of the poem a psalmic ring as it looks like a repeated psalmic description of God, 101 and helps to connect the poems of the Codex, as it can be read as a preliminary reference to Cain, where all ends of the kosmos reject Cain as he tries to flee after killing Abel. Considering that On Abraham is the first poem after the two works on visions (The Shepherd in prose and the VD in verse), this line also has a programmatic quality: a Bible episode, well known in prose to all Christian audiences, is retold highlighting its connections with the broader arch of human history, understood as God's history of salvation (starting with Creation, proceeding to the figure of Jesus and reaching the recent martyrial narratives and subsequent adaptations of the post-Constantinian Church). As a poetic retelling, On Abraham signals both to the Homeric poems (popular Homeric half-lines are easily identifiable) 102 and to the first 'Christian' poetry, the Psalms.
The On Abraham deviates from Genesis 22 visibly, but follows well-known traditions, by introducing speeches of acceptance by Abraham, Sarah and Isaac: Sarah and Isaac never express their opinions about the sacrifice in the Aqedah, but Isaac's willingness is represented in early Jewish sources; 103 and the introduction of speeches is done following the rules of the ethopoea or 'speech in character' (the character should speak appropriately for their age, gender, origin, etc.). 104 Thus, Abraham speaks like an old man (line 7 mentioning his age), and Sarah, like a pious mother, encourages her son to assume martyrdom. The model for Sarah would be the mother of the Maccabean brothers (2 Macc. 7:20-3, 25-9 and 4 Macc.): 105 these seven brothers, tempted by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (king of the Seleucid empire 175-164 BC) to break their religious rules in exchange for their lives, were killed upon their refusal to submit. Their connection with the Aqedah episode is explicit in 4 Macc 13:1-12, where the brothers exhort one another to remember Isaac's piety in accepting his sacrifice. Their mother, who encourages them not to abandon their faith and to sacrifice their lives, became the model for the mothers of martyrs in Christian martyrial literature. 106 The Maccabaean family were very popular saints in the fourth century when their relics were venerated in Antioch and homilies (starting with Jo. Chrys. Or. 15) celebrated their mastery over the passions. 107 The typological connection of Sarah/Isaac, the Maccabean family and the Christian martyrs is not explicit in the text and would be visible only to readers trained in the mechanics of typological reading, with a command of the Scriptures, and aware of trends in Christian 'culture' and cult.
Isaac, like a young man of marriable age, refers to the sacrifice as a wedding: The preparation of the bridal chamber and the participation of the town in the singing of songs of encouragement for the groom are both elements recorded in the treatments of the epithalamium and bedtime speech (κατευναστικὸς λóγoς) by Menander Rhetor. 108 The grooming of the couple before the ceremony is not discussed by Menander, but even if Isaac's blond hair (Abraham 17 ξαν[θ]ήν . . . κóµην) recalls Athena pulling Achilles' in the Iliad (1.197 ξανθῆς δὲ κóµης ἕλε Πηλεΐωνα), its braiding (Abraham 17 πλoκάµoισι . . . πλέξασθε) would be a feminine preparation (see Aphrodite about to braid her hair in AR 3.46b-47a µέλλε δὲ µακρoὺς/πλέξασθαι πλoκάµoυς), rather than a masculine one. The image suggests Isaac was assuming the role of the (virginal) bride and not of the groom, which is unusual for a masculine character, but has a precedent in the presentation of martyrs as virgins (the feminine παρθένoι) and brides of the Lamb in Revelation 14:1-5 and 9:6-9. 109 A late antique reader would easily recognise the wedding preparations as standard, but the connection to Christian martyrs would elude those who could not recall Revelation or interpreted it differently.
The Such a connection is unusual: 111 we would expect on the one hand a connection between the sacrifice of Isaac and the sacrifice of the Paschal lamb before the departure from Egypt and then a reference to Christ as the Paschal lamb, 112 and on the other hand a link between the crossing of the Red Sea and baptism, already suggested in the New Testament. 113 The latter was sustained by the practice of administering baptism on Easter eve in a framework recalling the departure from Egypt, and highlighted by the Fathers (sometimes in connection with the salty waters of Marah in Ex. 15:25). 114 Abraham 20-21 could be making a connection of the two paradigms eliding the intermediate step or simply making an unusual connection. In either case, this poem concerns itself with the exegesis of a particular passage of Genesis and makes use of typology. In this regard, the poem can (1) introduce a novice reader to the technique (explicit connections such as that of the sacrifice of Isaac and Moses crossing the Red Sea) and (2) suggest further connections to more experienced readers (Isaac's mother as a prefiguration of the mother of the Maccabean brothers; Isaac as a bride prefiguring the martyr brides of the Book of Revelation). The connection between the two Testaments is furthered by post-Biblical references, closer to the time of the composition of the poem. Thus, Abraham concludes with an address to Abraham, as the father of humanity and, therefore, the father of the martyrs: 29-30 χίλια[τέκνα σ]ε τoῖoν ἐπαυγάσαι ἀνθεµóεντα δωρo[δóτη]ν πανάριστoν ἐπεµβεβαῶτ᾿ ἐπι' πύργωι Thousands of flourishing [children] to make you shine (?), excellent [giver] of gifts, who has climbed the tower.
Isaac would be the first, followed by the Maccabean brothers, Dorotheus and the Christian martyrs of more recent times. As the father of these descendants, Abraham can be said to have reached the top of the tower (=Church), an image we have seen recurring in the texts of the Codex Visionum. P.Bodmer 33 "What would Cain say after killing Abel?" follows interpretative and creative principles similar to those visible in On Abraham. In the case of the Cain, Genesis 4:13-14 does in fact include such a speech, as Cain replies after God curses him for killing his brother. In Genesis, Cain foresees a life in punishment, whereas in the poem he considers where to flee: the air, the sea and the land (1-2 πῆι πoλέω πῆι ϕεύξoµ᾿ ἄν᾿ ἠέρα πῆι δὲ[ κατ᾿ oἶµoυς/ ὑγρῆς τε τραϕερῆς τε ἐµὸν[ ].νo.[ ]να.[), 115 all reject him (3-16) because the Lord punishes the evildoer who has sinned (17 ὅς τε κακoρρέκτ[ην ἀ]πoτίνυται, ὅς κεν ἁµάρτηι). 116 In the end, the Bodmer Cain sees only one way out: to go to Tartarus with those who are like him (18-19 ἤδη δ᾿ oὔτιν᾿ ἐγὼ[ πρoτι]óσσoµαι ἄµµ[ι κ]έλευθoν·/ Tάρταρα λoιπὸν ἵκ[εσ]θε κακoρραϕίη[ς ] ἀκóρητoι). 117 The phrasing again reflects popular Homeric turns, 118 but the construction of the speech could have been inspired by Ps. 139(138):7-12, 119 on the impossibility of fleeing from an omniscient God who can follow mortals to the heavens, the underworld, the ends of the sea, and even the darkness of the night, although not certainly not the phrasing. The notion was anticipated by references to God's capacity to see to the ends of the earth in VD. 120 Both in the OT (Wisdom 10:3-4) and in the NT (Hebr. 11:4, 1Jo 3:10-15, Jude 11) Cain is the prototype of evildoers and killers. Although there is no explicit reference to the type in the form of a mention of another Biblical miscreant, the poem refers to the abstract figure of the evildoer and sinner (17 ὅς τε κακoρρέκτ[ην ἀ]πoτίνυται, ὅς κεν ἁµάρτηι) with a phrasing that will be picked up in Abel to describe the punishment of evildoers, 121 and concludes with a plural call to evildoers, all of whom share their lack of satiety for evil and the (Christian) destiny in the Tartarus (19 Tάρταρα λoιπὸν ἵκ[εσ]θε κακoρραϕίη[ς ] ἀκóρητoι), in accordance with the teaching on the eternal punishment of evildoers (Matthew 25:41-6). The context of the Cain would also encourage a typological reading as most texts of the Codex Visionum elaborate on the figure of the suffering, dikaios, leaving the Cain as the sole named instance of the perpetrator or persecutor. 122 Cain is effectively written in a diptych with P.Bodmer 35 What would Abel say after being killed by Cain? Like the Bodmer Cain, the Bodmer Abel appropriates a psalmic passage, effectively paraphrasing Ps. 102 (101) on the sufferings of the just man. Apollinaris' Metaphrasis Psalmorum includes a poetic rendition of the same Psalm, but points of contact between the two texts are virtually non-existent and differences in emphasis are relevant as to the different aims and functions of the two compositions: where the psalmic paraphrase simply creates an epic version of the text of the Septuaginta, the Bodmer poem makes a strong Christian typological reading so as to complete the whole arch of salvation in the new Abel speech. 123 To start with Ps. 101:1 Εἰσάκoυσoν, κύριε, τῆς πρoσευχῆς µoυ ("Hear my prayer, O Lord") Met. ps. 1 Εὐχῆς ἡµετέρης ἐπικέκλυθι, ϕέρτατε πoιµήν ("Hear my prayer, powerful lord") Abel 1 Kέκλυ[θί µoι] πάσχoντι πάτερ θεὲ δηµιoεργέ ("Listen [to me] in my suffering, God father and creator") The Met. ps. and Abel only share the chosen verb. The rendition of the Met. is nearly literal, with a slight elaboration for κύριε to complete the final two feet of the hexameter, similar to the popular Homeric formula πoιµένα λαῶν (Il. 1.263). 124 Abel elaborates and contraposes the entities of the speaker and the recipient of the prayer. The speaker is presented as a suffering subject (πάσχoντι) with a verb that in a Christian context often designates the sufferings of the martyrs. 125 Abel thus becoming the first martyr and the speaker of the Psalm is another in a long list reaching out to the subjects and recipients of the Codex Visionum. The notion of a community of sufferers and martyrs is also highlighted by the fact that lines 14-15, describing a body wasting away, are borrowed from VD 151-2, where they describe Dorotheus' body wasting away in punishment.
Abel is contraposed to the recipient of the prayer, not simply God, but the father (πάτερ-of humanity, of Abel, of the psalmist, of Christ, of the historical martyrs-who are said to demand retribution for their suffering in a departure from the psalmic text, 126 of the anonymous dikaioi mentioned in the codex) and the maker of the universe (δηµιoεργέ). 127 Then in the second section of the Psalm (versets 12-22), the psalmist calls the Lord to have pity on Sion and Jerusalem in the concrete context of the exile: he asks to return to Jerusalem whose stones people miss (14), to see the reconstruction of the city (16), listening to those who are destitute (17) and imprisoned (20) in exile, so that they may praise again the Lord in Sion and Jerusalem (21), where peoples and kingdoms gather to serve him (22). In the Bodmer poem, there are no references to the physical essence and reconstruction of Jerusalem, which becomes a spiritual place 128 to which the servants of the Lord tend (36- , 129 the saviour of the peoples (41 λαoσσóoν ῾Ιρoσoλύµα). Now the Lord listens not to those who suffer in exile, but to the poor and the sinners, and He does not hold a grudge against anybody but saves those he takes pity on (43-4 ἔκλυε[ν] ἀµϕὶ πενιχρoῖς ἀλειτάων ἐπακoύσας/ καὶ ῥ᾿ o[ὔ]τιν᾿ ἐµέγηρε σάωσε δὲ τoὺς ἐλεήσας). On the contrary, the vague psalmic reference to a written record of the Lord's grace to be remembered by future generations 130 becomes a very concrete summary of some tenets of the Christian faith: all the words in the sacred writings of the fathers, so that the survivors praise the great, imperishable one, who, from the heaven, revealed in the light a s[aviour] he sent to remain amongst men; for this the lord himself [came] from heaven to the earth to contemplate the wailing of the poor and show them the way and save and take pity on all those who suffer in Hades.
The prediction of the Incarnation (God the Father sending a saviour who will remain on earth) ascribed to the psalmist follows the model of the Messianic prophecies of Isaiah, some of which were explicitly considered fulfilled in the Gospels. 132 Along similar lines, the proem of the Metaphrasis Psalmorum (lines 83-104) lists all the important elements of the Christian faith 133 and the Paraphrase of the Gospel of John begins like the Gospel of John, with the Hymn of the Logos, in which Nonnus inserts references to the Creed. 134 In the poems of the Codex Visionum, the Incarnation is regularly referred to as the Father sending the Son and the Son being the image of the Father, and Christ is presented as light (of the world and the underworld). 135 I.e., as a summary from New Testament passages, specifically from the Pauline letters, 136 rather than a summary of any sort of Creed. This may be a sign that the poems were written before doctrinal debates and the definition of the right faith became central to the life of the Church (the council of Nicaea in 325 was a notable turning point), 137 or that the focus of the poet(s) and the scribes copying these texts was not a doctrinal definition. Perhaps their aim was not to describe God accurately, but to celebrate the divine both in the form of (shorter) prayers 138 or hymns (Abraham, Cain and Abel) 139 and of (longer) reflections (VD, Righteous), 140 which may serve the purpose of the glorification of the saints. 141 This would explain their use of basic epic words to define and describe the divine: God is pure/holy (ἁγνóς/ἅγιoς), 142 the highest (ὕψιστoς), 143 eternal (ἀιώνιoς), 144 immortal, 145 imperishable (ἄϕθιτoς) 146 and famous (κλυτóς). 147

Reflection of Contemporary (Religious) Realities
Christian poetry exists as well to relate to and comment on the reality in which it is produced. 148 I propose a broad arch of cultural and religious interrogation, on metanoia (a combination of repentance, conversion and search for penitence), in connection with baptism 149 and the Final Judgement, as God rewards obedience 150 and condemns the one who does not repent (Righteous 5-55a, 76-103a; Cain).
Metanoia is a key term in early Christian culture, one that undergoes a visible chronological development from occurrences in the New Testament to its late antique use in monastic environments. In the Gospels, John the Baptist calls for repentance from sins twinned with baptism, 151 as do some passages from Acts. 152 Metanoia after baptism is also contemplated in the early Church: 153 in Acts 8:20 Simon the magician, who has been baptised, sees the disciples receiving the Holy Spirit by the imposition of the hands of Peter and John and offers them money to get that gift; Peter replies Acts 8:21 "You have no part or share in this, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent [µετανóησoν] therefore of this wickedness of yours and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you".
Post-baptismal metanoia and forgiveness are, therefore, possible, though not automatic. 154 However, some passages in the Pauline letters are inconclusive (they advise the community to beware of sin, but do not mention lack of forgiveness), 155 or explicitly order that the sinner is expelled from the community because their only possible salvation is on the Second Coming of Christ (1Cor. 5:3). The Letter to the Hebrews denies the possibility of restoration after baptism and suggests that the sinner will be punished in the Final Judgement. 156 Effectively, the connection between metanoia (defined as the repentance from sins and a complete reset of the mind and life of the believer on becoming a Christian) and baptism (a one-time event marking the integration of the catechumen in the Church, one with Christ who gave his life on the cross for his sins) implied that metanoia could only happen once: just as only one baptism was possible, only one metanoia was possible. 157 In the first centuries this was at the very least problematic: there was no agreement as to whether the reintegration of serious sinners to the community was possible, and in the NT texts in which it was allowed there was no specific method or channel through which it could be effected.
Historically, one of the options was to allow a second metanoia without baptism (Lat. paenitentia secunda), but since the model for it was (one-off) baptism, it also had to be one-off: pardon would be given on the condition that the sinner was only allowed to use the mechanism once. For instance, Clement of Alexandria (ca. 150-ca. 215) insisted that the only possible metanoia is that which is the foundation of faith and concurrent with baptism, and attributes the second (and final) chance of repentance to God's grace. 158 At the same time, Clement allows that not sinning after baptism is difficult and seems to imagine the baptised in a process towards sin-lessness in which the individual is helped along by the community and prayer, 159 which would allow for (minor) setbacks.
Metanoia was thus a concept fraught with tension: on the one hand, a depreciation or incompleteness of (baptismal) metanoia would entail an automatic debasement of baptism itself, which was to be avoided at all costs; on the other hand, Christian communities required a practical method of identifying sin (both defining it in general terms and classifying it in degrees of gravity) and re-integrating those who repented into communion. Flexible thinkers avoided the fracture by simultaneously reinforcing baptismal metanoia and accommodating post-baptismal (minor) sinning: thus, Clement referred to second metanoia as a by-product of God's mercy and mentioned the importance of personal and community proactivity to avoid sinning. Other authors prove the instability of the concept. For instance, Tertullian (ca. 155-ca. 220) in his De paenitentia notes that a Christian in theory should not sin anymore (6.17) and the paenitentia secunda is a concession of God's grace to human weakness (5.1), but in his more strict, Montanist period published De pudicitia, where he attacked the penitential discipline of the Church in Africa, and in particular an edict of Pope Callistus forgiving sins of adultery and fornication to penitents. 160 Well into the fourth century, Ambrose of Milan (De Paenitentia II.2.6-12) explained that Paul in Hebrews 6:4 rejected the possibility of a second baptism, not of repentance; the baptised must give up the graver faults of their old lives (II.3 analyses the case of the prodigal son who relents) and do penance for lighter ones in continuous strife against sin (II.10.95). In this case, the reinforcement of metanoia is so extreme that it seems to imply something similar to a retreat from the world, renouncing civic life (earthly honours), the pleasures of the table (wine) and married life. This was not usually the case. 161 The combination of baptismal metanoia and post-baptismal repentance is explained in the final paragraph through the metaphor of the vestment (II.11.98): catechumens would leave their old dress before the liturgy of baptism to don a new one symbolising their new identity, physically marking the break with their previous life of sin. Ambrose assumes that the new dress, despite metanoia and baptism, cannot possibly be maintained in pristine condition, and should be looked after with minor repairs. It is clearly not a case of leaving baptism for the last minute to ensure a definitive metanoia.
Together with this insoluble connection of metanoia with baptism, 162 we find that in monastic settings metanoia, translated as a combination of repentance and penance, becomes the name and tool of the lifelong process by which the baptised aims to become the best version of him-or herself. 163 Basil of Caesarea (330-379) wrote at length about ascetic practices in his homilies and in other writings often labelled as 'monastic' and seems to recommend a disciplined way of life and very high moral and spiritual ideals and goals to a broad audience, not to a narrow group of enthusiasts. 164 One of the pillars of Basil's advice was to focus on repentance (Mor. I.1). 165 He clearly stated that sin was to be judged and measured by repentance (Ep. 217.74, 84) and correction directed to help a change of heart within the sinner (Ep. 112.3,260). A sign of regret, a little goodness in one's life was enough to attract God's mercy (Hom. 350.3,356.5,357.3), 166 but something must be done about it because all transgressions are displeasing to God (On. Judg. 4,81).
In a different context, the first of the letters of Antony "document the mental world of an Egyptian monk in the first decades of the fourth century" (Rubenson 1995, pp. 11-12), and can be discussed as an introduction to the life of those who retreat from the world. 167 Antony discusses three types of souls whom God has assembled by his own Word (i.e., called to an ascetic or angelic life). For the latter he says: Letter I.15 "the third kind we find in those whose hearts are hard from the beginning and who persist in the works of sin. God the merciful sends afflictions and chastisement upon them, [16] until through their afflictions they are made aware and repent and return. And if they repent with all their heart they enter into the calling and attain the virtues" Divine (physical and psychological) punishment and conversion are necessary to seek to abandon civic life. Antony is not referring to the metanoia linked to baptism, but to a (subsequent) conversion to a particular form of life, not expected of all the baptised. This ascetic call is but the beginning of a long way of return to their first being in the creator, in which many elements are necessary to succeed: the Spirit teaches the mind about repentance, deprivation of food and sleep purify the body, the study of the Scripture and prayer purify the soul, renunciation of the world and of human things improve matters and God, in his mercy, helps. 168 Metanoia (here a process of purification inextricably linked to the lifelong battle against sin) became a trademark of the ascetic life, 169 and was usually accompanied by fasting, praying and reflection on sin. This type of repentance was expressed outwardly through prostration, and it was so ingrained in the ascetic practice that βάλλειν µετάνoιαν is usually translated as 'to make the gesture of prostration', and someone who made the gesture of prostration would be identified as a monk. 170 This overview can only give a broad impression of the complexities and ramifications of metanoia in the fourth century: there was a strong connection to baptism, which meant that pre-baptismal metanoia was expected to be sincere and definitive; a second metanoia would have been accepted by most for application for grave sins, but only once; the pairing of metanoia and baptism is also linked to the Final Judgement (those who fail to convert and live up to their baptismal creed condemn themselves); post-baptismal repentance and reparation would have existed in different forms, none of them systematic or agreed by all; ascetic metanoia was on the rise, sometimes as a call to all the baptised, some other times a particular call differentiated from baptism.
The tone of the discussion on metanoia in the Codex Visionum is set by the first text copied, The Shepherd of Hermas, a visionary text laden with metaphors. In the second vision, Hermas is allowed to read a book given to him by the Church, personified as an old lady, where he learns that there is a limit to repentance for those who are baptised, whereas the unbaptised can repent until the final day. 171 In the third Vision, Hermas is allowed to see a great tower being built by angels with square stones so perfect that it seems to be built in one piece. The Lady Church reveals ) that the tower is herself, built upon baptismal waters, and the perfect stones, those who walked after the holiness of God and exercised their office in purity and sanctity (apostles, bishops, teachers, deacons) and those who suffered for the name of the Lord (martyrs). The stones lying around the tower are the baptised with promising faith in whom wickedness has been found and are placed there in wait, to see if they repent (second metanoia). A good number of imperfect stones have been discarded and thrown far away as the representation of sinners who cannot possibly repent or for whom the pull of the world is too strong.
The intent of this allegory is not (only) descriptive (the Church as immaculately pure), but mostly paraenetic: it seeks to encourage the middle group, those who could possibly take the opportunity of the second metanoia-those who need to choose at some point between faith and perdition. 172 In the final explanation, the Lady Church further elaborates that second metanoia will be accompanied by (physical) torments, which are both a form of punishment for sins and enforced to help sinners to physically understand what they have done (Vis. III.7.5).
Although a visionary text, The Shepherd is connected to the reality in which it was composed and bears the marks of its process of composition. 173 The first four books seem to have been composed first and circulated independently. Mandata I-XII and Similitudines I-VIII, which sought to explain and support the first section, were added later. In the third, final phase the text was completed with Similitudines IX-X and Visio V. Simil. IX, added in the third phase and not copied in the Codex Visionum, included an actualisation of the allegory of the tower which highlights how the Christian mindset had evolved between the first and third phases of composition: the figure explaining the allegory is now the angel of repentance, dressed as a shepherd (Simil. IX.33.1 "ego pastor nuntius paenitentiae"); whereas in the third Vision, there was no reference to the persons of the Trinity, Comparison IX begins with a reference to the Holy Spirit (Parable IX.1.1-2) and the tower has a newly hewed out gate as the image of the Son of God (IX.2.2, IX.12.1-3-after John 14:6); the tower is now in Arcadia (IX.1.4), surrounded by twelve hills (an allegory of the twelve tribes of Israel, now the different types of Christians-IX.1.4-10, IX.17.1-27.6), which suggests that the Gospel has now reached all nations. 174 The baptismal references are much stronger in the first allegory, where the tower literally grows in the waters of baptism. These waters are not mentioned in the second allegory, where baptism is referred to in a more immaterial manner in the association of the entrance into the kingdom of God and the name of the Son of God, whose name the believer receives and bears. 175 Admittedly, the second allegory was not copied in the Codex Visionum and there is no way of knowing whether it ever was part of the library or whether anyone of those composing the poems and copying them was aware of its existence. In any case, it is indicative of an interest in making explicit the presence of the Trinity in the life of the believer and the emphasis on baptism not only as the moment of cleansing but as the permanent change of identity expressed in the new name which the baptised chose when they make themselves one with Christ in baptism, not prioritary in the context of the first allegory. Both the first and the second allegory are helpful to understand the metanoia in the poems of the codex.
In the Visio Dorothei, Dorotheus, who is presumably a Christian (although no reference is made to his baptism or religious habits) 176 dreams that he is sent to invigilate the gates of God's palace, but he does not comply with his duties and lies to cover his wrong-doing . In an aside from the dream he prays to God for mercy as he remembers his misbehaviour (96-105). Following God's orders he is severely punished with lashes and left covered in blood in his previous place by the gates (126-68). The punishment is not enough to make up for his faults: God tells Christ and archangel Gabriel (no reference is made in the poem to the Holy Spirit) to demote Dorotheus from his position, as he is not fit for service . Christ, however, speaks in his favour: πάτερ,τóδ all are sinners in their wicked presumptuousness, but let him stay in the palace, for he seems to me to be the best.' And Gabriel then aded in response: ' . . . if to his grief he will be a sinner (again?), may dogs and birds of prey then gnaw at his entrils, his flesh and his bones'." This one-off pardon by God's grace, on the condition that he does not sin again, is clearly a second metanoia, which Clement and Ambrose amongst others defined as the product of God's mercy. In this context, the attacks of dogs and vultures, the Homeric (feared) destiny of dead heroes, are the epic equivalent of the torments of hell, after the Final Judgement. This should not be disregarded as a simple epic adornment, as the fortified version of Dorotheus will be described as a hero. We can see here a categorisation of the believers similar to that of the first allegory of the tower in The Shepherd: there are those who by baptism are turned into heroes, but sin and fail to realise their potential; of this group, some will be lost forever (deserving the dogs and birds of prey), but others will repent (second metanoia) and correct their defects for good. Torments as a means of punishment and help for the second metanoia are mentioned in The Shepherd (Vis. III.7.5-6) and Antony's first letter (I.15-16).
As Dorotheus is standing by the gates covered in blood, Gabriel offers him water for cleansing the blood of the lashes and commands him to pour the contents of the vessel over his head: The blood Dorotheus is covered in is the visible sign of his previous sin. The command to wash it off is proof that his second metanoia has been accepted by God and he can now appear clean from sin (as the baptised when they don a new clean dress) before his community. Gabriel's anger and emphasis on a full wash are derived from the fact that not fully washing the stains of sin away would mean that the second metanoia is incomplete. A good parallel for this stage is AP GN, N.190: a brother embattled by porneia tries to marry the daughter of a pagan priest; the pagan priest sees a dove leaving his mouth and realises that he has been touched by God's presence and rejects him; the brother then repents and fasts under the direction of an elder who prays for him without ceasing; they know that God has accepted his repentance when the dove returns to him and enters his mouth. The restoration to the pre-sinning condition/appearance proves that the metanoia has been accepted.
Upon the completion of penance and second metanoia Gabriel makes a further offer: 214b-20 ὁ δ' ἐµὲ ϕθάµενoς ϕάτo µῦθoν· [.]τoι oἴῳ ἐϕέψεται ἐς πατέρ' ὀµϕῆς "And before I could speak he said: 'Do you desire to take upon you the graceful strength and the rank of the heroes that are standing before the palace?' 'Yes I do, by the renowned Father, or by your deliverance (?), Gabriel.' And smiling at me he spoke: 'Surely, very eager is he, that he may follow me, herding me all days . . . with (his heart?) alone he will listen to the Father of the Word" Gabriel seems to make a specific call to follow (219a [ὄ]ϕρα. [µoι ἕ]σπoιτo) him and therefore, God (220 ['ἦ] τoι ἐγὼ πατέρα κλυτóν, ἢ τεά, Γαβριήλ, ἐαλά'). This task similar to being a shepherd (219 πoιµανέων), 177 but also to invigilating the gates of God's palace (216b [τ]ά.ξιν <θ'> ἡ.ρ.ώ.ων τῶν ῥ' ἑσταóτων πρὸ δóµoιo). The call to follow Christ goes along traditional lines: it would be a retake of the Jesus' calls to the disciples in the Gospels to follow him and in Jo 21:16 calling Peter to be a shepherd for his sheep. 178 This call to leadership in the Church, but also to obedience to God (220b ἐϕέψεται ἐς πατέρ' ὀµϕῆς). The palace guards could be an image for the martyrs as the guardians of faith and the Church, compared to heroes because of their physical resistance to torture, 179 and to a battalion in line of battle (216 [τ]ά.ξιν) because of their number and defence task. Lines 215-16 imply that their strength is God-given for the fulfilment of their particular task. 180 A connection with martyrdom is, however, not necessary, as a metaphorical reading would be supported by a comparison with Antony's Letter I. Here the third type of those called to live an ascetic life is that of those who are broken down by torments and upon experiencing (second) metanoia hear God's particular call for them. God then supports and accompanies them so that they fulfil their chosen (ascetic) path. Following this interpretation, Dorotheus' punishment would be a metaphor for the suffering experienced by the sinner who realises his error, repents and is truly sorry for the pain and offence he has caused himself and others, including God. After the (second) metanoia and the special call, comes a narrative of a (second) baptismal rite including the choice of a new name (226, 227 ᾿ Ανδρέας, with a pun with 229 ἀνδρεία, masculine courage) and pouring of holy water (231 ὕδωρ ἄµβρoτoν). Dorotheus explicitly says that his limbs were baptised (232 βαπτι.σθέντα . . . γυῖα). The promised strength takes the shape of a 'leaping' of his limbs (232 πέπαλτó) and is recognised by others who now see him as a towering figure (233-42). 181 This second baptism is puzzling. Either we consider it a real baptism, and, therefore, identify this as a heretic text, or consider this as an allegory or metaphor. The latter seems more likely because the VD is a revelation text, 182 and because the only known cases of a second baptism occur in the Donatist schism at the beginning of the 4th c. in North Africa, when Donatus' followers reject those who during the persecutions made sacrifices or handed over sacred books and vestments and in some cases (esp. priests) re-baptise those who join them. 183 But what type of image is this? Baptism is a metaphor in the NT too: John the Baptist says that his baptism with water as a sign of metanoia is unlike the future baptism of the Messiah, a baptism in Spirit and in fire, linked to the Final Judgement, described with an agricultural allegory as the separation of the wheat for the granary and the chaff for the fire. 184 Jesus himself talks in the Gospel of Luke of a baptism of fire 185 and there are frequent references to the Holy Spirit in the institution of baptism and early Church narratives. 186 The most complicated rendering is that of Mark 10:38-9, also with a violent eschatological collection.
Origen (ca. 184-ca. 243) 187 describes the sacrament of baptism follows along the practical lines of other authors, including three elements (Hom. (Barkley 1990)] There is admittedly a long way from the baptism in the Gospel to Origen's seven remissions of sins. Origen operates with a chain of equivalences to progress from literal figurative and then to spiritual meaning: 193 (1) real baptism is conducted with water, (2) there is actually one baptism of water, fire, Spirit and martyrdom in the Gospel; (3) martyrdom is in terms of remission of sins equivalent to baptism; (4) the Gospels allude to a number of routes for the remission of sins, including baptism, martyrdom and difficult and toilsome penance.
The writer of the VD seems to operate with a similar chain of equivalences, albeit most of them are implicit, and the logical trail jumps from penance to baptism without mention of the intermediate steps. Dorotheus experiences metanoia accompanied by the "difficult and toilsome" penance of flogging and standing by the gates of God's palace severely injured and in extreme pain. This would be equivalent to baptism, in that it entails a complete remission of sins, but, as in Antony's Letter I, is the basis for a particular call to be at the service of the Lord. The positive answer to this second call entails the change of his name, a new identity and a renewed dependence on God's mercy to succeed under the new strains of the service. When Gregory of Nazianzus mentioned in In suos versus 34-7 controlling his natural prolixity when writing poetry, it is unlikely that he thought of missing intermediate steps in his argument, but this is one of the reasons why poetry is more restrained by prose: the Visio Dorothei collapses in a few lines a complex argument similar to that we see sprawling along several of Origen's treatises.
In this context, it is easier to understand On the Righteous (Πρὸς δικαίoυς, P.Bodmer 31). The poem begins with a four-line introduction: Righteous The loved one, none other than Dorotheus as we learn at the end of the poem (157-62), has experienced full metanoia accompanied by suffering. µαρτυρίης (2) could refer either to physical martyrdom or to one of its equivalents, in this case probably the torments experienced by Dorotheus in his Vision. Righteous then focuses on the life of man as the battleground for the temptations of the devil, who settles on earth, craving for domination over men (lines 5-41), 194 and then the action of the immortal God as he sits in heaven and passes judgement, sending the good one to paradise and handing the evil one over to the devil (lines 42-75). Metanoia is not explicitly mentioned, but men are given the choice to turn to God and to succeed with his help and their own (physical) toil: "The moment has arrived for the just ones to live [with] those who have retired from the world, after sending back the wife with an arrangement. Because no just man can, living in the world, close to counsellors and a diligent wife, serve God on high. But to the [coun]cil or to the burdens of the wife he submits as he constantly wants to please them. Rich or poor, he willingly seeks the glory for his city and presents it to his wife, but he forgets God" This may be a case of the writer and the scribes of the codex, but there is no single interpretation of the passage: this could be the reflection of a community of men who have retreated into some form of seclusion to reduce the risk of sinning, or the 'woe is me' of some saeculares trying to live their faith while in a marriage and as members of a civic community that relies on them to thrive. We have actually seen similar reflections in Ambrose's De Paenitentia II.10.96 and Origen's Exhor. ad mart. XXXVII.
Ambrose, Origen and the poet of Righteous coincide in requesting high standards of the Christian who has undergone metanoia, apparently incompatible with civic life, but no proof of a physical retreat from the world. We may be able to refer here to Rousseau's interpretation of Basil's high ethical and vital standards: " [1994,200] Basil presented to communities in Caesarea and elsewhere principles that he considered were applicable to all; he then asked who among them would take the matter seriously; finally, in response to what was inevitably a smaller group, he gave special advice", and Torrance (2012, p. 74) noting that at some point monastic repentance superseded the once-for-all repentance. The common language of both types makes it virtually impossible to know if the Righteous is demanding the overall application of the high standard, 195 reflecting its restrictive application, or making a simultaneous call to the universal Church and to its particular addressees. Actually, the intent of the poet and the reading of the scribes of the C. Visionum may not have been exactly the same.
This admittedly long section on metanoia has brought to the surface the cultural, spiritual and pastoral complexities of the texts of the C. Visionum and broadly of late antique Christian literature, and proves that one of the central functions of Christian poetry is to make (literary) sense of difficult concepts, not necessarily the dogmas of the Creed, but rather those having an impact in the daily lives of the communities. We can only figure out the bottom lines of the poems of the Codex if we read them against the broadest possible late antique background: linking a series of poems copied in an Egyptian backwater area to arguments made by Origen of Alexandria, who had a long-lasting influence on the religious communities of the Egyptian chora, 196 may not be surprising-finding similarities between the Codex Visionum and the writings of Ambrose, bishop of Milan, renews our awareness of the circulation of ideas and the construction of a true Christian koinonia. These poems may well date from the turning point in which high behavioural standards are demanded from all the members of the Church, and smaller groups of faithful in different places have started to search to realise the extraordinary forms of metanoia only possible for those who live beyond diocesan communities, what we may call pre-monastic metanoia.

Multiple Readings-Satisfying a Heterogeneous Audience?
The comparison with Origen triggers the additional question of whether the author of the VD depended on his method of spiritual reading of the Scripture, or on his actual exegesis of Gospel texts and homilies. The VD does not yield enough information for a positive conclusion, other than remarking on the proximity of the method of reading. We can, however, note that this is not the only point of convergence between the poems of the Codex Visionum and Origen's writings. For instance, in both cases, deep knowledge comes from divine revelation, rather than from the Scriptures or from one's own intellectual capacity. Thus, like The Shepherd of Hermas before, the Visio Dorothei does not reflect on other sources of knowledge but highlights that Dorotheus achieves his from his personal, oneiric experience of God. 197 Further to this, the remaining poems constantly associate wisdom (σoϕία) with God and God imparting his wisdom to those he loves and who live a righteous existence. 198 Origen's take on knowledge 199 is well summed up in the Latin prologue of On First Principles, where he states that those who believe and know Christ to be the truth (Christum veritatem esse norunt), derive the knowledge (scientiam) to live a good and blessed life from Christ's words and doctrine. When discussing the Gospel of John, Origen notes that Scripture does not contain the deepest mysteries of God, being a brief introduction to knowledge. 200 On the other hand, true knowledge was revealed to relevant figures of the Old Testament before the incarnation, 201 and full revelation will have to wait for the next life, which he envisioned as a schoolroom (On First Principles 2.11.4-6). The Letters of Antony, which Rubenson (1995) defended were influenced by Origen, also show signs of preference for knowledge by revelation. The Letters, however, reveal an additional emphasis on Christ revealing himself in the first coming and on the secondary revelation through the saints; they also insist that all human knowledge of God is preceded by selfknowledge. 202 Livrea proposed in his 1986 recension of the VD a Gnostic reading of the text, because of the prominence of sophia, which was rejected by Hurst and Rudhardt in the 1999 editio princeps of the remaining poems of the codex. 203 It is probably impossible to reach an agreement on the labels (Origenistic, Gnostic, standard?) we ought to use for these poems, and labels are of doubtful use. Firstly, because we simply do not have enough contemporary sources: the extant ones are not always helpful in the face of the complexity of the topics discussed (the source review on metanoia is a good example); later sources are frequently impossible to connect to factual information (e.g., the paraphrastic enterprise of the Apollinarii mentioned by Socrates and Sozomen), are mediated by polemics (Clark 1992 on the Origenist controversy) or effectively rewrite the past to make it more uniform and venerable (Goehring 1997).
Secondly, poetic texts are not univocal: by nature, they lend themselves to more than one reading, amongst other reasons because of their capacity to condense and collapse concepts and arguments. A Christian poet can thus exploit this characteristic to attract readers of different sensibilities with an ambiguous turn of phrase, 204 and readers will inevitably tend to interpret passages from their own (theological) angles.
Finally, thirdly, 'conservative' poems, that is to say, those reaching out to multiple audiences (Gregory's Nemesianus at the same time as any pagan in need of reasons for converting, and Christian readers wishing to convert their pagan friends), allowing multiple readings (metanoia for all and for the few) and easily connected to the basic texts (mainly the OT and the NT) were probably more likely to be copied by subsequent generations of Christian readers. We should probably be talking more about this: Christian poetry, like any literary form, aims to survive in a changing environment and will probably incorporate a number of strategies to facilitate a long afterlife.
Funding: This research received no external funding.

Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.

Conflicts of Interest:
The author declares no conflict of interest.
Notes 1 I am extremely grateful to David Hernández de la Fuente for his invitation to contribute to this volume and to the two anonymous reviewers, whose honest and detailed comments on the first draft of this paper have helped me enormously in presenting a shorter and hopefully more coherent argument that makes better use of the existing bibliography on the subject. 2 Note also the 2nd-c. prose Homily on the Passion by Melito of Sardis, marked by its extensive use of rhetorical figures and featuring clauses which are grammatically parallel and have approximately the same number of syllables, so that they can be treated as verses: (Lefteratou and Hadjittofi 2020b, pp. 10-11).  (Agosti 2008(Agosti , 2010(Agosti , 2015 on epigraphy and highbrow literature. 6 On which see (McLynn 2014;Cribiore 2013, pp. 229-37;Sandnes 2011, pp. 84-97;Sandnes 2009, pp. 160-9). On the project of the Apollinarii, see (Agosti 2001b, pp. 68-72;Simelidis 2009, pp. 25-28;Sandnes 2011, pp. 97-105;Faulkner 2020a, Introduction 3 Poetic Tradition, Periphrastic Technique, and Biblical Exegesis; Faulkner 2020b). 7 (McGuckin 2008, p. 648). On the possibility of a performance of these hymns, see (Lacombrade 2003, p. 11), on the use of the first person plural. 8 Homer: D. 1. .27b νέoισι καὶ ἀρχεγóνoισιν ἐρίζων ("in rivalry with both new and old"). 9 Poetic hexametre paraphrases were actually not restricted to Bible texts: Eudocia, wife of Theodosius II, is attributed a hexameter paraphrase of the Conversion, Confession and Passion of St Cyprian, known as The Life of Saint Cyprian, which (Rigo 2020, p. 218) considers an epic hagiography. See also (Rigo 2020, p. 220) "Readers were meant to recognize the Homeric echoes in Eudocia's text and appreciate how Homer could help in narrating the story of Cyprian and praising the power of God, which are the main objectives of this story". 10 For late antique auxiliary texts, see (Fuhrer 2013;Pollmann 2009). Exegesis would have also been transmitted orally at schools, in sermons and informal discussions: an overview in (Mayer 2019). Compare the proem of the Met.Ps., where the poet dedicates the composition to Marcian (lines 1-43) and calls his poem a treasure of Marcian's wisdom (48), suggesting that he has condensed in it Marcian's exegetical teachings on Psalms.

51
Abel 14-15 = VD 151-2, on which (Hurst and Rudhardt 1999, p. 152) ("lien entre la victime du premier meurtre de l'histoire et le martyre du héros . . . du codex") and 176, n. 14-15 ("Cet emprunt montre deux choses: (a) pour les lecteurs du codex, la Vision de Dorothéos est un texte de référence; (b) L'auteur lie explicitement le sort d'Abel à celui d'un martyr"). 52 E.g., Athanasius Vita Antonii 47.1: Antony seeks martyrdom unsuccessfully and is considered someone who has experienced martyrdom in his conscience. See (Camplani 2015, pp. 128-29). 53 See also (Leemans 2005, p. xv): martyrdom accounts created a recurring Christian discourse which "did not only keep the martyr's memory alive but was 'more than a memory' in the sense that it contributed to the construction of a Christian identity understood as the imitatio Christi through the imitatio martyris". 54 (Camplani 2015, pp. 108-12;Hurst and Rudhardt 1999, pp. 10-11), on the analogies between The Shepherd and the poems of the Codex. (Camplani 2015, pp. 112-13) on the use of The Shepherd in Egypt. (Agosti 2020, p. 192): "les Visions d'Hermas . . . constituent le « prologue » théologique". 55 Not all visions are communicated: 2Cor. 12:2-4. 56 At the beginning of the second vision of The Shepherd, Hermas borrows from the old lady (the Church) the little book in which his first vision is written and copies it letter by letter because he cannot read (literally, he cannot put the syllables together). At the end of that same vision he is instructed to write two books, to be sent to Clement and Grapte. At the end of the fifth vision, the angel of repentance dressed as a shepherd asks Hermas to write down his commandments and parables as he shows them to him. See (Agosti 2001a, pp. 206-7), for a list of all the elements the VD shares with other visions, and (Verheyden 2011) on the unexpected oneiric elements of Dorotheus' vision. On dream patterns in late antique literature, see (Miller 1994). 57 See also Ezekiel's vision (Ez. 1.1-3:21): Ezekiel is given orders to communicate God's words to his people (2:7, 3:4, 3:10-11) and given a rolled-up book to eat (2:8-3:3). In Ez. 40:1-4, Ezekiel is taken to a high mountain on the land of Israel, where a city is built, and ordered to tell the house of Israel all he sees; he gives a detailed description focusing particularly on the Holy of Holies (40:5-43:17) and then recounts God's dispositions regarding the temple (43:18-46:24). On Dorotheus and Ezekiel's vision see (Gelzer 1988, pp. 249-50). Also to be noted, P.Bodmer XLVI (part of a miscellaneous codex-LDAB 4120), on which the first vision of Daniel was copied, was part of the same library as the C.Visionum. (Cobb and Jacobs 2021, pp. 43-5) for the dating. I quote the Greek text and English translation of pp. 46-65. 59 Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas I "As surely as the ancient declarations of faith-which have both revealed the glory of God and rendered edification to humans-have been written down so that we might experience their reading as the presence of the deeds and God may be, why shouldn't the new examples also be transmitted in writing in like manner?" There is also a validation of the authenticity of the account that follows: II (end) "Henceforth is the full account of her martyrdom, just as she left it behind, composed by both her heart and hand. This is what she said . . . " After her brother suggests she should ask God for a vision (IV), Perpetua goes on to have four of them, recounted in chapters IV, VII, VIII and X, at the end of the final one of which she mentions putting them all in writing: Ibid. X (end) "I wrote these things up to the day before the public honors. Let whoever wishes write down what will happen in the amphitheater." (Agosti 2001a, p. 207) compares the VD with the Visio Maximi (Bernand 1969, no 168): Maximus describes a dream he has in the temple of the god Mandoulis, where he is purified with the water of the Nile, receives the epiphany of the god, who initiates him in poetry and gives him the order to sing in his honour, which he does with a short hexametric hymn; and with visions in the Coptic Life of Pachomius (Vita Copta § 114).

135
VD 1-2, 155 ϕóως µέγα, 168 ἤλυθε δὲ Xρηστὸς ϕαεσίµβρoτoς ἐν δικ[αίo]ισι ("And Christ came, the Bringer of light, among the righteous"); Lord Jesus 1-3 ῾Aγνὸν] ἄγαλµα θεoῖo πέλεν πάϊς oἶoς ᾿Ιησoῦς·/Βέ[λτατoς] ἐµβασίλευσεν ἐν oὐρανῶι ἀγλαóεντι·/Γ[ῆς θετo] µιν σκηπτoῦχoν αἰώνιoν, [ἔλ]λυσε δ᾿ αὐτήν ("Jesus, the only son, was a [holy] image of God./Ex [ceptional], he reigns in the luminous heaven./He [made] him the eternal sceptre-holder of the earth and thus freed it"), 7, 17, 21-4; Sufferers 4-7, 24; Abel 47-8. 136 2Cor. 4:3-6 "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing clearly the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus's sake. 6 For it is God who said, "Light will shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ"; Col. 1:11-16; Heb. 1:3. For a combined reference to the Incarnation and Christ as light, see also Jo. 1:1-5.9.14. 137 As suggested by (Hurst and Rudhardt 1999, p. 74 (Young 1997, p. 230): "regular use of the Psalter provided a staple prayer-diet, certainly among monks and ascetics at a later date, but one suspects from earliest times also". 140 VD 173-7, 246 πάντας τιµóων ("while you are honouring all"), 249-60 work with laughter so that the elders rejoice and pray for you, 305-15 Dorotheus prays to be sent for a different task, 339-40 Dorotheus prays to be a God's messenger; Righteous 103b-6 the just man prays to God, 154-6 Dorotheus sings in God's presence. 141 See (Agosti 2013, p. 145). Note that the Bodmer library included P.Bodmer 20 Apology of Phileas, bishop of Thumouis, dated to shortly after Phileas' martyrdom (306/7), on which (Schubert 2002, p. 21 Relating the poems of the Codex Visionum to their context of production has proved a difficult enterprise. There is agreement that in the VD God's palace is modelled on the emperor's earthly one, with Dorotheus at the beginning of the poem guarding the gates like an imperial ostiarius, but Dorotheus' post-baptismal outfit (described in lines 328-35) has been interpreted as the clothing of a soldier of the imperial guard (van Berchem 1986), of an angel (Kessels and van der Horst 1987, p. 359, n. to 334), of one of the various grades of the soldiers of the schola palatina (Bremmer 1988), and of a deacon (Lukinovich 2002, pp. 44-45). Camplani (2015, pp. 103, 129) suggests relating Dorotheus' choice of post-baptismal name as Andrew to the translatio of the relics of the apostle Andrew to Constantinople in 357, although he notes "[129] si tratta solo di una proposta, che nel testo non trova aganci particolari". 149 have tasted the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come 6 and then have fallen away, since they are crucifying again the Son of God to their own harm"; 10:26-7 "For if we willfully persist in sin after having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a fearful prospect of judgment". 157 For how this came to be, see (Stroumsa 1999, pp. 172-75). 158 Clem. Alex. Strom. II.13.56.1 "So a person who has received pardon for sins must refrain from future sin. For in the light of the first (and only) repentance of sins [ἐπὶ γὰρ τῇ πρώτῃ καὶ µóνῃ µετανoίᾳ τῶν ἁµαρτιῶν] (which would be sins committed earlier in a person's first, pagan life, I mean a life led in ignorance), repentance [µετάνoια] is immediately available to those who are called, and it cleanses the region of the soul from anything discordant, to provide a foundation for faith [ἡ πίστις].
(2) The Lord, having the knowledge of the hearts . . . 57.1 So in his great mercy he gave yet another chance of repentance [µετάνoιαν δευτέραν] to those who, despite their faith, fall into some form of disharmony, so that if anyone should after their calling fall into temptation, and be forced or tricked into sin, they may have one more chance of 'a repentance which brings no regret' [Heb. 10.25] . . . (3) Continual and repeated repentance [µετάνoιαι] for sins is no different from those who have once and for all turned away from faith, except along in the consciousness of sin". Transl. (Ferguson 1991). 159 Clem. Alex. Quis dives salvetur 39 "The good Father . . . waits for those who turn to Him. And to turn to Him truly is to cease from sins and no more to look back.
[40] Of sins already committed, then God gives remission [ἄϕεσιν], but of those that are to come each man procures his own remission. And this is repentance [µεταγνῶναι], to condemn the deeds that are past and to ask forgetfulness of them from the Father, who alone of all is able to make undone what has been done, by wiping out former sins with the mercy that comes from Him and with the dew of the Spirit [i.e., baptism] . . . Now it is perhaps impossible all at once to cut away passions that have grown with us, but with God's power, human supplication, the help of brethren, sincere repentance [µετανoίας] and constant practice success is achieved". Transl. (Butterworth 1919). To be read with (Méhat 1954). 160 Overview in (Stroumsa 1999). 161 (Torrance 2012, p. 74): "The argument here is not that the early form of unrepeatable repentance was monasticism avant la lettre. There are key fronts on which the two are different: the sinful qualifications needed for penitential discipline were not required form monasticism, for instance, and there does not seem to be a need for the penitent to break the marital bond if there is one, or to move off to the desert (indeed, he or she was expected to be at the local church frequently, repenting before God, and asking form the prayers of the people). However, the similarities are also striking: the unrepeatability of the act, the need for radical self-denial (including the avoidance of marital relations, wine, and general excess), and constant prayers for mercy. What we are soon to be faced with (to different extents), is a meeting and merging of these two worlds, the monastic trumping that of once-for-all repentance". (Torrance 2012, pp. 73-74)  The tension between pre-and post-baptismal metanoia does not only occur in texts. Ritual historians have noticed that in the fourth century a process of development and ritual enrichment of baptism. Firstly, a forty-day season of fasting prior to Easter was adopted before the administration of baptism: candidates were introduced to the ethical teaching of the Old Testament and doctrines of the Creed, and a daily exorcism was performed on them, pointing to "an enhanced understanding of the need for all candidates to be purified from the power of evil but also to the belief that this was a gradual process that required regular repetition in order to achieve its results". At the same time "the rites developed an increasing theatricality in an attempt to instil in the candidates a profound psychological effect in order to compensate for the deficiency of an actual conversion . . . [measures were taken] to increase the dramatic effect" (Bradshaw 2019, p. 532). This ritual theatricality found a counterpart in textual evidence of heightened descriptions of baptismal experiences. Broad-arching introductions can be found in (Porter and Cross 1999;Spinks 2006;Ferguson 2009;Hellholm et al. 2011;Jensen 2012). Texts in (Whitaker and Johnson 2003). 163 Sources on monastic metanoia: (Ward 1987). On its different applications, see (Bitton-Ashkelony 1999Kofsky 1999;Hunt 2004). 164 (Rousseau 1994, pp. 190-200, 210-11), thinking especially of Letter 22. Basil never uses the word 'monk' or any synonym, although writings such as the Asceticon and Ep. 200 seem to be referred to some institutional form of ascetic life. See also (Hildebrand 2014, pp. 125-45). 165 To be read with (Rousseau 1994, pp. 216-20). On the Moralia see (Rousseau 1994, pp. 228-32) (dating the work to the period of Basil's stay with Gregory in Pontus between 359 and 361); (Hildebrand 2014, pp. 115-16, 120-21). 166 Compare Apophthegmata Patrum (Collectio Graeca Anonyma) [AP GN] (Wortley 2013), N.43 (a prostitute admonished by her brother who is a monk leaves the brothel; her brother instructs her on repentance; unknown to him, she has left barefoot and dies on the way to the desert, her feet covered in blood: God has accepted her repentance before confessing her sins and doing penance for them because she was unconcerned with any matter of the flesh and despised her own body); N.217 (there is repentance for those who genuinely turn to God), N.751 (a will to repent is enough for God to accept the repentance). 167 There is no extant Greek text of the letters (only part of Letter I, transmitted as Apophthegmata Patrum, Collectio Graeca Alphabetica Antonius 22). Reconstructed translation from (Rubenson 1995, pp. 197-202).
benevolence, wished to bring us back to that beginning without end. He visited his creatures, not sparing himself for the salvation of us all, he gave himself for our sins [Rom 8:32]". 203 See (Hurst and Rudhardt 1999, pp. 15-24). Note the emphatic assertion in p. 16 ("nos poèmes n'énoncent aucune des idées caractéristiques de la gnose") and the careful analysis of the mentions of sophia and how they are related to basic ideology expounded in the . For Sufferers see also (Berolli 2015).