15th Nangeroni Enoch Seminar Meeting
“‘Listen to the Sibyl in All Things’:
Reconsidering the Sibylline Oracles”
Naples, 5-8 June, 2023
Universita’ di Napoli L’Orientale and the University of Naples Federico II
Chairs: Olivia Stewart Lester, Hindy Najman, and Gabriele Boccaccini
Secretary: Joshua Scott
— The Nangeroni Meetings are organized by the Enoch Seminar, with the support of the Nangeroni International Endowment, in memory of Alessandro Nangeroni (1940-1999), a renown Italian journalist, writer and University professor, who devoted his life to the Jewish-Christian-Muslim trialogue. —
This conference will bring scholars of ancient Judaism, Classics, and early Christianity together for an interdisciplinary re-examination of the Jewish-Christian Sibylline Oracles. These texts, historically underappreciated by biblical scholars and classicists, are becoming a site of growing interest as both disciplines increasingly turn to texts outside of their own canons, more deeply integrate gender into the study of antiquity, further their exploration of the themes of authenticity and forgery, and reassess relationships between Jews, Christians, and their neighbors across the ancient Mediterranean world.
— The conference is organized in collaboration with the Universita’ di Napoli L’Orientale and the University of Naples Federico II. Special thanks goes to Profs. Giancarlo Lacerenza and Luca Arcari for their generous support.
Some of the topics we will explore include:
- The Figure of the Sibyl: What roles does gender play in the presentation of sibylline prophecy across the collection? What are the political and literary implications of taking up a sibyl as a figure for producing Jewish and Christian prophecy?
- Sibylline Pseudepigraphy: How does the ongoing production of Sibylline Oracles relate to larger Hellenistic, Roman, Jewish, and Christian practices of pseudepigraphic writing? How do the Sibylline Oracles resemble or participate in Jewish prophetic pseudepigraphy, and how might they have been shaped by Hellenistic and Roman educational techniques?
- Sibylline Interpretation: How do the Sibylline Oracles reinterpret Greek mythology, poetry, and philosophy, on the one hand, and Jewish and Christian scriptures, on the other? How has the language of the Sibylline Oracles been inflected by surrounding literature, including the Septuagint and Homeric epic?
- Sibylline Oracles as Oracles: How do the Sibylline Oracles resemble or differ from other oracle collections in antiquity? Why might the oracle as a literary type have appealed to ancient Jewish and Christian sibylline writers?
- Time in the Sibylline Oracles: How is time constructed within the collection: past, present, and future? In what ways do the Sibylline Oracles participate in the tropes of apocalyptic eschatology, and how do they transform them?
- Judaism and Christianity in the Sibylline Oracles: What can we learn from the Sibylline Oracles about intellectual and literary interactions between Jews and Christians in antiquity? How do we make sense of the distinct Jewish and Christian layers of the text alongside the Christian preservation of these texts as a collection?
** Times listed according to Central European Standard Timezone (Naples’ Time Zone)**
** LOCATIONS – SEE MAP: Monday and Tuesday, the Main Conference Hall at the Orientale University (Via Chiatamone 61/62 – Red Circle 3 on Map); Wednesday and Thursday, Federico II University (Via Porta di Massa 1 – Red Circle 2 on Map)***
Monday, June 5 | Tuesday, June 6 | Wednesday, June 7 | Thursday, June 8 |
9:00-9:30am
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9:00-10:30am
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9:30-11:00am
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(cont.) ·
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11:00-11:15am Coffee break |
—- | 10:30-10:45am Coffee break |
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11:15-12:45pm
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10:45-12:15pm
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10:45-12:15pm
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10:45-12:15pm
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12:45-2:30pm Lunch |
12:15-2:00pm Lunch |
12:15-2:00pm Lunch |
12:15-2:00pm Lunch |
2:30-4:00pm
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2:00-3:30pm
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2:00pm
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2:00-3:30pm
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4:00-4:15pm |
3:30-4:00pm Coffee break |
—- | 3:30-3:45pm Coffee break |
4:15-5:45pm
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4:00-5:30p
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3:45-5:15pm
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5:45pm Dinner (on your own) |
5:30pm Dinner (on your own) |
7:00pm Vitto Pitagorico, |
5:30-6:30pm Closing remarks: Yelena Baraz, Olivia Stewart Lester, Helen Van Noorden, Robert Hall, Ashely Bacchi, David Potter, Hindy Najman, and Gabriele Boccaccini |
- Orientale University: Via Chiatamone 61/62
- Federico II University: Via Porta di Massa 1
- Hotel Europeo: Via Mezzocannone 109/c
- Istituto Femminile San Giovanni Bosco: Via Giovanni Paladino 20
- Santa Maria Cappella: Vicolo S.M. a Cappella Vecchia 11, Piazza dei Martiri
- Mimì Terrace: Via Portanova, 25
- SanGregoRooms: 24 Via San Gregorio Armeno 3, Naples Historical Centre
- Dinner Wednesday night: Vitto Pitagorico, Via Enrico Pessina, 55, 80135 Napoli NA