In recent years several studies-not least those by Nicole Kelley,
Judith Perkins, Karen King, and Robin Young-have examined the role of
martyrdom and martyr literature in constructing ancient Christian
identities. This paper takes as its starting point two claims made
within this body of scholarship. First, ancient Christian martyr
literature functioned as a kind of preparation for martyrdom,
establishing a particular perspective in the minds of early Christians
which would both cultivate willing attitudes toward martyrdom and enable
martyrs to complete their difficult task. Second, the vocabulary of
Hellenistic philosophy, particularly Stoicism, can be used as a resource
for understanding how some ancient Christians may have interacted with
the martyr literature they encountered. This study seeks to contribute
to the larger discussion of the relation between Greco-Roman philosophy
and the Christian martyrological tradition by exploring the role of
memorization and recitation of scriptural formulae in Origen's
Exhortation to Martyrdom. It argues that Origen employed rhetorical
devices similar to those found in Stoic moral exhortation, as a means to
designate specific scriptural passages for internalization in
preparation for martyrdom. The intended result was the construction of a
particular kind of Christian subjectivity, such that future martyrs
could face the prospect of their own suffering and death with honor and
equanimity.
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