Samuel Pomeroy: Reading Plato through the Eyes of Eusebius: Towards an Assessment of John Chrysostom’s Use of the Timaeus

While Hagit Amirav (2004) has demonstrated John Chrysostom’s familiarity with contemporary ideological communication strategies, no current studies consider in depth his adaption of issues arising from the Timaeus. This paper considers what are according to Coleman-Norton (1930) the only two quotations in Chrysostom’s corpus: Tim.29e in De Virginitate VIII (PG 48.538) and Tim.22b in De sanctum Babyla 98-113 (PG50.564). After critical and rhetorical assessment of both quotations, I compare the texts as they appear in Eusebius of Caesarea’s Praeparatio Evangelica XI.21 and X.4, respectively. I then examine a third text from Chrysostom’s Homiliae de Statuis XI.3 (PG49.122-123) that echoes in vocabulary and concept Tim. 40d, quoted in Praep. Ev. XI.22. Based on text form and rhetorical use, I offer preliminary suggestions that Chrysostom accessed the Timaeusthrough Praep. Ev. early, deploying quotations and argumentative strategies in memoriter, the full extent of which requires further research.