Brad Boswell: What is an ἀποπομπαίος? Cyril and Julian on Sacrificial Goats

This paper offers a preliminary account of the dueling exegetical strategies carried out in Against Julian, Cyril of Alexandria’s polemical response to Julian ‘the Apostate’.  Through a close reading of Against Julian9.13-20, I show that without considering Cyril and Julian as representatives of systematically rival traditions of life and thought, our analyses run the risk of obscuring key features of Cyril’s treatise.This becomes clear as I build on Christoph Riedweg’s illuminating analysis[1] of ἀποπομπαίος and ἀποτρόπαιος, ambiguous terms which are nevertheless central to Against Julian9.13-20. They are critical, first, in Julian’s attempt to assimilate the Mosaic sacrificial ritual in Leviticus 16 to his own religious practice; and, second, in Cyril’s alternative exegesis which treats the two goats treated therein as an αἴνιγμα, pointing to the μυστήριον Χριστοῡ. Riedweg’s philological research clarifies the semantic possibilities of these terms; but, his final evaluation – which suggests that Cyril and Julian each forced a literal interpretation on their opponent while reserving allegorical interpretation as a ‘Zaubermittel’ for their own exegetical quandaries – needs modification and expansion.  By reading this passage as an individual instance of systematic narrative conflict between traditions we can begin to offer a more expansive and robust account of the exegetical duels of Against Julian.

[1] Christoph Riedweg, "Exegese Als Kampfmittel in Der Auseinandersetzung Zwischen Heiden Und Christen: Zum 'Sündenbock' Von Lev 16 Bei Julian Und Kyrill Von Alexandrien," Zeitschrift für antikes Christentum 16, no. 3 (2012).