Ancient Latin Epics in Girolamo Vida’s Christiad

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The Christiad (1535) is a Neo-Latin epic by the Italian Renaissance writer Girolamo Vida, based on the Gospels and written at the behest of Pope Leo X. Long seen as a Christian Aeneid, it emerges in this study as a far more complex work, demonstrating that while Virgil remains the main model, Vida also engages deeply with Lucretius, Ovid, Lucan, Silius Italicus, and Statius. By examining Vida’s imitative techniques and integration of multiple epic models, this monograph reassesses the Christiad’s relationship with the ancient Latin epic tradition. In doing so, it sheds new light on the afterlife of these classical poems as print made them more widely available.
Copyright Year:
2025
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-73871-3
Publication:
12 Sep 2025
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-73866-9
Publication:
25 Sep 2025
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Stefano Cianciosi, Ph.D., is a Lecturer in Latin at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford. He has published mainly on ancient Latin epics and their reception in Renaissance Neo-Latin literature.
Acknowledgments

Introduction
 1 The Theoretical Background
 2 The Goal, Method, and Basic Assumptions of This Study
 3 The Structure of This Work

1 The Principles behind the Order of the Stories
 1 Elisha’s Appointment as Elijah’s Attendant (1 Kgs 19:19–21)
 2 Elisha’s Consecration as a Prophet (2 Kgs 2:1–18)
 3 The Healing of the Spring in Jericho (2:19–22) and “Go Away, Baldhead” (2:23–25)
 4 The Three Kings’ War against Moab (3:4–27)
 5 The Miraculous Jug of Oil (4:1–7)
 6 The Birth and Resurrection of the Shunammite’s Son (4:8–37)
 7 The Toxic Stew (4:38–41)
 8 The Multiplication of the Food (4:42–44)
 9 The Healing of Naaman (5:1–27)
 10 The Floating Axe Head (6:1–7)
 11 The Siege of Dothan (6:8–23)
 12 The Siege of Samaria (6:24–7:20)
 13 “The Great Things That Elisha Did” (8:1–6)
 14 The Prophecies to Hazael and Ben Haddad (8:7–15)
 15 Jehu’s Anointing and Coup (Chapters 9 and 10)
 16 “An Arrow of Victory over Aram!” (2 Kgs 13:14–19) and the Resurrection of the Dead Man (13:20–21)
 17 Summary

2 The Elisha Stories as Saints’ Legends
 1 Five Genres Proposed for the Elisha Stories
 2 Do the Elisha Stories Criticize the Man of God?
 3 The Elisha Cycle as Prophetic Hagiography Meant to Exalt the Prophet
 4 Summary

3 From Following the Oxen to Following Elijah: Elisha Becomes Elijah’s Attendant (1 Kgs 19:19–21)
 1 The Story’s Relationship to the Elisha Cycle*
 2 The Structure of the Narrative
 3 The Literary Genre
 4 A Close Reading
 5 Summary

4 From Prophet’s Attendant to Prophet (2 Kings 2:1–18)
 1 Inclusion in the Elisha Cycle
 2 The Genre
 3 The Connection between This Story and That of Elisha’s Appointment as Elijah’s Attendant (1 Kgs 19:19–21)
 4 The Structure of the Story
 5 A Close Reading
 6 Summary

5 Two Legends: Elisha Saves Jericho from Bereavement (2 Kings 2:19–22) and Kills Its Children (2 Kings 2:23–25)
 1 The Healing of the Jericho Spring
 2 “Go Away, Baldhead!”
 3 Summary

6 Elisha and the Miraculous Jug of Oil (2 Kings 4:1–7)
 1 The Structure of the Story
 2 A Close Reading
 3 A Comparison of Elisha’s Food-Related Miracle (2 Kgs 4:1–7) with Elijah’s (1 Kgs 17:8–16)
 4 Summary

7 Two Food-Related Miracles: the Detoxification of the Stew (2 Kings 4:38–41) and the Multiplication of the Loaves and Grain (2 Kings 4:42–44)
 1 The Detoxification of the Stew (4:38–41)
 2 The Multiplication of the Bread and Grain (4:42–44)
 3 A Comparison with Elijah’s Miracle of the Flour and Oil (1 Kgs 17:8–16)
 4 A Comparison with the Miracle of the Quail (Numbers 11)
 5 Summary

8 The Miracle of the Floating Axe Head (2 Kings 6:1–7)
 1 The Placement of the Story
 2 The Structure of the Story
 3 A Close Reading
 4 The Similarities between the Miracle of the Floating Axe Head and the Miracle of the Stew (2 Kgs 4:38–41)
 5 The Similarities between the Floating Axe Head and the Sweetening of the Waters of Marah (Exod 15:23–25)
 6 Summary

9 The Man of God Confronts the Enemy Army: the Siege of Dothan (2 Kgs 6:8–23)
 1 The Structure of the Story
 2 A Close Reading
 3 Summary

10 Methods of Characterization: Elisha, the Holy Man of God
 1 Explicit Evaluation by the Narrator
 2 A Character’s Name
 3 Biographical Details
 4 Actions
 5 Elisha’s Relations with the People around Him
 6 Elisha and the Lord
 7 Manner of Speech
 8 External Appearance
 9 Parallels between Elisha and Other Characters in the Bible
 10 Summary

Conclusion
Bibliography
Students, researchers, and libraries specialising in Classics, Classical Reception, Neo-Latin, Renaissance Studies, and Comparative Literature, particularly those interested in the authors discussed and their afterlives.
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