Alicia D. Myers, «Prosopopoetics and Conflict: Speech and Expectations in John 8», Vol. 92 (2011) 580-596
This article explores the conflict of John 8 within the larger context of the Gospel and in the light of the ancient rhetorical practice of prosopopoiia: the creation of speech for characters. These speeches add to the credibility of a narrative by being «appropriate» for both the person speaking and the situation in which the speech is given. Although perhaps not prosopopoiia in the traditional sense of speeches from Greek histories, this essay argues that the Gospel nevertheless includes prosopopoetics by creating appropriate, albeit unnerving, words for Jesus that elevate the audience and add to the persuasiveness of the work.
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PROSOPOPOETICS AND CONFLICT: SPEECH AND EXPECTATIONS
Plutarch offered above, speeches given to characters in Jewish litera-
ture could also be used to startle or surprise others within the text. Per-
haps the most striking example comes from the words of Abraham in
the Testament of Abraham as he repeatedly deceives the archangel
Michael to avoid his inevitable Death 22. Nevertheless, astute audience
members will recall that Abraham has used deception for his own gains
before, twice convincing Sarah to present herself as his sister rather
than his wife in order to steer clear of jealous rulers (Gen 12; 20).
One should not be surprised, therefore, to find that the author of
the Fourth Gospel likewise makes use of attributed speech in his
characterization of Jesus. The variety of discourses and dialogues
found throughout the Gospel of John reinforces the importance of
this aspect of characterization for the Gospel writer. While not con-
forming to the classroom exercise of prosopopoiia in the progym-
nasmata, these dialogues and discourses illustrate the flexibility of
this technique in practice as do the examples mentioned above.
Jesus’s words — not to mention those spoken about him by other
characters — have a prosopopoetic quality to them since they too
must be appropriate in order for the Gospel to be credible, a goal
explicitly stated by the narrator in 20,30-31 and implied in 19,35.
Such recognition paves the way for our exploration of the use of
prosopopoiia in the Gospel of John in general, as well as John 8 in
particular.
III. Prosopopoetics in John 8
Jesus’s frequent speeches, or discourses, in the Gospel of John
have long garnered scholarly attention. Nevertheless, the closest
Jesus comes to having a monologue is in portions of the Farewell
Discourse in chs. 14–17. Instead, his words frequently appear in
the midst of dialogues, a literary technique that has already been
shown to have close ties with prosopopoiia. As J.A. Brant observes,
Jesus’ dialogues repeatedly occur between himself and one other
and his God. After her conversion, Aseneth finally fits the synkrisis between
herself and Hebrew matriarchs, Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel, from 1.5.
22
T. Ab. 7.12; 15.10; 16.16. See also his condemnations of sinners in 10,4-
15 in contrast to Gen 18–19.