Interpretatio Judaica: Greek Myth and Jewish Creativity

Pseudepigraphal literature is opening up new insights into the diversity of Jewish writing in the Second Temple period. Although the standard practice was to write under the name of a figure from the Hebrew Bible, some Jewish authors used the persona of the Sibyl as their prophetic voice. By placing Book III of the Sibylline Oracles in its second-century BCE Egyptian context, I will demonstrate how the Jewish author utilized the Sibyl to successfully challenge the paragons of Greek literature, Hesiod and Homer, as well as the Hellenistic poet Callimachus, by offering a skilled interpretatio Judaica of a foundational Greek myth, the Titanomachy. My analysis demonstrates how the Jewish author’s articulation of Greek literary models places him as an active participant in the scholarly trends of Alexandria which praised subtle expressions of intertextuality. The Jewish author confidently subordinates and inverts allusions to Greek tradition to align with monotheistic sensibilities and offer cultural critiques through sophisticated humor and witty examples of poetic one-up-manship. The creativity of the author reflects a complex hybrid identity that draws inspiration from both Greek and Jewish tradition to form innovative poetry and a unique voice within an intellectually competitive environment.