Philosophical Criticism Of Genealogical Claims And Stoic Depoliticization Of Politics

Abstract

In this chapter, the author intends to analyze, the Exegesis on the Soul, a Nag Hammadi text that, as a matter of fact, combines the motif of Odysseus' journey home with the commandment given to Abraham. A closer examination of the text's conceptual background will help us to discover the allegorical interpretation the author is applying to the text and, at the same time, to reveal its differences when compared to other apparently parallel uses of the biblical passage. Within this purpose the author exposition is organized into three sections. The first part includes an initial approach to the Exegesis on the Soul that provides a conceptual framework for our study. The second compares it with some other extant allegorical interpretations, mainly those by Philo, and the third attempts to draw some conclusions regarding the cosmological and anthropological views of text. Keywords:Abraham; allegorical interpretation; Exegesis on the Soul; Nag Hammadi text; Odysseus' journey