Mary as Un-tier and Tier of Knots: Irenaeus Reinterpreted

• Autores: Maria del Fiat Miola
• Localización: Journal of early Christian studies: Journal of the North American Patristic Society, ISSN 1067-6341, Nº. 3, 2016, págs. 337-361
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • [...]because of this, the one who was betrothed to a man although she was still a virgin [Eve], the law calls the "wife" of the one who had betrothed her, signifying a recirculation from Mary to Eve. Because what was tied could not be untied in any other way except that the very same loops of the knot be bent backwards, in such a way that the first ties could be untied by the second ones, and the second ties would liberate the first. "25 Indeed, many who use the passage have bypassed this middle section altogether by citing Irenaeus's resumptive phrases before and after it.26 This long portion consists of three parallel phrases by which Irenaeus states and restates his point: 1. quia non aliter quod colligatum est solueretur, nisi ipsae compagines adligationis reflectantur retrorsus, 2. uti primae coniunctiones soluantur per secundas, secundae rursus liberent primas, 3. et euenit primam quidem compaginem a secunda colligatione solui, secundam uero colligationem primae solutionis habere locum.27 A rendering of the passage in English: 1. Because what was tied could not be untied in any other way except that the very same loops of the knot be bent backwards, 2. in such a way that the first ties could be untied by the second ones, and the second ties would liberate the first. 3. [...]what is essential in all these magical and magico-medical rites, is the orientation that they give to the power that resides in any kind of binding, in every act of tying.40 For many ancient peoples, a knot could be used for good or for ill, to protect or to damage.41 Many authors ascribe to knots an inherent negative power within the context of magical spells. First of all, Irenaeus takes advantage of the ambivalence of the knot to express Mary's dual role as both mother and virgin. [...]her knot is therapeutic; her action of tying is semantically related to biblical notions of healing.91 In another passage of Irenaeus's work, the Holy Spirit ties up wounds to heal them (alligauit uulnera, haer. 3.17.3); similarly, Mary's tying binds up the wounds of sin and heals the human race from its mortal illness. According to Peter Knox's commentary on the latter, Ovid utilizes Latin vocabulary of witchcraft throughout this passage (Knox, Heroides: Select Epistles [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995]).