ANTIQUE MOTIFS IN EPISTOLARY HERITAGE OF AENEAS AND PROCOPIUS OF GASA

Abstract

The article is devoted to the epistolary heritage of Procopius of Gaza and Enea of Gaza, whose works fall on a difficult period of history, the transition from one era to another. During the analysis of the letters we came to the conclusion that the main tasks of the authors were to preserve the ancient rhetorical tradition, the role of «sophist» and to search for sophistic self-determination in a Christianized society. The textual tradition of the letters of Procopius and Enea, their addressees, main topics, writing style, links to the classical authors are analyzed. On the basis of our study we can conclude that the influence of ancient culture left a deep mark even on correspondence between people. After all, the rhetorical and literary motives used by the authors to make the writing colorful should be understood and appreciated by the addressee. In general, both authors give a vivid picture of the preservation of the genres of ancient literature in Gaza in the Palestinian beginning of the 6 century A. D.