Orthodox Forge

The Fathers

Cyprian of Gaul

ca. 400

Who he was

  • A Christian Latin poet who lived ca. 400.
  • Nothing is certain about his life, even the identification with Gaul being questioned.
  • He uses a pre-Vulgate version of the biblical text and sometimesgoes back directly to the Septuagint.
  • He is sober and concise in his descriptions and carefully avoids any reference to classical mythology.

What he wrote

  • Cyprian is the probable author of the Heptateuchos, a poetic paraphrase of the first seven books of the Old Testament, which evidences knowledge of the Latin poets both Christian and classical, Virgil especially.
  • Other works attributed to him are dubious or spurious.
  • In his exegesis he sometimes gives preference to the literal sense.

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