Article
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Superstition and Religiousness in the Res publica: Areas of Power?
Luís Filipe Silvério Lima
Original title: Superstições e Religiosidade na Res Publica: Espaços de Poder?
Published in Expressing the Divine: Language, Art and Mysticism
This paper deals with the links between religion and prophecy as forms of power in Livy.
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Memory and Rhapsody: The Divine Song in Archadia
Ciléa Dourado
Original title: Memória e Rapsódia: o canto divino na Arcádia
Published in Expressing the Divine: Language, Art and Mysticism
The poetic activity of the Greek Golden Age, better known as Archadia, grew inside a pre-literate culture which was characterized, above all, by a mythological symbolism. The Archadian poetry points to the notion of the fantastic, of the sublime and of the divine in its purest form. The archaic Poet was endowed with the power directly by the gods, and such a power was non-negotiable and non-transferable. The lineage and succession of a rhapsodist was often brought out by Arete, the choice of the nobler.
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Canary Islands in Andean brushes: insular fantasies in the pictorial cycle of Saint Didacus of Alcalá, 1705-1715 (Colonial Museum of Santiago, Chile)
Antonio MARRERO ALBERTO
Original title: Canarias en pinceles andinos: fantasías insulares en el ciclo pictórico de San Diego de Alcalá, 1705-1715 (Museo Colonial de Santiago de Chile)
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
This research examines seven paintings from the Dieguine cycle preserved at the Colonial Museum of Santiago de Chile, attributed to the circle of the Nolasco and Lucas García (1705–1715). It focuses on the representation of the saint’s stay on the island of Fuerteventura, constructing a visual imaginary of the Canary Islands from the perspective of Andean viceregal workshops. Through iconographic and iconological analysis, the study reveals idealized landscapes, fictitious architectures, symbolic elements, and aboriginal figures reinterpreted according to European and American models. Rather than seeking ethnographic or geographic accuracy, these images contribute to the creation of an “insular fantasy” that redefines the Canary Islands as a strategic enclave between Europe and the Americas.
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The human being as a speaking being. Heidegger’s appropriation of Aristotle’s distinction on the fundamental modes of λόγον ἔχον (having language)
Bento Silva SANTOS
Original title: O ser humano como um ente que fala. A apropriação heideggeriana da distinção de Aristóteles sobre os modos fundamentais do λόγον ἔχον (ter a linguagem)
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
The article deals with Heidegger’s appropriation of Aristotle’s distinction of the fundamental modes of λόγον ἔχον (“having language”), as outlined by the Stagirite in Book VI, Chapter 2 of “Nicomachean Ethics”. In this sense, I emphasize, firstly, an aspect of the “scientific” part of the soul regarding the genesis of wisdom; secondly, I stress the importance of the distinction between wisdom and technique in relation to the growing epistemological autonomy of technique; thirdly, I comment on the difference in levels of understanding between experience and technique. Finally, I conclude with reflections on the increasingly autonomous character of saying within doing, based on a brief comparison of technique and science.
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Onomastic and textual keys to “Criticón”, from Baltasar Gracián (1601-1658). A rereading of the work based on the “Manual Oracle” and “Art of Prudence”
Jesús Fernando CÁSEDA TERESA
Original title: Claves onomásticas y textuales del “Criticón” de Baltasar Gracián (1601-1658). Una relectura de la obra a partir del “Oráculo manual” y “Arte de prudencia”
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
This work studies three aspects of the “Criticón” that have been little analyzed but are fundamental for understanding the work. Firstly, the onomastics of its main characters, whose origin will provide many clues for its interpretation. Secondly, its tripartite compositional structure, which includes the “space of symbolization” and geography of the work and the study of time. And finally, the interpretation of the allegorical concepts based on the “Oráculo manual”, dictionary and “navigating needle” so as not to get lost in the Gratianesque universe, which provides the keys to understanding the meaning of terms such as “fame”, “criticism”, “truth” or “immortality” in the complex philosophical framework.
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The dark illuminated night of Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)
Waldir BARRETO
Original title: A tenebrosa noite iluminada de São João da Cruz (1542-1591)
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
Shortly before his arrest in Toledo, Juan de Yepes y Álvarez drew a small, crucified Christ while working in Ávila, where he was already known as Fray Juan de la Cruz, supposedly from the memory of an epiphanic vision. To this day, it is considered his only known creative legacy produced according to Fine Arts standards. Except for another lost drawing, merely illustrative and not very technical, whose allographic reproduction was incorporated into editions of his writings, after his imprisonment Juan dedicated himself exclusively to poetry and prose. The gaps in an oral and mysterious history, the exceptionality of collateral existence, but above all, the expressive power of high plastic quality of this single surviving autograph drawing, although preserved as a relic, has frequented the memory and specialized literature on art over the years, from historians and critics to artists such as Salvador Dalí and Bill Viola.
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The confluence of temporalities: Dante Alighieri’s “Commedia” (1321) and the Old Man of Crete
Daniel Lula COSTA
Original title: A confluência das temporalidades: a “Commedia” (1321) de Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) e o Velho de Creta
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
The objective of this article is to understand the temporalities emanating from Dante Alighieri’s “Commedia” and to illustrate this with a brief study of the Old Man of Crete, a hybrid being described in Canto XIV of the first part of the work, called Inferno. Dante, both a writer and a character in this work, journeys through the medieval afterlife as a living being, discovering its mysteries and deciphering its messages. Thus, I seek to understand mythical time and how it relates to an idea of cyclical time and the manifestation of a linear and teleological time elucidated by the strengthening of Christianity in the 14th century. I then relate these ideas to the presence of Dantean hybrid beings, paying special attention to the poetic creation of the Old Man of Crete, understanding him as a holder of a hybridity of temporalities. The study proposed here draws on Gumbrecht concepts of the presence of the past, Auerbach concepts of figuration, and Costa concepts of hybrid beings.
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The legal-theological architecture of papal power in John of Paris (c.1270-1306)
Alexandre PIEREZAN
Original title: A arquitetura jurídico-teológica do poder papal em João Quidort (c. 1270-1306)
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
This study analyzes the juridical-theological architecture of papal power in Johannes Quidort (c. 1270-1306), particularly in his work De Regia Potestate et Papali. Set within the conflict between Boniface VIII and Philip the Fair, Quidort defends the distinction between temporal and spiritual powers, maintaining that both derive from the same principle but operate within autonomous spheres. His reflection, grounded in Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, and the Corpus iuris civilis, seeks to limit papal authority over kingdoms, reaffirming royal sovereignty as a legitimate and juridical power oriented toward the common good. By appealing to the ius gentium, he proposes restraints on the arbitrariness of both prince and Church, anticipating modern debates on sovereignty and international law. His work stands as a landmark in understanding the medieval hierocratic model, rooted in local and juridical traditions.
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The medical art in “On Sight” (Περὶ ὄψιος) by Hippocrates (c. 460-370 BC): ethics, diagnosis, therapy and prognosis
Hélio ANGOTTI-NETO
Original title: A arte médica em “Sobre a Visão” (Περὶ ὄψιος), de Hipócrates (c. 460-370 a.C.): ética, diagnóstico, terapia e prognóstico
Published in Languages and Cultures in Tradition
The Hippocratic text “On Sight” (Περὶ ὄψιος) is the oldest treatise on ophthalmological conditions in the history of medicine and addresses the medical art in its three basic acts (diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy), guided by the professional calling toward an ethics focused on the patient’s beneficence and non-maleficence, established principles of medical ethics. This work aims to present the original text translated into Portuguese with commentaries based on contemporary technical and scientific knowledge that can support the comprehension of this ancient text.
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Diseases of the soul in the writings of Gregory of Nyssa: A metaphor or a true analogy?
María Teresa GARGIULO
Original title: Enfermedades del alma en los escritos de Gregorio de Nisa ¿Una metáfora o una verdadera analogía?
Published in Intercultural Mediterranean
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The figure of Christ the doctor runs through the vast majority of apostolic and patristic writings. Christ presents himself as the healer of men's sins. Therefore, it should not surprise us that this medicinal metaphor was extended to a large part of moral and theological writings until the middle of the 13th century. Sin is presented, metaphorically, as a disease of the soul. Now, if we look at certain writings of the Cappadocian fathers, particularly those of Gregory of Nyssa, the medical metaphor in certain cases is replaced by a true analogy. Diseases of the soul are not only metaphorically predicated on moral dispositions and sin, but they are understood in themselves as an authentic participation of the soul in human illness. Galenic medicine seems to have had a direct impact on this new understanding of the illness of the soul.
