The 'Titanomachy' of Thallus and its reception by the Latin Church Fathers

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with two subjects: principally euhemerism, but also intertextuality in early Christian literature. All of the fragments of Thallus, a first or second century A.D. Greek historian, are dealt with to some extent, and most are re-evaluted to render a summary of our information on his life and work. His historicized rendering of the mythical Titanomachy, however, serves as a focus for our investigation of the development of specific subjects in the Hellenistic tradition of euhemerism. We trace how the authoritative name of Thallus and some information from his history was passed from Theophilus of Antioch to Tertullian, and from Tertullian to Minucius Felix. We also evaluate the manner in which Thallus was used by Tertullian as a euhemeristic and chronological source.