The Gospel according to Eudocia Augusta (fifth c. AD). Prolegomena to a Portuguese translation

Abstract

The genre of homerocentos, of which a complete poem has been preserved, developed remarkably during the Early Middle Ages. It comprises 2.354 Homeric hexameters in which Eudocia Augusta, the wife of Theodosius II (421-450 AD), retold the main episodes from the Gospels. Drawing on the episode of Lazarus’ resurrection (recreation of John 11.1-43), we shall reflect upon the structure, the composition process and some translation peculiarities of Eudocia’s poem, which largely surpasses a plain reorganization of the Homeric lines already translated into Portuguese.