The Structure of Educational Texts at Clement of Alexandria

Abstract

In this paper I want to approach the problem of using oratorical procedures in Clement of Alexandria’s writings. Some excerpts from Clement’s texts show that the author did not neglect the art of language: language is always useful because it resembles in spirit to eternal life (Clement of Alexandria, 1982, Strom. I, 1, 2, 2). Clement proposes an exegesis of the biblical text and his contribution showed the functionality of moral principles in real situations of life. In this context, in the Books II and III of Pedagogues we have true practical recipes: How should we behave in relation with food, How should we use sleep? In this order of ideas, in Pedagogues the sacred text is quoted approximately 750 times, directly or indirectly, (Tessore, D., 2005). H.-I. Marrou considered that the set of citations of sacred texts may be an argument from where we can deduce Clement’s familiarity with diatribe. But, in the writings of Clement the need to preserve intact the biblical tradition in Christian education is often highlighted. I believe that, the presence of the quotes from sacred Christian texts find a good explanation in this sense in order to maintain intact the Christian tradition. Clement is not interested mostly of rhetoric but is interested of Christian tradition. Clement's text structure can be explained by assuming that the author did not know the pedagogical diatribe.

Keywords: education, moral rules, moral example, metaphor, oratory