1 - Introduction

Summary

Clement of Alexandria’s Stromateis have long been recognised as a Christian version of the Greco-Roman genre of the miscellany. But how Clement shaped the Classical literary form for Christian formation deserves closer attention. In general, Classicists have studied miscellanies but not Clement, while Theologians have studied Clement but not miscellanies. By situating Clement's literary project in relation to Roman miscellanies, this book argues that Clement consistently reinterprets topoi and tropes of the Classical form through a Christian theological vision. His Christianisation of the genre is deeper and more interesting than has been recognised, as he seeks to enable his readers at once to delight in the variegated beauty of God and to become ever more focused on the contemplation of the one, hidden and transcendent Teacher, into whose likeness they are growing.