The Concept of tropologia in Ancient Latin Exegetical Literature

Abstract

This article attempts to examine and resolve some problems in the use and understanding of the term tropologia in modern literature and ancient Latin Christian exegetical works. The term is examined in the context of individual Latin exegetical works in light of the usage of the Western tradition from the 4^th to the 16^th centuries. In general, the tradition of using the Greek term τροπολογία since the time of St. Jerome maintains a connection with the ancient definition of this term as a system and sequence of tropes in a literary work. However, a group of authors, influenced by St. John Cassian the Roman, began to use this term narrowly to denote moral allegory. This is a feature of Latin exegesis. However, this understanding was never universal. The usage of individual authors and even different works by the same author can vary significantly.