Lo scontro tra formazione classica e pensiero cristiano : La vita e miracoli di Santa Tecla

The Life and Miracles of Saint Thekla is a hagiographical text written in the fifth century by an unknown rhetorician born in the Eastern city of Seleucia. He must have had a classical education as it is evident from the prologue where he refers to the two most notable classical historians: Herodotus and Thucydides. His source was an apocryphal text, The Acts of Paul and Thekla, which he freely modified through his remarkable rhetoric ability. However, this is not only a hagiographical story, but the author wanted to present it as real history. In order to pursue his goal, he introduced numerous changes and offered a very good example of the crossroad between classical tradition and Christian religion.