Sibyls

The monumental work of Procopius on Justinian's wars includes two Sibylline oracles. As is often the case, the oracles are ambiguous; however, it is precisely this feature that helps to reveal their real meaning. As a consequence, the oracles can also aid researchers in understanding the basis of Byzantine political thought. This essay discusses the connotations of the Sibylline oracle in 537 through classical text analysis, revealing that Procopius used archaic ethnonyms and royal titles to draw a parallel between the fall of the Kingdom of Lydia and the Ostrogothic Kingdom. Using this framework, Procopius stresses that in 410, Alaric committed the original crime by abducting Galla Placidia; however, Vitigis and his wife Matasuntha were the ones who atoned for this sin in 540.

Lives and Metamorphoses of the Sibyl

Studies on the Sibyl have multiplied these last years, proof, if needed, of the liveliness of the question of divination and oracular poetry. Due to the long-lasting and broad influence of her message, the Sibyl, truthful recipient of divine communication, lent herself to many uses and appropriations in the areas of religion and the arts. She inspired poets, painters and composers and nourished the hopes of various religious groups. The present review article benefits from recent publications to report on current views about the ancient prophetess and her survival through the ages.

The ancient mystery of Mount Sibyl, the mountain that raises its peak between Umbria and Marche in Italy, is an enigma which is still unsolved. The cave on the mountain-top has been visited for centuries by visitors coming from all over Europe in search of the legendary subterranean realm of the Sibyl of the Apennines. A quest that definitely is not over. In this article Michele Sanvico illustrates a topic that has never been thouroughly analysed before: the medieval roots of the legend of the Apennine Sibyl, with the many links to earlier chivalric romances. For the first time ever, full details are provided, together with full reference to manuscripts, about the Apennine Sibyl's illustrious lineage from one of the main characters of the Arthurian cycle: Morgan le Fay. The aim of the paper is to ultimately unveil the true core of the legend by taking out the various, extraneous narrative layers that for centuries have sheltered the original mythical nucleus. This article is Part 2 of the full paper on the above topic, and also part of an extended series of papers on the true origin of the Apennine Sibyl's and Pilatus Lakes' legends.

The ancient mystery of Mount Sibyl, the mountain that raises its peak between Umbria and Marche in Italy, is an enigma which is still unsolved. The cave on the mountain-top has been visited for centuries by visitors coming from all over Europe in search of the legendary subterranean realm of the Sibyl of the Apennines. A quest that definitely is not over. In this article Michele Sanvico illustrates a topic that has never been thouroughly analysed before: the medieval roots of the legend of the Apennine Sibyl, with the many links to earlier chivalric romances. For the first time ever, full details are provided, together with full reference to manuscripts, about the Apennine Sibyl's illustrious lineage from one of the main characters of the Arthurian cycle: Morgan le Fay. The aim of the paper is to ultimately unveil the true core of the legend by taking out the various, extraneous narrative layers that for centuries have sheltered the original mythical nucleus. This article is Part 1 of the full paper on the above topic, and also part of an extended series of papers o the true origing of the Apennine Sibyl's and Pilatus Lakes' legends.

The mystery of Mount Sibyl in Italy is an ancient one, an enigma which is still unsolved. The mountain raises its peak between Umbria and Marche. The cave on the mountain-top has been visited for centuries by men from all over Europe in search of the legendary subterranean realm of the Sibyl of the Apennines. A quest that definitely is not over. This article summarises part of the information available on the eerie cave, as drawn from a number of different sources. A travel into mystery that still continues in our present days.

This paper deals with Marsilio Ficino's astrological conception of the pagan sibyls and its likely influence on Baccio Baldini's engravings from the 'Prophets and Sibyls' series and trump cards of the tarot of Marseille; it subsequently conjectures that the tarot of Marseille might have been conceived by Ficino as a pedagogical game to teach the Platonic philosophy.

Cuando el Maestro Mateo se hizo cargo de las obras de la catedral en el último tercio del siglo XII, éste era perfectamente consciente del cúmulo de significaciones que el monumento románico había adquirido desde sus orígenes. Su intervención en el cuerpo occidental del templo, entre 1168 y 1211, buscó  aumentar y amplificar  parte de esos  contenidos y metáforas, sabedor que el templo, tanto por su estética románica como por su escenificación litúrgica,  se había quedado entonces ciertamente obsoleto

This paper studies the treatment of the Sibyl and Virgil in a speech attributed to Constantine the Great. Scholars generally focus on the role played by one or the other of these two figures in that writing. To do justice to the economy of the work, it seems necessary to keep them together. As a result, the Sibyl and Virgil serve as pagan counterparts to the witnesses of Moses and Daniel about the divinity of the Crucified. A prophetess initially attached to Apollinian oracular centers, the Sibyl becomes a prophetess of the one Christian God. That is illustrated by the famous acrostic poem Jesus Christ Son of God Saviour Cross that she is said to have uttered. As for Virgil, it is through the exegesis of the Fourth Eclogue, of which several verses are glossed and translated into Greek, that he is also Christianised.


Cet article étudie le traitement réservé à la Sibylle et à Virgile dans un discours attribué à l’empereur Constantin. La recherche s’interroge habituellement sur le rôle et la place de l’une ou l’autre des deux figures dans cet écrit. Pour rendre justice à l’économie de l’œuvre, il semble préférable de les tenir ensemble. Il en ressort que la Sibylle et Virgile servent de contreparties païennes aux témoignages de Moïse et Daniel sur la divinité du Crucifié. De prophétesse rattachée à des centres oraculaires apolliniens, la Sibylle devient prophétesse du seul vrai Dieu des chrétiens, ce qu’illustre le célèbre acrostiche Jésus Christ Fils de Dieu Sauveur Croix qu’elle aurait prononcé. Quant à Virgile, c’est par l’exégèse de la Quatrième Églogue, dont plusieurs vers sont glosés et traduits en grec, qu’il est lui aussi christianisé.

The depictions of the Erythraean Sibyl at Sant’Angelo in Formis and in the pulpit at Sessa Aurunca have been connected to the performance of her chant during the Christmas liturgy. A new approach makes it possible to expand our view of the reception of the Sibyl in the Middle Ages. In Campania, the Sibyl was closely linked to the Virgilian tradition and a number of Sibylline sites in the region. The performance of her chant, which was centered on a frightful description of the Last Judgment, not only at Christmas but also on Holy Saturday, breaks new ground in the interpretation of the iconographic programs that involve the Sibyl.

The mystery of Mount Sibyl in Italy is an ancient one, an enigma which is still unsolved. The mountain raises its peak between Umbria and Marche. The cave on the mountain-top has been visited for centuries by men from all over Europe in search of the legendary subterranean realm of the Sibyl of the Apennines. A quest that definitely is not over. With this article Michele Sanvico carries out a stunning journey into the literary tradition of the Cimmerian Sibyl and her potential link to the Apennine Sibyl, by presenting mentions taken from a vast collection of classical and later authors, and highlighting the close relationship which is retrieved between the Cimmerian and the Cumaean Sibyl. The paper is accompanyied by a large selection of utmostly rare images drawn from the literary sources quoted in the text.

Como es bien sabido, más allá de su trasfondo musicológico, litúrgico y dramático, la Sibila constituye, por antonomasia, uno de los grandes temas de la historia del arte. Cada año seis millones de personas visitan los Museos Vaticanos para poder contemplar los frescos de la Capilla Sixtina, donde Miguel Ángel inmortalizó en 1512 cinco monumentales Sibilas acompañadas de profetas del Antiguo Testamento. En esa época, ya en pleno Renacimiento, la pagana Sibila, cuyo número se había incrementado entonces de diez a doce, se había convertido, como profetisa del Mesías y del Juicio Final, en uno de los grandes temas iconográficos del arte cristiano, ocupando un lugar preferente en los ciclos de la historia bíblica junto a los profetas del Antiguo Testamento. 1 Su número, sin embargo, lejos de ser estable, fluctuaba en las héroe troyano Eneas. 5 Por ello, en vez de elegir una aproximación a la figura de la Sibila medieval desde un punto de vista estrictamente iconográfico, resulta más conveniente analizar su representación en relación con sus aspectos más patéticos, performativos y dramático-litúrgicos. Elegir un método como éste para el análisis de las artes figurativas no es sino una vuelta a las viejas ideas de Aby Warburg sobre renacimiento del paganismo, su álbum Mnemosyne y su siempre sugerente visión de la pervivencia de las Pathosformeln, o fórmulas expresivas (fórmulas de lo patético). 6 Bajo esta peculiar mirada, la Sibila es una figura que nunca ha perdido su fuerza ritual de origen pagano, puesto que tanto sus gestos como su voz han intentado siempre conmover profundamente el ánimo del espectador. Por ello, sea en su aspecto formal o iconográfico, ésta nunca ha dejado de ser pagana, de transmitir el contenido emocional y patético que poseían las figuras de las profetisas en el mundo antiguo: desde la Pitonisa -Pythiade Delfos a la Casandra troyana, hasta la propia Sibila de Cumas. 7 Se trata, en esencia, de una verdadera fórmula expresiva, emocional o patética, un concepto que seguro es más fácil de entender desde la musicología, que desde la historia del arte tradicional.

The mysteries of Mount Sibyl and the Lakes of Pilate, in the Sibillini Mountain Range in Italy are both ancient enigmas which are still unsolved. As reported in a fifteenth-century account provided by Antoine de la Sale in his "The Paradise of Queen Sibyl", the sinister Lakes of Pilate have been visited for many centuries by necromancers coming from all over Europe, in search of an eerie, magical setting where to consecrate their spellbooks: a cursed place of gloomy waters, in which the body of Pontius Pilate would have been cast in antiquity, according to an ancient legend.

In this paper, following the marks left by the historical character of Pontius Pilate in the ancient literature of the Roman and early-Christian age, Michele Sanvico probes into the many apocryphal texts which enshroud the prefect's legendary figure, subsequently confronting with the amazing medieval sources that built up the myth concerning the final days of Pilate and the curse which fell on his burial places, be it Vienne in France, Lucerne in Switzerland or the Sibillini Mountain Range in Italy.

The goal of this research is to uncover the real essence of the myth of the Italian Lakes of Pilate, by highlightig the true origin of this legendary tale which establishes an odd connection between the lakes and the Roman prefect who was mentioned in the Gospels, by fully retracing the literary path that led to this remarkable association. The daring aim of all this is to cast an illuminating light on the mythical core of the legend that inhabits the place which we call today as the Lakes of Pilate, but was once known as the Lake of Norcia or the Lake of the Sibyl.

This article is Part 1 of the full paper on the above topic (including a Part 2 and a Part 3), and also part of an extended series of papers on the true origin of the Apennine Sibyl's and Pilatus Lakes' legends.

Introduction De tous les Pères de l'Église de langue latine, Augustin est, après Lactance 1 , celui qui fait le plus souvent référence aux sibylles et aux oracles sibyllins dans sa réflexion théologique et dans son oeuvre. Il y revient à diverses reprises, tant dans ses écrits polémiques que dans sa correspondance et ses traités exégétiques et doctrinaux. Il en est une première fois question dans l'ep. Rom. inch. 3 qui date de 394-395 ; puis, plus brièvement, dans l'ep. 258, 5 à Marcianus qui doit lui être légèrement postérieure ; dans deux passages du c. Faust. (XIII, 2. 15), rédigé quelques années plus tard (398-400) ; dans le cons. eu. (I, 27), à peine postérieur au c. Faust. ; dans l'ep. 104, 11 à Nectarius de 409-410, et enfin dans trois passages de la ciu. (III, 17 ; X, 27 ; XVIII, 46), dont la rédaction s'étend de 413 à 426 environ 2 . Mais la discussion la plus étendue se lit au livre XVIII, chapitre 23 de ce même traité 3 . La présente contribution se propose d'examiner l'ensemble de ces textes et de dégager la conception que l'évêque d'Hippone pouvait se faire des sibylles et de leurs prophéties.

La toma en consideración de elementos escultóricos entendidos marginales por la historiografía tradicional permitió replantear el programa del conjunto. Se afianza la propuesta en este trabajo al comprobar que el esquema se ajusta a la tradición iconográfica francesa, confirmando la identificación del lugar de espera entre el juicio individual y el Juicio Final. A partir de los oráculos de la Sibila sobre la Primera y Segunda Venida y su relevancia litúrgica se propone una lectura integral de la puerta y el interior del templo que culmina en la imagen de la Virgen Blanca.

abstract
The taking into consideration of sculptural elements considered marginal by traditional historiography allowed to raise again the program as a whole. The proposal in this work is consolidated after confirming that it matches to French iconographic tradition, supporting the identification of the waiting place between the individual judgement and the Last Judgement. It’s proposed a comprehensive interpretation of the door and the inside of the temple, ending in the White Virgin image, based on the Oracles of the Sibyl about the First and the Second Coming and its presence in the liturgy.

Jeroen Reyniers, 'The Iconography of Emperor Augustus with the Tiburtine Sibyl in the Low Countries. An Overview', in: Marco Cavalieri, Pierre Assenmaker, Mattia Cavagna, David Engels (ed.), Augustus Through the Ages: Receptions, Readings and Appropriations of the Historical Figure of the First Roman Emperor, Collection Latomus, Brussels, 2022, p. 209-236.

The mystery of Mount Sibyl in Italy is an ancient one, an enigma which is still unsolved. The mountain raises its peak between Umbria and Marche. The cave on the mountain-top has been visited for centuries by men from all over Europe in search of the legendary subterranean realm of the Sibyl of the Apennines. A quest that definitely is not over. In this article Michele Sanvico carries out a search of ancient references to the Apennine Sibyl in medieval and Roman sources, and proposes a new track for future investigation on the true origin of the legend.

Paper presented on the Conference AUGUSTE A TRAVERS LES AGES : RECEPTIONS, RELECTURES ET APPROPRIATIONS DE LA FIGURE DU PREMIER EMPEREUR ROMAIN AUGUSTUS THROUGH THE AGES: RECEPTIONS, READINGS AND APPROPRIATIONS OF THE HISTORICAL FIGURE OF THE FIRST ROMAN EMPEROR - Brussels, Royal Library, November 6 2014.

PDF article for proceedings on request

The mysteries of Mount Sibyl and the Lakes of Pilate, in the Sibillini Mountain Range in Italy are both ancient enigmas which are still unsolved. As reported in a fifteenth-century account provided by Antoine de la Sale in his "The Paradise of Queen Sibyl", the sinister Lakes of Pilate have been visited for many centuries by necromancers coming from all over Europe, in search of an eerie, magical setting where to consecrate their spellbooks: a cursed place of gloomy waters, in which the body of Pontius Pilate would have been cast in antiquity, according to an ancient legend.

In this paper, following the marks left by the historical character of Pontius Pilate in the ancient literature of the Roman and early-Christian age, Michele Sanvico probes into the many apocryphal texts which enshroud the prefect's legendary figure, subsequently confronting with the amazing medieval sources that built up the myth concerning the final days of Pilate and the curse which fell on his burial places, be it Vienne in France, Lucerne in Switzerland or the Sibillini Mountain Range in Italy.

The goal of this research is to uncover the real essence of the myth of the Italian Lakes of Pilate, by highlightig the true origin of this legendary tale which establishes an odd connection between the lakes and the Roman prefect who was mentioned in the Gospels, by fully retracing the literary path that led to this remarkable association. The daring aim of all this is to cast an illuminating light on the mythical core of the legend that inhabits the place which we call today as the Lakes of Pilate, but was once known as the Lake of Norcia or the Lake of the Sibyl.

This article is Part 3 of the full paper on the above topic (also including a Part 1 and a Part 2), and also part of an extended series of papers on the true origin of the Apennine Sibyl's and Pilatus Lakes' legends.

http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9780888441911-1


http://www.pims.ca/publications/new-and-recent-titles/publication/thierry-of-chartres-the-commentary-on-the-de-arithmetica-of-boethius

Unlike the commentaries on Plato's Timaeus and on Boethius's Consolatio phlosophiae, medieval exegesis of Boethius's De arithmetica has seldom been subjected to comprehensive and systematic enquiry. Inhabiting the shifting boundary between philosophy and history of science, the De arithmetica itself has been neglected by most medievalists. Yet, from the Carolingian renaissance onward, when the scholarly curriculum came to be based on the seven liberal arts, Boethius's work soon became a canonical text for the study of arithmetic. Indeed, the growing interest in it during the twelfth century is attested by the large number of surviving commentaries in manuscript.

The commentary on the De arithmetica preserved in Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Cod. math. 4° 33 and edited here for the first time can be securely attributed to Thierry of Chartres. It belongs to a phase when the Chartrian master's interests were mainly directed toward the liberal arts. We can also discern in Thierry's commentary on the De arithmetica themes and problems developed in his Tractatus de sex dierum operibus and more elaborately in his commentaries on Boethius's Opuscula sacra. Indeed, the discovery of this commentary on the De arithmetica might legitimately be said to clarify not only the more intractable passages in the theological writings but also to illuminate Thierry's philosophical project as a whole. At the heart of that vision is a developing trend in twelfth-century philosophy that places number and proportion at the heart of the physical cosmos. In this profoundly 'mathematical Platonism,' all things are based on number and follow the rule of number; or, to quote Thierry himself, “creatio numerorum, rerum est creatio.”

The mysteries of Mount Sibyl and the Lakes of Pilate, in the Sibillini Mountain Range in Italy are both ancient enigmas which are still unsolved. As reported in a fifteenth-century account provided by Antoine de la Sale in his "The Paradise of Queen Sibyl", the sinister Lakes of Pilate have been visited for many centuries by necromancers coming from all over Europe, in search of an eerie, magical setting where to consecrate their spellbooks: a cursed place of gloomy waters, in which the body of Pontius Pilate would have been cast in antiquity, according to an ancient legend.

In this paper, following the marks left by the historical character of Pontius Pilate in the ancient literature of the Roman and early-Christian age, Michele Sanvico probes into the many apocryphal texts which enshroud the prefect's legendary figure, subsequently confronting with the amazing medieval sources that built up the myth concerning the final days of Pilate and the curse which fell on his burial places, be it Vienne in France, Lucerne in Switzerland or the Sibillini Mountain Range in Italy.

The goal of this research is to uncover the real essence of the myth of the Italian Lakes of Pilate, by highlightig the true origin of this legendary tale which establishes an odd connection between the lakes and the Roman prefect who was mentioned in the Gospels, by fully retracing the literary path that led to this remarkable association. The daring aim of all this is to cast an illuminating light on the mythical core of the legend that inhabits the place which we call today as the Lakes of Pilate, but was once known as the Lake of Norcia or the Lake of the Sibyl.

This article is Part 2 of the full paper on the above topic (including a Part 1 and a Part 3), and also part of an extended series of papers on the true origin of the Apennine Sibyl's and Pilatus Lakes' legends.

The mysteries of Mount Sibyl and the Lakes of Pilate, in the Sibillini Mountain Range in Italy, are both ancient enigmas which are still unsolved. In two previous papers, “Birth of a Sibyl: the medieval connection” and “A legend for a Roman prefect: the Lakes of Pontius Pilate”, we identified the presence of two additional, extraneous legendary layers, which are connected to the figure of Morgan le Fay and to the ancient lore concerning the burial places of Pontius Pilate. With a third paper, “Sibillini Mountain Range: the legend before the legends”, we pinpointed a number of common traits that mark both legends, the Cave's and Lake's, with at least three shared features: a legendary demonic presence; the performance of necromantic rituals; winds, tempests, and devastation which mythically arise from both sites. With a fourth paper, "Sibillini Mountain Range, a cave and lake to the Otherworld", we highlighted the otherwordly character marking the Sibillini Mountain Range, with strong literary links which can be retrieved between the legendary tales of the Sibyl's Cave and the Lake of Pilate, set in the Sibillini Mountain Range, and two most famous and successful narratives which depict two specific journeys to otherwordly regions: the legend of the Cumaean Sibyl and the legend of St. Patrick's Purgatory.

With this conclusive paper we present our final considerations and innovative conjectural model on the origin of the legendary system which inhabits the Sibillini Mountain Range.

We first propose a comprehensive summary of the conjectures that have been elaborated, across more than one hundred fifty years, by philologists, researchers and even novelists and essaysts on the potential origin of the legendary tales connected to the Sibyl's Cave and the Lake of Pilate, in a deliberate and unsuccessful effort to unveil the true reason for the peculiar character that these mountains seem to manifest across the centuries.

Subsquently, a new original, unprecedented conjecture on the origin of the legends of the Sibillini Mountain Range is presented, for the first time ever.

The keyword of our conjecture is earthquake. Since time immemorial, most devastating earthquakes have been occurring in the area on a recurrent basis. The very face of the mountain range is affected by the largest events. Smaller earthquakes ceaselessly hit the territory, many of them just above the threshold of human sensitivity. Vibrations and rumbles may be often heard. Contemporary residents know that a catastrophic earthquake might happen anytime, announced by sequences of smaller tremors, or even totally unheralded. They all know that sudden death may ensue, and that within the space of a few seconds their own life and the life of their family members may be subject to a dramatic change or even be terminated altogether under the debris of a collapsing roof, as it actually happened in the year 2016.

After a full review of the seismic character of the Sibillini Mountain Range, we formulate a conjecture concerning a possible antique otherwordly nature of the Lake and Cave. In a remote past, the two geographical features may have been considered as passageways to some sort of demonic presence, an access that was to be unlocked by means of necromantic rituals, a point of contact with a subterranean Otherworld and the chthonian powers beneath.

Before the Roman conquest in the third century B.C., we assume that the local populations of Sabines and Picenes may have developed some sort of legendary narrative, and a possible cult, with relation to the nature and potential worship of earthquakes, considered as a kind of fiendish demons or gods.

In the almost constant presence of earthquakes, due to the presence of an active fault system situated beneath the Sibillini Mountain Range, the local tradition, across the centuries of the Iron Age, may have established highland shrines at the Lake and Cave, where necromantic rituals may have been performed to obtain the cessation of the seismic sequences, and ask for mercy and salvation.

A comprehensive conjectural model is built on this potential scenario, with a full analysis of the reasons that may steer research in this direction. A most interesting link is also established with the tradition associated with the Sibyl's Cave and the Lake of Pilate as to the legendary, devastating tempests which would arise from the two sites, with a clear connection to the antique beliefs on the origin of earthquakes as stated by Aristotle, Lucretius, Seneca and Pliny the Elder.

This final research article, together with the whole series of papers already released within the project "The Apennine Sibyl and the Lakes of Pilatus: a Journey into the True Origin of Mysterious Legendary Tales", fosters an improved and unprecedented comprehension of the mythical nucleus of the fascinating legendary setting that lives in the Sibillini Mountain Range, in central Italy.

This article is Part 1 of the full paper on the above topic.

The mysteries of Mount Sibyl and the Lakes of Pilate, in the Sibillini Mountain Range in Italy, are both ancient enigmas which are still unsolved. In two previous papers, “Birth of a Sibyl: the medieval connection” and “A legend for a Roman prefect: the Lakes of Pontius Pilate”, we identified the presence of two additional, extraneous legendary layers, which are connected to the figure of Morgan le Fay and to the ancient lore concerning the burial places of Pontius Pilate. With a third paper, “Sibillini Mountain Range: the legend before the legends”, we pinpointed a number of common traits that mark both legends, the Cave's and Lake's, with at least three shared features: a legendary demonic presence; the performance of necromantic rituals; winds, tempests, and devastation which mythically arise from both sites.

With the present paper we address a fourth, most significant feature which seems to mark the two sites, the Sibyl's Cave and the Lake of Pilate: they both appear to have been considered as some sort of passageways to the Otherworld, owing to the presence of specific narrative elements, such as the test bridge, that are usually found in literary works that depict visionary travels to otherwordly regions.

The Otherworld and its accessibility to living men has always been an illustrious, emotional literary topic in the literary production of the Western tradition, since classical antiquity, through the advent of Christianity and across the centuries of the Middle Ages. From Homer's “Odyssey” to Vergil's “Aeneid”, from Pope St. Gregory the Great to the visionary dreams originated in medieval Ireland, and up to the legend of the Purgatory of St. Patrick, men have always been dreaming about the afterlife, its shadows, its demons and its punishments. In the present work we retrace the main literary instances of the visionary narratives on the Otherworld in the Western culture.

In addition to that, we highlight the strong literary links which can be retrieved between the legendary tales of the Sibyl's Cave and the Lake of Pilate, in the Sibillini Mountain Range, and two most famous and successful narratives which depict two specific journeys to otherwordly regions: the legend of the Cumaean Sibyl, with the Lake of Avernus and the gloomy cave providing an access to the realm of the dead, and the legend of St. Patrick's Purgatory, featuring another lake, Lough Derg, and another sinister cave.

In the present paper we show the recurrent contaminations of narrative themes that link the three different, and substantially unrelated, legends, in the form of a visible transfer of narrative topics and situations from the illustrious and widely-known Cumaean and Irish tales, to an Italian tale which appear to features some narrative and geographical traits in common, though set in a different setting and despite its total independence from the legendary narratives of Lough Derg and Cumae. A contamination that has travelled across the centuries of the Middle Ages, through the invisible streams of oral tales and storytelling, finally materialised within the fifteenth-century works written by Antoine de la Sale and Andrea da Barberino.

The resulting, far-reaching assumption which arises from the present research work is that a legendary passageway to some sort of Otherworld might have been possibly situated, by an antique tradition that left some faint traces in the known literature, among the peaks of the central Apennines. And the landmarks for this mythical entryway would be associated, just like in Cumae and Lough Derg, to the same kind of landforms, a lake and a cave: they both would mark a sort of legendary 'hot spot' on the surface of Earth, where the mythical passageway would be located.

In this framework, a number of questions are left open in the present paper: why should this Apennine site have been considered as a further entryway to the Otherworld? If our assumption is true, what sort of Otherworld was this? What sort of dreadful dream did men conceive by the Lake and Cave set in the mountains of the Apennines, in central Italy?

What legend did live in this area before the medieval legendary tales about a Sibyl and Pontius Pilate settled themselves here?

The highlighting of the otherwordly character marking the Sibillini Mountain Range, in Italy, may lead to an improved comprehension of the mythical nucleus of the legendary setting that inhabits those imposing mountains of Italy, opening a new path that will be fully addressed in a future, and conclusive, research paper, now under preparation.

This article is Part 1 of the full paper on the above topic, and also part of an extended series of papers on the true origin of the Apennine Sibyl's and Pilatus Lakes' legends, a series that will include further papers that are about to provide additional, previously-unpublished information on the whole fascinating topic.

Tannhäuser was a German knight and minnesänger - a minstrel and a lyric poet - who was born near Salzburg in 1205. According to legend, he had chanced upon a mountain, under which the goddess Venus had settled her hidden abode. A similar narration can be found in an ancient Italian chivalric romance, "Guerrino the Wretch", which recounts the deeds of another knight who crept into Mount Sibyl's cave, meeting with similar finds; other quotes on the same subject appear in Antoine de La Sale's fifteeenth-century work "The Paradise of Queen Sibyl"
Tannhäuser and Guerrino, Germany and Italy, Frau Venus Berg and Mount Sibyl. Did a connection exist between the two legends? In the article, the contributions by various scholars to this literary issue are summarised.

Tras haberse ganado un puesto entre los profetas de Cristo, la Sibila experimentó a partir del siglo XIII en la iconografía cristiana un interesante proceso de reacentuación. La filosofía escolástica, el auge del culto mariano o el ascenso del movimiento joanquinista,  contribuyeron a subrayar bien su papel como mensajera de Cristo, bien como tronante voz del Juicio Final. El himno del Dies Irae, el gigantesco árbol de Jesé de la Catedral de Orvieto o los púlpitos de Giovanni Pisano en Pistoia y Pisa son todos ellos prueba de la actualidad de la imagen y la ampliación de su significado. Es en este período cuando la Sibila multiplica -por primera vez desde la Antigüedad-, su número en los programas figurativos, adopta el papel de la Virgen,  se compara –sobre todo en ámbito bizantino- con los sabios paganos, o entrar a formar parte –más allá del ámbito catedralicio- de la decoración de los palacios urbanos. En ese contexto triunfa el tema de las doce Sibilas como contrapunto de los doce profetas, pero también como símbolo de la universalidad geográfica de la providencia divina y de la unión entre paganismo y cristianismo. Todo ello nos permitirá entender mejor el éxito inusitado de su iconografía durante el Renacimiento así como la genial propuesta de Miguel Ángel en la Capilla Sixtina.

The mystery of Mount Sibyl in Italy is an ancient one, an enigma which is still unsolved. The mountain raises its peak between Umbria and Marche. The cave on the mountain-top has been visited for centuries by men from all over Europe in search of the legendary subterranean realm of the Sibyl of the Apennines. A quest that definitely is not over.

This article is a literary ride through manuscripts and ancient books in search of hidden links: those between a Sibyl, the classical Sibyls, and the Italian Apennines. A fascinating travel from Isidore of Seville to Augustine of Hippo, from Lactantius to Publius Vergilius Maro, from Servius Marius Honoratus to Publis Papinius Statius, Suetonius and the Historia Augusta, from Marcus Terentius Varro to Pliny the Elder, and then Philippe de Thaon, the Mirabilis Liber, Ludovico Ariosto, Andrea da Barberino and Antoine de La Sale.

A travel into mystery that still continues in our present days.

Traduction d'un article de Pier Franco Beatrice initialement publié en anglais dans A. D. Fitzgerald (ed.), Augustine through the Ages. An Encyclopedia, Grand Rapids, 1999, p. 792-793, dans Encyclopédie Saint Augustin. La Méditerranée et l’Europe IVe – XXIe siècle, édition française sous la direction de Marie-Anne Vannier, Paris, 2005, p. 1040-1041.

The mystery of Mount Sibyl in Italy is an ancient one, an enigma which is still unsolved. The mountain raises its peak between Umbria and Marche. The cave on the mountain-top has been visited for centuries by men from all over Europe in search of the legendary subterranean realm of the Sibyl of the Apennines. A quest that definitely is not over. With this article Michele Sanvico presents, for the first time, the pictures of the letter on Mount Sibyl written by Enea Silvio Piccolomini in the fifteenth century, with a detailed analysis of its content and new findings about the addressee and the date and place in which it was written.

Studie van de iconografie van Keizer Augustus met de Tiburtijnse sibille in Berghse kroniekenhandschrift.

Analysis of the Emperor Augustus with the Tiburtine Sibil iconography in the Chronicle manuscript Castle Bergh.

Jeroen Reyniers, 'Keizer Augustus en de Tiburtijnse sibille in het Berghse kroniekenhandschrift', Wim van Anrooij & Jeanne Verbij-Schillings (red.), Het Berghse kroniekenhandschrift. Ontstaan, inhoud en functie van een laatmiddeleeuws geschiedenisboek, Hilversum, (Uitgeverij Verloren), 2021, p. 243-259.

https://brill.com/view/title/56992?rskey=s0J0aE&result=1

Ashley L. Bacchi, Uncovering Jewish Creativity in Book III of the Sibylline Oracles: Gender, Intertextuality, & Politics (Leiden: Brill, 2020), Foreword by Erich S. Gruen.

Description:
In Uncovering Jewish Creativity, Ashley L. Bacchi reclaims the importance of the Sibyl as a female voice of prophecy in Book III of the Sibylline Oracles and reveals new layers of intertextual references that address political, cultural, and religious dialogue in second-century Ptolemaic Egypt. This investigation stands apart from prior examinations by reorienting the discussion around the desirability of the pseudonym to an issue of gender, questioning the impact of the choice to identify the author’s message with a female prophetic figure, and challenging the previous identification of paraphrased Greek oracles and their function within the text. Verses previously seen as anomalous move from the role of Greek subterfuge of Jewish identity to offering nuanced support of monotheistic themes.

Readership:
An interdisciplinary work in Jewish Studies and Classics, this book is for all interested in the pseudepigrapha, gender discourse, the Hellenistic Mediterranean, and ancient intertextuality and political commentary.

The mystery of Mount Sibyl in Italy is an ancient one, an enigma which is still unsolved. The mountain raises its peak between Umbria and Marche. The cave on the mountain-top has been visited for centuries by men from all over Europe in search of the legendary subterranean realm of the Sibyl of the Apennines. A quest that definitely is not over. With this article Michele Sanvico provides an in-depth analysis of a fourteenth-century text written by Petrus Berchorius, a benedictine monk, on the Lakes of Norcia, known today as the Lakes of Pilatus.

Desde la primera vez que contemplé la imagen de la Sibila de Gran Laura de Monte Atos, acompañada del epígrafe —ΣΙΒΥΛΛΑ— que no deja lugar a dudas sobre su identificación, me llamó la atención la peculiaridad de su regio y lujoso atuendo. A diferencia de la imagen más extendida en Occidente, en la que la profetisa aparece con túnica, manto y la cabeza cubierta, a modo de una vestal antigua o de una representación mariana, en el refectorio atonita la Sibila ciñe corona y endosa un suntuoso loros cruzado propio de la vestimenta de una emperatriz bizantina. Desde entonces, como estudioso de la iconografía medieval de la Sibila  me pregunté hasta qué punto era posible o no relacionar o no esta peculiar imagen bizantina con la larga tradición iconográfica de la Sibila en Occidente.

The aim of this article is to re-examine the links between Heart of Darkness and the Aeneid – the Latin epic which is already known to have served as the main hypotext for Joseph Conrad’s novella. The transformation of several important motifs – such as those of the sacrifice, white worsted, the ivory gate and, finally, that of the prophetic voice – reveals that Conrad has shifted the focal point of Virgil’s dark tale, placing the figure of the Oracle – who has been disguised and transformed in a highly sophisticated manner – to its very centre.

Sibyllinische Orakeltexte und die mit ihnen verbundene Divinationsgottheit Apollon erfuhren in Rom eine ganz besondere Form der Wirkungsgeschichte. Eine der vier höchsten römischen Priesterschaften, die quindecimviri sacris faciundis, waren mit ihrer Verwahrung und Konsultation betraut. Dem ersten römischen Kaiser Augustus wiederum wird von der Forschung seit langem eine enge persönliche Beziehung zu Apollon zugeschrieben. Die Studie untersucht die konkrete Rolle, welche sibyllinischen Orakeln und dem besagten Gott während der Krise der späten römischen Republik und der ersten Jahrzehnte des augusteischen Principats zukam.

This essay traces the emergence, reappearance, and reception of the sibyl through Samuel Taylor Coleridge's writing—moving from newspaper essays, notebooks and letters, to The Statesman's Manual (1816) and Sibylline Leaves (1817). The sibylline exists in relation to a corollary category that cuts across bibliographic, commercial, poetical, theological, and philosophical contexts: the fugitive. Coleridge invokes the sibyl as an authorizing figure for the mediation of fugitive knowledge and its variously recursive and revelatory logics. Fugitive knowledge offers fresh interpretative possibilities for understanding the relationship between the poet's "wilderness of Scraps" and his projected great works.

The mystery of Mount Sibyl in Italy is an ancient one, an enigma which is still unsolved. The mountain raises its peak between Umbria and Marche. The cave on the mountain-top has been visited for centuries by men from all over Europe in search of the legendary subterranean realm of the Sibyl of the Apennines. A quest that definitely is not over. This article provides a full description of the ancient literary lineage of the magical bridge that Antoine de la Sale mentioned in his "The Paradise of Queen Sibyl", an invention he included in the account of his own visit to Mount Sibyl to astound and delight his courtly audience.

Dans cet article, je me propose de réfléchir au rôle et à la fonction de la pseudépigraphie dans les Oracula Sibyllina, une collection de textes poétiques à caractère politique et religieux écrits en grec entre le IIe siècle avant J.-C. et le VIIe siècle de notre ère. À cet effet, je recours à Michel Foucault et à sa réflexion sur la notion d’auteur, dont je tente de vérifier la pertinence pour comprendre les raisons qui ont poussé des juifs et des chrétiens à faire appel à des figures identifiées comme païennes pour transmettre leur message. Ce faisant, j’espère trouver des clés permettant de cerner les motivations et intentions des auteurs de ces textes. J’illustre mon propos par l’étude de quelques morceaux choisis du recueil.

In this article, I propose to reflect on the role and the function of pseudepigraphy in the Oracula Sibyllina, a collection of poetic texts of a political and religious nature written in Greek between the second century BC and the seventh century AD. To this end, I use Michel Foucault and his reflections on the notion of authorship and try to test its relevance to understand the reasons that led Jews and Christians to summon figures identified as pagans to convey their message. In doing so, I hope to better identify the intentions and motivations of the authors. I illustrate my points by studying some excerpts from the collection.

La mujer vidente en la literatura hispano-medieval no ha recibido la debida atención de la crítica literaria. Esto se debe a que la mayoría de los autores de la época ven la mujer como un ser con tendencias al mal . Esta opinión empieza a cambiar bajo la influencia del culto mariano. Aún así, el tema no se introduce en la literatura hasta mediados del siglo 15 con el Laberinto de Fortuna (1444) de Juan de Mena. En esta obra, hay una alusión a la Sibila de Cumas, quién el autor considera superada por una Divina Providencia. Sin embargo, la Sibila recibe mayor atención en la versión del Laberinto entitulada Las Trezientas (1499) que edita Hernán Núñez y, unos diecisiete años después, reencarna como agente del diablo en Carajicomedia (1516-1518), un contrafactum paródico de parte de Las Trezientas  . Este ensayo explica por qué Mena rechaza la tradición sibelina, nota el mayor peso de esa tradición en las glosas de Núñez, y traza su influencia en la caracterización de María de Vellasco y las putas valencianas como 'sibilas' en el mundo al revés de Carajicomedia.

Je retrouve (dimanche 30 octobre 2016) ce petit article écrit pratiquement in situ, avant internet, avant le livre de Sylvie Lefèvre (Droz, 2006). Plusieurs des manuscrits à peintures d'Antoine de La Sale sont maintenant en ligne. En 2000, une équipe de géologues a révélé l'existence de labyrinthes souterrains qui confirment une partie des descriptions d'Antoine de La Sale. Romano Cordella a continué à animer l'association "Una mostra, un restauro" qui depuis les années 1970 s'attache à restaurer le patrimoine de la Valnerina, dans la région des Monti Sibillini. Don Giovanni Benedetti, qui conduisait sa Fiat comme un pilote de Formule 1 sur les routes d'Ombrie, est décédé dans un accident de la route en 1993 après être resté longtemps dans le coma.
CCX ou CCR ? Je continue à pencher pour la première solution, un rébus. Sans s'en disperser.

The mysteries of Mount Sibyl and the Lakes of Pilate, in the Sibillini Mountain Range in Italy, are both ancient enigmas which are still unsolved. In two previous papers, “Birth of a Sibyl: the medieval connection” and “A legend for a Roman prefect: the Lakes of Pontius Pilate”, we highlighted two additional legendary layers which conceal the true core of the local myth. A first narrative layer, connected to the Apennine Sibyl, can be retraced back to the Matter of Britain and the necromantic characters of Morgan le Fay and her companion Sebile; a second narrative layer, pertaining to Pontius Pilate, is to be referred to the well-known lore which has been enshrouding the figure of Pilate for twenty centuries, with a number of legendary burial places for the Roman prefect scattered across various site in Europe.

Both narrative layers are to be considered as local adaptations of legends which were born and underwent specific evolutionary paths elsewhere. This approach opens the way to an unprecedented search for the original nucleus of the legend which lives in the two sites set amid the fastnesses of the Sibillini Mountain Range.

This paper is the first step in the direction of this promising goal. In the paper, the legends concerning the Sibyl's Cave and the Lakes of Pilate are not considered as independent, unrelated tales anymore: the two myths are analysed jointly, in search of their common, shared traits, which hint to the original legendary core of both.

Three common aspects are fully investigated: necromantic rituals performed at both sites, legendary demonic presence at the Cave and Lake, and legendary storms and devastation arising from both places. All the listed shared traits are analysed with the support of the available literary evidence, as drawn from manuscripts and printed works spanning from the fourteenth century up to the sixteenth.

The highlighting of the common traits which mark both legends is leading to an improved comprehension of the mythical nucleus of the legendary setting that inhabits the Sibillini Mountain Range, opening a new path that will soon foster exciting scientific results.

This article is part of an extended series of papers on the true origin of the Apennine Sibyl's and Pilatus Lakes' legends, a series that will include further papers that are about to provide additional, previously-unpublished information on the whole fascinating topic.

Studies on the Sibyl have multiplied these last years, proof, if needed, of the liveliness of the question of divination and oracular poetry. Due to the long-lasting and broad influence of her message, the Sibyl, truthful recipient of divine communication, lent herself to many uses and appropriations in the areas of religion and the arts. She inspired poets, painters and composers and nourished the hopes of various religious groups. The present review article benefits from recent publications to report on current views about the ancient prophetess and her survival through the ages.

Les études sur la Sibylle se sont multipliées au cours de ces dernières années, preuve, s’il en faut, de la vivacité de l’intérêt pour la divination et la poésie oraculaire. En raison de la permanence et de l’universalité de son message, la Sibylle, véritable réceptacle du divin, s’est prêtée à toutes sortes d’utilisations, exploitations et manipulations dans les domaines religieux et artistiques. Elle a inspiré poètes, peintres et compositeurs et alimenté les espérances de plusieurs groupes religieux. Les présentes notes critiques entendent profiter de parutions récentes pour rendre compte des réflexions actuelles sur la prophétesse antique et sa survie à travers les âges.

The mystery of Mount Sibyl in Italy is an ancient one, an enigma which is still unsolved. The mountain raises its peak between Umbria and Marche. The cave on the mountain-top has been visited for centuries by men from all over Europe in search of the legendary subterranean realm of the Sibyl of the Apennines. A quest that definitely is not over. With this article Michele Sanvico follows the footsteps of the legend through history, with reference to its fame as a silly fairy tale for simpletons and - on a much darker side - to its sinister renown across Europe among necromancers.

It was established that Julian had quoted five fragments of Heraclitus in
his writings. But a sixth should be added : the famous fragment B 92 D.-K. on the
Sibyl, in Against Heraclius the Cynic 23, 234D. The discovery is interesting because the
immediate context of the quotation shows that Julien knew more than the formula
“raving mouth” which has become proverbial, especially among the Neoplatonist
phi losophers. The fragment could therefore have reached him through Plutarch or
a collection of quotations more than through the Neo platonic tradition where the
formula is present (Plotinus, Iamblichus). Neverthe less the quotation of the formula,
a century later, by Proclus, on two occasions, in a philosophical context close to that
of Julian, could indicate a common Neoplatonic source, perhaps Iamblichus. This
discovery presents a triple interest, at the same time for the Heraclitean studies of
which the specialists had not located this Julianic reminiscence, for the sources of
Julian and for the study of the relations between rhetoric and philosophy in late
Antiquity.