Gli antidoti nella periautologia di 1Cor 9: individuazione e funzione retorica

This article aims to examine the rhetorical function of the “antidotes” in the argumentative section of 1 Corinthians 9:1-27. The identification of these defenses is important to define the nature and purpose of the self-praise of Paul in the rhetorical macro-unit of 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1. These are the “antidotes”: a) the praise of Paul and of the recipients (“work” - “seal”) are interwoven (1 Cor 9:1-2); b) Paul attributes his apostleship to the Lord: he is source of his ministry (1 Cor 9:1). His apostolic ministry is for the benefit of the recipients, and not for himself (1 Cor 9:2); c) the use of antithesis between the legitimate right to be supported financially by the community and his choice to renounce it (1 Cor 9:12-15); d) Paul refers to ἀνάγκη (1 Cor 9:16); e) the apostolic ministry as an “entrusted commission” (1 Cor 9:17); f) the use of the epanorthōsis o correctio (1 Cor 9:15-18); g) the reference to the ‘hard work’ by which he obtained his results (1 Cor 9:19-23); h) to be “subject to the law of Christ” (1 Cor 9:21); i) the effort/difficulty in the agonistic metaphor (1 Cor 9:24-27); j) Paul admits his limits (cf. the use of litotes) showing the possiblity of being “disqualified” from the race (1 Cor 9:24).

The “periautologhia” is the expression of Paul’s ethos. It represents “the strongest argument” (Aristotle, Rhetorica 1,2,1356a) in 1 Corinthians 9 so that it subordinates the exemplum to itself. This argumentative system does not end in Paul’s advantage, but serves as a function of mimesis (1 Cor 11:1): the goal of Paul is not so much to defend himself, but rather to present the authentic meaning of freedom, which flows from his being “in Christ”.