L’ebbrezza di Noè e l’incesto di Lot nel carmen de virgini-tate di Aldelmo

The two passages (vv. 2501-2524) of Aldhelm's carmen de virginitate on the drunkenness of Noah and the incest of Lot, so far without comment, are the subject of a detailed analysis which compares them with biblical narration and shows the relationship with the literary, Christian and profane tradition. It turns out that the retakes from the previous poets are generally detached from the contexts of origin, with the exception of the reference to the poet of the Heptateuch in the episode of Noah's drunkenness. In this case Aldhelm establishes a precise relationship of continuity with the biblical epic, but differs from it in that he finalizes his story to the moral teaching that is derived from it, according to a tendency already typical of Christian homiletics and paraenesis. All in all, the treatment of the exempla on drunkenness shows how Aldhelm receives in a non-passive way the patristic teaching and the legacy of Latin, classical and above all late antique poetry.