Origen y uso en español de la acepción cristiana de at(h)leta. Un recorrido por los tratados y escritos religiosos de la 2ª mitad del siglo XVI y 1ª del XVII

Abstract

Based on the interpretation of a well-known passage by Paul of Tarsus (I Cor. 9, 24-27), the Church Fathers used the terms ἀθλητής / athleta to refer to the defenders of Christian faith and, subsequently, to those who were killed for their faith and attained martyrdom. In Italian, this meaning of atleta originates and consolidates from very early times (appearing for the first time in Dante’s Divina Comedia), whereas it is not found in Spanish until 1601. In this paper, we will review the religiously inspired treatises and writings from the period between the second half of the 16th and the first half of the 17th centuries. As such, the origin and settlement of the Christian meaning of at(h)leta in Spanish is established, a process in which Lope de Vega plays a crucial role as he systematically incorporates the word into different pieces of poetry, theatre and prose with religious themes.