CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 1998
| Author | Cristian Gaspar |
|---|---|
| Title | Theodoret's Philotheos Historia (The Epic of Syrian Monasticism) |
| Summary | The present thesis is an attempt to investigate the use of heroic terminology, themes and images in the literary portraits of the Syrian ascetics composed by Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus (vixit AD 393-466), in his work, the Philotheos historia (AD 444). It also aims at providing an “ideological” justification for the abundant and rather singular use Theodoret made of Greek heroic terminology and imagery. After the preliminary remarks, which contain a brief bio-bibliographic portrait of Theodoret and a succinct review of the scholarly literature (mainly the work done by Pierre Canivet, since this topic was not particularly favoured by previous researchers), a few methodological questions are raised concerning the literary status of the Philotheos historia and its possible relation with the social realities of the Late Roman Empire. Since Theodoret’s work is to be included among the literary writings which employ a hagiographic discourse, characterised by stylisation of the contents and a polemical function, this relation is shown to be at least problematic. An attempt is then made to summarise and analyse the accusations against the Christian ascetics which appear in works written by non-Christians (such as Libanius, Eunapius, and Julian) and Christians (such as Synesius of Cyrene) in the fourth and fifth centuries. The image of the Christian monks painted by these sources contains a negative image of the monks, devoid of certain traditional heroic elements usually contained in representations of exceptional individuals in the Hellenic tradition. The possible audience of the Philotheos historia is determined in the following chapter, by analysing significant features of the text (language, specific stylistic choices, dissimulated programmatic declarations). The work was most probably addressed to members of the intellectual elite, and, consequently, the image of ascetics was shaped along the lines of the ideal heroic figures specific to this social category. An investigation of some of the traditional heroic themes and terms occurring in the Philotheos historia is made in the last two chapters. The use Theodoret made of such topoi as heroic appearance, the sacred rage of the warrior and the consequences of losing control over it, heroic fame, visible virtue, etc. suggests that he made a conscious effort to adopt non-Christian thematic terminology and to adapt it to new, typically Christian, concepts and meanings. The purpose was to create a prestigious Christian heroic tradition which might successfully oppose the existing one and, because of its terminologic and thematic continuity, appeal both to the Christian and to the non-Christian members of the educated audience for which the Philotheos historia was composed. The concluding chapter sums up the results obtained and indicates possible directions in which future research might proceed in identifying and analysing the remaining heroic elements which were not included in the present thesis. |
| Supervisor | Sághy, M. |
| Department | Medieval Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/1998/gaspar_cristian.pdf |
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