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Wandering Legends : A Dialogue between a Syrian Saint and the City of Antioch in the Fifth Century AD

Westergren, Andreas LU (2021) 21. p.43-52
Abstract
Not long ago the rise of monasticism was taken to be the creation of a Sonderwelt – an idea which also seemed to be reflected in the ancient literary material: the desert became a city of its own. However, a contradiction between city and monastery is often bridged by the very literature that created the rift, because texts travelled both ways – just as people did. In the context of this short contribution, we shall observe how one of the key sources about the monastic movement, Theodoret of Cyrrhus’ History of the Monks of Syria (Philotheos Historia), to a high degree concerns the fate of one of the largest metropoleis of the ancient world, Antioch. In the end, I will suggest a relatively simple but bold hypothesis, namely that Theodoret... (More)
Not long ago the rise of monasticism was taken to be the creation of a Sonderwelt – an idea which also seemed to be reflected in the ancient literary material: the desert became a city of its own. However, a contradiction between city and monastery is often bridged by the very literature that created the rift, because texts travelled both ways – just as people did. In the context of this short contribution, we shall observe how one of the key sources about the monastic movement, Theodoret of Cyrrhus’ History of the Monks of Syria (Philotheos Historia), to a high degree concerns the fate of one of the largest metropoleis of the ancient world, Antioch. In the end, I will suggest a relatively simple but bold hypothesis, namely that Theodoret of Cyrrhus (393-466 AD), in his portrayal of an otherwise unknown ascetic, Macedonius, is actually playing around with civic legends related to Antioch, a city of Macedonian origin. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Papers presented at the Eighteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 2019 : Volume 21: Hagiographica; Ascetica; Martyria - Volume 21: Hagiographica; Ascetica; Martyria
editor
Vinzent, Markus
volume
21
pages
10 pages
publisher
Peeters Publishers
ISBN
9789042947771
978-90-429-4776-4
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2f3a56c5-1522-483a-b84a-d7a8817888bb
date added to LUP
2022-01-31 18:41:46
date last changed
2022-10-10 15:20:16
@inbook{2f3a56c5-1522-483a-b84a-d7a8817888bb,
  abstract     = {{Not long ago the rise of monasticism was taken to be the creation of a Sonderwelt – an idea which also seemed to be reflected in the ancient literary material: the desert became a city of its own. However, a contradiction between city and monastery is often bridged by the very literature that created the rift, because texts travelled both ways – just as people did. In the context of this short contribution, we shall observe how one of the key sources about the monastic movement, Theodoret of Cyrrhus’ History of the Monks of Syria (Philotheos Historia), to a high degree concerns the fate of one of the largest metropoleis of the ancient world, Antioch. In the end, I will suggest a relatively simple but bold hypothesis, namely that Theodoret of Cyrrhus (393-466 AD), in his portrayal of an otherwise unknown ascetic, Macedonius, is actually playing around with civic legends related to Antioch, a city of Macedonian origin.}},
  author       = {{Westergren, Andreas}},
  booktitle    = {{Papers presented at the Eighteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 2019 : Volume 21: Hagiographica; Ascetica; Martyria}},
  editor       = {{Vinzent, Markus}},
  isbn         = {{9789042947771}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{43--52}},
  publisher    = {{Peeters Publishers}},
  title        = {{Wandering Legends : A Dialogue between a Syrian Saint and the City of Antioch in the Fifth Century AD}},
  volume       = {{21}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}