Florin Filimon PILLAR OF THE COMMUNITIES: THE LIVES OF ALYPIUS THE STYLITE MA Thesis in Medieval Studies Central European University CEU eTD Collection Budapest May 2015 PILLAR OF THE COMMUNITIES: THE LIVES OF ALYPIUS THE STYLITE by Florin Filimon (Romania) Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in Medieval Studies. Accepted in conformance with the standards of the CEU. ____________________________________________ Chair, Examination Committee ____________________________________________ Thesis Supervisor ____________________________________________ Examiner ____________________________________________ Examiner CEU eTD Collection Budapest May 2015 PILLAR OF THE COMMUNITIES: THE LIVES OF ALYPIUS THE STYLITE by Florin Filimon (Romania) Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in Medieval Studies. Accepted in conformance with the standards of the CEU. ____________________________________________ External Reader CEU eTD Collection Budapest May 2015 PILLAR OF THE COMMUNITIES: THE LIVES OF ALYPIUS THE STYLITE by Florin Filimon (Romania) Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in Medieval Studies. Accepted in conformance with the standards of the CEU. ____________________________________________ External Supervisor CEU eTD Collection Budapest May 2015 I, the undersigned, Florin Filimon, candidate for the MA degree in Medieval Studies, declare herewith that the present thesis is exclusively my own work, based on my research and only such external information as properly credited in notes and bibliography. I declare that no unidentified and illegitimate use was made of the work of others, and no part of the thesis infringes on any person’s or institution’s copyright. I also declare that no part of the thesis has been submitted in this form to any other institution of higher education for an academic degree. Budapest, 20 May 2015 __________________________ Signature CEU eTD Collection Abstract The thesis deals with one of the holy men who imitated Symeon the Elder in practicing his peculiar form of asceticism. For Alypius, a stylite from Adrianoupolis, a prominent city in Paphlagonia, who allegedly died in the times of Heraclius, three major versions of his biography survived: one anonymous, one redacted by the Symeon Metaphrastes’ team, and one produced by Antonius, a member of the Great Church’s clergy. Little attention has been given to the first two versions, and even less to the Life by Antonius; hence, the present thesis aims to analyze the narrative as it appears in the first two biographies; the one by Antonius is considered only in some crucial aspects, since it is more distant from the anonymous Life, which may be considered the basis of all further reaction. Since besides the titles of the manuscripts used by Hippolyte Delehaye for editing the earliest Life, no chronological information emerges from the text, the main goal of the thesis is to reveal those details that may allow one to determine when Alypius’ earliest biography was written, and likewise, when Alypius lived. In doing so, I analyze various aspects of the Life. Besides the narrative in its entirety, the saintly figures included by the three biographers in the ‘rhetoric comparison’ (synkrisis), the pillar and abandoned necropolis that became a monastic milieu, and, finally, the monastery created around the pillar’s base, its structure, and its dwellers, are at the core of the four chapters of my research. Each of them provides elements that, correlated, offer a probable dating of the anonymous Life and of Alypius. Finally, the thesis argues that one of the MS consulted by Delehaye (MS C), but constantly disregarded at the expense of a clearer text filled with totally unexpected details, gives the CEU eTD Collection original form of the anonymous Life. i Acknowledgements The present thesis would have remained a desideratum without my main supervisor, István Perczel, from whose unceasing dedication and high academic expertise I benefited. I definitely hope that no student will ever ask him for the same amount of patience that my work needed. I owe special thanks to Volker Menze, my second supervisor, for his encouragements, patience, and guidance given in those moments in which they were most needed. I am grateful to Zsuzsanna Reed for improving my language, to György Geréby for his comments and advices, and to Niels Gaul for having made me acquainted with the tenth-century Byzantium. I am grateful to Andra Jugănaru, who offered me not only her friendship, but also her expertise, and did her time. I would also like to give my warm thanks to Radu Mustaţă and Lucas McMahon, who offered me suggestions whenever I needed. My friends and colleagues, Roxana Maria Arăș, Ioana Haşu, and Danielle Giammanco, offered me their unceasing support and unconditional camaraderie. I also owe this thesis to my beloved ones, Iulia and Augustin, who allow me to indulge in the academic life at CEU by temporarily exempting me from domestic and paternal duties. It will not happen again! CEU eTD Collection ii Contents List of Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................... v Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 - Preliminaries ................................................................................................................ 5 1.1. The pre-Metaphrastic and the Metaphrastic menologia ....................................................... 5 1.2. The relation between the Lives ............................................................................................ 7 1.3. The dossier of Alypius ......................................................................................................... 8 1.4. The manuscripts ................................................................................................................... 9 1.5. Dating Alypius ................................................................................................................... 11 1.6. The place ............................................................................................................................ 16 1.7. Alypius’ story according to the sources ............................................................................. 18 Chapter 2 - ‘Mightier than Job’: variation within the synkrisis in the Lives of Alypius .............. 32 2.1. Synkrisis – the rhetorical comparison ................................................................................ 33 2.2. Synkrisis in the Lives ......................................................................................................... 35 2.2.1. The anonymous Life ................................................................................................... 35 CEU eTD Collection 2.2.2. The Metaphrastic redaction......................................................................................... 37 2.2.3. The version by Antonius ............................................................................................. 38 2.3. The philoponia of the stylites ............................................................................................ 44 2.3.1. Job as a topos in the accounts on other stylites ........................................................... 45 iii Chapter 3 – A pillar saint needs his pillar ..................................................................................... 49 3.1 The ‘desert’ and the narratives ............................................................................................ 49 3.2 The funerary column ........................................................................................................... 52 3.2.1 Praising, using, and abusing the funerary column ....................................................... 52 2.2.2 The cross and the icon .................................................................................................. 53 3.3. The pillar: the terminology ................................................................................................ 56 3.3.1 The significance of the pillar ....................................................................................... 58 Chapter 4 – Monastic community and ascetic routine .................................................................. 60 4.1 The ascetic community according to the Life ..................................................................... 61 4.2. Alypius’ ‘monastic rules:’ double monastery or two monasteries? ................................... 63 4.3 A Possible Structure of the Monastic Complex: ................................................................. 70 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 74 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 78 Sources .....................................................................................................................................