All
 
|
 
 


The nudity of hermits in monastic literature and its symbolic value
 
PIIS086919080002873-7-1
DOI10.31857/S086919080002873-7
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Eugenia Smagina 
Occupation: Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
Affiliation: Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Journal nameVostok. Afro-Aziatskie obshchestva: istoriia i sovremennost
EditionIssue 6
Pages142-149
Abstract

The article is dedicated to a frequent motive in monastic literature: hermits in the desert are often depicted as naked or sparsely dressed. For example, in the Coptic version of the “Life of Saint Onuphrios”, which describes a “monastic utopia” or “monastic paradise”, the word perisōma is, apparently, the distorted Greek perizōma “belt, loincloth”, associated with the word for the loincloths of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis 3:7. In the monastic literature the nudity of the hermits is explained either by purely practical reasons (their original clothes were worn out), as a form of asceticism (conscious suffering through the impact of heat, cold and wind), or as an extreme renunciation of any earthly property. However, when compared with the pre-Christian and early Christian interpretations of the Book of Genesis 3, it can be concluded that the nakedness of the hermits symbolizes a return to the original sinless condition of Adam and Eve. In the apocryphal legend of Rechabites, based on an interpretation of the Old Testament, the nakedness of the blessed people is directly compared to Adam and Eve’s initial nakedness. In early Jewish exegesis the initial innocent nakedness of the first people dressed in “light clothes” is opposed to their shameless nakedness after the fall. In Manichaean cosmogony, based on early Christian legends of Gnostic character, the doctrine of “light clothes” of the Primal Man is developed in original and detailed forms. In Hellenistic sources about the blessed people (e.g. Brahmans or Hymnosophists in the legends of Alexander), this topic corresponds to the motive of unity with nature, the return to the original harmony.

Keywordshermits, earthly Paradise, monastic literature, Bible, Adam and Eve
Received27.12.2018
Publication date27.12.2018
Cite   Download pdf To download PDF you should sign in
Размещенный ниже текст является ознакомительной версией и может не соответствовать печатной

views: 1314

Readers community rating: votes 0 

1. Vaneeva, Elena I. The Peregrination of Zosimas to the Rachmans. Slovar’ Knizhnikov i knizhnosti Drevney Rusi (Dictionary of the Scribes and Book Culture of ancient Russia). Vol. 2 (second half of the 14th–16th century). Part 2. Pp. 489–491.
2. Veselovsky, Alexander N. “From the History of the Novel and Tale”. Materials and Research. Part 1. Graeco-Byzantine Period. St.-Petersburg, 1886.
3. Voytenko, Anton A. Jannes and Jambres ‘Oasis in the hagiographic tradition of the 4th century. Dialog so vremenem (Dialogue with time). Nr. 37. Moscow, 2011. Pp. 262–273.
4. Voytenko, Anton A. Apples and Figs. A Discrepancy in the Life of St. Onuphrius the Great. Vestnik Moskovskogo Gosudarstvennogo Pedagogicheskogo Universiteta (Bulletin of the Moscow State University for Pedagogy). Series: History. Nr. 3(19). Moscow, 2015. Pp. 80–88.
5. Milkov, Vladimir V. The theme of earthly Paradise in ancient Russian Apocrypha. 1. The Peregrination of Zosima to Rachmans. Yazyk i tekst (Language and Text). Vol. 3 (2016). Nr. 4. Pp. 44–71.
6. Smagina, Eugenia B. Manichaeism, according to Early Sources. Moscow, 2011.
7. Adamschriften: Die apokryphen gnostichen Adamschriften: aus dem armenischen ubersetzt und untersucht. E. Preuschen. Giesen, 1900.
8. Amélineau E. Voyage d’un moine égyptien dans le desert, in: Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale. Recueil de travaux relatifs à la philologie et à l'archéologie égyptiennes et assyriennes: pour servir de bulletin à la Mission Française du Caire. Vol. 6. Nr. 3–4. Le Caire, 1885. Pp. 166–194.
9. Bibliotheca hagiographica graeca. F. Halkin, ed. Bruxelles, 1973. Vol. I–III. BHGa – Novum Auctarium. Bibliotheca hagiographica graeca. F. Halkin, ed. Bruxelles, 1984.
10. Burkert W. Apokalyptik im frühen Griechentum: Impulse und Transformationen. Apocalypticism in the Mediterranean World and the Near East. Proceedings of the International Colloquium on Apocalypticism, Uppsala, August 12–17, 1979. Ed. by D. Hellholm. Tübingen, 1989. Pp. 235–254.
11. Charlesworth J.H. History of the Rechabites (First to Fourth Centuries A.D.). A new translation and introduction by J.H. Charlesworth. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Charlesworth J.H., ed. Vol. 2. New York – London. u.a., 1985. Pp. 443–446.
12. Coptic Martyrdoms in the Dialect of Upper Egypt. E.A. Wallis Budge, ed. (Coptic Texts. Vol. IV.) London, 1914.
13. Crum W.E. A Coptic Dictionary. Compiled with the help of many scholars by W.E. Crum. Oxford, 1979.
14. Cuvigny H., Hussein A., Wagner G. Les ostraca grecs d’Aïn Waqfa (Oasis de Kharga). Documents de fouilles de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, XXX. Le Caire, 1993.
15. Cuvigny H., Wagner G. Les Ostraca grecs de Douch I–III. Le Caire, 1986–1992.
16. Encomiastica from the Pierpont Morgan Library. Five Coptic Homilies attributed to Anastasius of Euchaita, Epiphanius of Salamis, Isaac of Antinoe, Severian of Gabala, and Theopempus of Antioch. Ed. by P. Chapman, L. Depuydt, M.E. Foat, A.B. Scott, S.E. Thompson. L. Depuydt, General Editor. (CSCO. Vol. 554. Scriptores Coptici. Tomus 47). Lovanii, 1993.
17. Encomiastica from the Pierpont Morgan Library. Five Coptic Homilies attributed to Anastasius of Euchaita, Epiphanius of Salamis, Isaac of Antinoe, Severian of Gabala, and Theopempus of Antioch. Translated by P. Chapman, L. Depuydt, M.E. Foat, A.B. Scott, S.E. Thompson.With an Introduction by S.A. Harvey. L. Depuydt, General Editor. (CSCO. Vol. 555. Scriptores Coptici. Tomus 48). Lovanii, 1993.
18. Genesis Rabbah. The Judaic Commentary to the Book of Genesis. J. Neusner, ed. Vol. I–III. Atlanta, 1985.
19. Ginzberg L. Legends of the Jews. Philadelphia, 1947.
20. Haelewyck J.-C. Historia Zosimi de Vita Beatorum Rechabitarum. Édition de la version syriaque brève. Le Muséon, 127. Fasc. 1. Louvain, 2014. Pp. 95–147.
21. Halkin F. La vie de saint Onuphre par Nikolaos le Sinaïte. Rivista di Studi Bizantini e Neoellenici. N. S. Vol. 24. Roma, 1987. Pp. 7–27.
22. Hagiographica inedita decem e codicibus eruit F. Halkin. Turnhout; Leuven, 1989. Pp. 79–88.
23. Histories of the Monks of Upper Egypt and the Life of Onophrius by Paphnutius with a Discourse on saint Onnophrius by Pisentius of Coptos. T. Vivian, transl. (Cistercian Studies Series: Number One Hundred Forty). Kalamazoo, Michigan, 2000.
24. Homiletica, from the Pierpont Morgan Library. Seven Coptic Homilies attributed to Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, and Euodius of Rome. Ed. by D. Brakke, P. Chapman, Z. Pleše, J.R. Smith, M.C. Stone, C.S. Wansink, F. Weidmann. L. Depuydt, General Editor. (CSCO. Vol. 524. Scriptores Coptici. Tomus 43). Lovanii, 1991.
25. Juhl D. Die Askese im Liber Graduum und bei Afrahat. Eine vergleichende Studie zur frühsyrischen Frömmigkeit. Wiesbaden, 1996.
26. Malevez M. La nudité chez les ermites. Symbole et réalité. Actes du huitième congrès international d'études coptes, Paris, 28 juin – 3 juillet 2004. N. Bosson et A. Boud’Hors (éd.). (Orientalia Lovaniensa Analecta 163) Louvain–Paris–Dudley (Ma.), 2007. Pp. 537–548.
27. Midrash Bereshit Rabbah. Critical Edition with Notes and Commentary. J. Theodor and Ch. Albeck, ed. 2nd ed. Jerusalem, 1996. Vol. 1. Ch. III.VI.
28. Palladius. De Gentibus Indiae et Bragmanibus. W. Berghoff, ed. Meisenheim am Glan, 1967. (Beiträge zur klassischen Philologie, Heft 24).
29. Pietersma A. The Apocryphon of Jannes and Jambres the magicians: P. Chester Beatty XVI. Leyde, 1994.
30. Pietersma A., Lutz R.T. Jannes and Jambres (First to Third Centuries A.D.). A new Translation and Introduction by A. Pietersma and R.T. Lutz. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. J.H. Charlesworth, ed. Vol. 2. New York – London. u.a., 1985. Pp. 427–442.
31. Steinmann M. Collatio Alexandri et Dindimi – eine annotierte Arbeitsbibliographie. Göttinger Forum für Altertumswissenschaft, 4. Göttingen, 2001. Pp. 51–84.
32. Πάσχος Π. Β. `Ο ¢ναχωρ»τικος μοναχiσμõς κατ¦ τõν Δ/ α„îνα (Ð Β…ος τοà Μεγ£λου 'Ονοφρ…ου). Θεολογ…α. 61/4 (1990). Pp. 817–857.

Система Orphus

Loading...
Up