Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Narrative-patterns in Christian hagiography Dickie, Matthew W Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Spring 1999; 40, 1; ProQuest pg. 83 Narrative-patterns in Christian Hagiography Matthew W. Dickie Falling by the wayside in Clement of Alexandria and Epiphanius To illustrate the theme of repentance, Clement of Alexandria tells a story about the apostle John coming from Patmos to Ephesus and of his setting out from there to regulate ecclesiastical affairs in the neighbouring provinces; in one city not far from Ephesus he had left in the care of the local bishop a young man, physically well-endowed, good-looking, and spirited, and had then gone back to Ephesus; the bishop brought the young man up and finally baptized him, but then relaxed his guard, which led to the young man's falling in with and being corrupted by some contemporaries of his who were idle, dissolute, and versed in evil ways ('tell Of avE-a£w.; 1tpC> (Opa.; Aa~OIlE-vcp 1tpoCHp8dpov,tat 'tlV£'; t!AtlC£'; apyot Kat a1t£PPwy0't£.;, £8&0£'; KaKwv); at first they led him astray through expensive banquets, then they seduced him into going out at night to steal clothes, next they asked him to do something more terrible, and gradually he became used to wrongdoing, abandoned hope in the salvation offered by God, and ended up putting together a band of robbers and practising a particularly bloody form of banditry. The story ends with John's securing his repentance (Q,d.s. 42.1-15). The tale certainly captured the imagination of later genera­ tions: Eusebius repeats it verbatim (HE 3.23.6-19); and it is Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 40 (1999) 83-98 © 2000 GRBS 83 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 84 NARRATIVE-PATIERNS IN CHRISTIAN HAGIOGRAPHY recounted more or less accurately by a number of other authors. 1 It so impressed itself on Epiphanius that he uses part of the same story-pattern when he digresses from his discussion of the Ebionite heresy to recount the conversion of the Palestinian Jew Josephus to Christianity (Haer. 30.4.1-12.10). The story that he tells is that Josephus had been one of the council of advisors of the Jewish patriarch of Tiberias, who on his death-bed had left his son in the charge of Josephus and another man of good char­ acter (1tapaoous 'tOY tOlOV uiov KOlltOll VEOV ov'ta 'I(O(J111tCP 'tE Kat aAACf) 'ttVt E1tlEtKE(mi'tCf), 30.6.5); when the boy came of age, certain of his contemporaries, who were idle fellows and versed in wickedness, fell in with him and corrupted him (cOs o-ov E1tt 'to aKf..latOV 'tlls TtAtKias b VEOs llPXE'tO, 1tpoO"EapIHxKOl<;. translates: "Un homme haissait un vieillard et, familiarise avec l'emploi des drogues." Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. MATTHEW W. DICKIE 91 reaches of the earth (Ka'tax80vt0'8flO'oV'w,1 tv 'tOte; Ka'tco'ta'Wle; /lEptO't 'tile; ylle; 'to. DEO'/la 'tOU OtKOU O'ou). This the old man does and in addition has earth and water blessed by the Stylite, with which he proceeds on his return to sprinkle himself, his sons, his house, and his remaining cattle and his wine (Kat pav'tl1~El £au'tov Kat 'toue; uioue; au'tou Kat 'tOY OtKOV au'tou Kat btl. 'to. Ka'taAoma 'trov KUIVrov Kat E1tt 'tOY otvov). The demons are put to flight and all is restored to health. The latter part of the story represents a pattern to be seen in Jerome's Life of Hilarion: an object closely connected with a saint is used to defeat magic and a catalogue is given of the men, animals, and equipment sprinkled with the sanctified water. Hilarion is approached by a Christian member of the curial class in Gaza who is required by reason of his rank to provide a chariot-team to race in games in Gaza; he is afraid that his team will be defeated by the magic-working of a rival, a pagan duum­ vir, and asks for Hilarion's help. Hilarion reluctantly accedes to the request and orders that a clay cup from which he himself is wont to drink be filled with water and given to the man. With the water from the vessel the man sprinkles the stable, his horses, his charioteers, his chariot, and the starting-gates (quem cum accepisset Italicus, et stabulum et equos et aurigas suos, rhedam carcerumque repagula aspersit). When the starting-signal is given, the Christian horses fly ahead, while those of the pagan are held back. There is much shouting on the part of the pagans, who cry out, proclaiming the defeat of the local deity, Mamas: Marnas victus est a Christo (11). Epiphanius provides a further instance of the pattern in his digression on the life of the converted Jew, Josephus. At some point after his conversion to Christianity, Josephus was made a comes by Constantine. He then asked Constantine's permission to build churches in the cities and villages of Palestine that were settled only by Jews. He began the project in Tiberias, using the remains of the largest religious structure in the city, a Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 92 NARRATIVE-PATTERNS IN CHRISTIAN HAGIOGRAPHY Hadrianeum, whose four walls still stood to the height of a man. As lime was needed, seven kilns to produce it were set up, but they could not be got to burn, since the Jews did not refrain from the magic that was endemic amongst them; well-born Jews were incited to bind down the fire with magical spells. Those in charge of the kilns, seeing what was happening, reported the matter to Josephus. He got hold of a vessel and had it filled with water and then made the sign of the Cross with his finger on it and invoking the name of Jesus asked that the water be given the power to annul the effect of the magic and cause the fire to burn. He then took the water in his own hands and sprinkled it on each one of the kilns (Kat paivEl ~:Kacr't(p