Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T01:46:42.002Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Life-Change and ‘Conversion’ in Antiquity: An Analysis of the Testimonies of Dion of Prousa and Aelius Aristeides

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2020

Katherine Moignard
Katherine Moignard*
Affiliation:
[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Our image of ‘conversion’ takes its form from well-known episodes in the lives of St Paul and St Augustine. Paul's life is turned around by a blinding vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus (Act. Ap. 9.1–22); Augustine is directed by an oracle to a scriptural passage that ends his hesitations and sets him on the course that he has long known he should take (August. Conf. 8.12). Very much in parallel, although in a non-Christian context, are crisis-provoked life-changes reported by the Second Sophistic orators Dion of Prousa and Aelius Aristeides. Aristeides finds his life transformed by the intervention of the god Asklepios; Dion receives – he claims, from a god – advice that, put into effect, makes him the philosopher he has aspired to be. Were Dion and Aristeides ‘converts’? Adopting a conservative definition of ‘conversion’, I will argue that their accounts – though not autobiographies in the strict sense of that term – can legitimately be called ‘conversion narratives’. I will then test each for its goodness-of-fit to two influential life-change models, the first developed by Arnold van Gennep and Victor Turner in the context of initiation rituals, and the second, Lewis Rambo's process model of conversion.

Keywords

conversionliminalityautobiographyDio ChrysostomAelius Aristidesvan GennepRamboSecond Sophistic
Type
Research Article
Information
Antichthon , Volume 54 , 2020 , pp. 164 - 184
Copyright
Copyright © The Australasian Society for Classical Studies 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albrecht, J., et al. (2018), ‘Religion in the Making: The Lived Ancient Religion Approach’, Religion 48, 568–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Athanassiadi, P., and Frede, M. (eds.) (1999), Pagan Monotheism in Late Antiquity. Oxford.Google Scholar
Barton, S. C., and Horsley, G. H. R. (1981), ‘A Hellenistic Cult Group and the New Testament Churches’, JbAC 24, 7–41.Google Scholar
Behr, C. A. (1968), Aelius Aristides and the Sacred Tales. Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Behr, C. A. (ed. and tr.) (1981), P. Aelius Aristides: The Complete Works. Vol. 2, Orations 17–53. Leiden.Google Scholar
Behr, C. A. (ed. and tr.) (1986), P. Aelius Aristides: The Complete Works. Vol. 1, Orations 1–16. Leiden.Google Scholar
Behr, C. A. (1994), ‘Studies on the Biography of Aelius Aristides’, ANRW II, 34.2, 1140–233.Google Scholar
Bekker-Nielsen, T., and Hinge, G. (2015), ‘Dio Chrysostom in Exile: Or. 36.1 and the Date of the Scythian Journey’, CQ 65, 747–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, A. (1953), Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law. Philadelphia.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bøgh, B. (2015), ‘Beyond Nock: From Adhesion to Conversion in the Mystery Cults’, HR 54, 260–87.Google Scholar
Butyagin, A. M. (2007), ‘The History of the Northern Black Sea Region’, in Trofimova, A. A. (ed.), Greeks on the Black Sea: Ancient Art from the Hermitage. Los Angeles, 8–17.Google Scholar
Chaniotis, A. (2010), ‘Megatheism: The Search for the Almighty God and the Competition of Cults’, in Mitchell, and Van Nuffelen, (eds.), 112–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clay, D. (1992), ‘Lucian of Samosata: Four Philosophical Lives (Nigrinus, Demonax, Peregrinus, Alexander Pseudomantis)’, ANRW II, 36.5, 3406–50.Google Scholar
Cohoon, J. W. (tr.) (1939), Dio Chrysostom: Discourses. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Coleman, S., and Elsner, J. (1991), ‘Contesting Pilgrimage: Current Views and Future Directions’, Cambridge Anthropology 15, 63–73.Google Scholar
Coleman, S., and Elsner, J. (1995), Pilgrimage: Past and Present in the World Religions. Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Cook, A. B. (1914–40), Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion. 3 Vols. Cambridge.Google Scholar
de Jong, A. (1997), Traditions of the Magi: Zoroastrianism in Greek and Latin Literature (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 133). Leiden.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Jong, A. (2003), ‘Dions Magierhymnen: zoroastrischer Mythos oder griechische Phantasie?’, in Nesselrath, H.-G. et al. (eds.), Dion von Prusa: Menschliche Gemeinschaft und göttliche Ordnung: Die Borysthenes-Rede. 157–78. Darmstadt.Google Scholar
Dodds, E. R. (1965), Pagan and Christian in an Age of Anxiety: Some Aspects of Religious Experience from Marcus Aurelius to Constantine. Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eade, J., and Sallnow, M. J. (eds.) (1991), Contesting the Sacred: The Anthropology of Christian Pilgrimage. London.Google Scholar
Edelstein, E. J., and Edelstein, L. (eds.) (1998), Asclepius: Collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies. 2 Vols. Baltimore and London.Google Scholar
Elsner, J., and Rutherford, I. (2005), ‘Introduction’, in Elsner, J. and Rutherford, I. (eds.), Pilgrimage in Graeco-Roman and Early Christian Antiquity: Seeing the Gods. Oxford, 1–38.Google Scholar
Engster, D. (2012), ‘Fiktion oder Realität? Dions Euboikos Logos in der althistorischen Forschungsdiskussion seit Eduard Meyer’, in Lehmann, G. A. (ed.), Armut – Arbeit – Menschenwürde: Die Euböische Rede des Dion von Prusa. Tübïngen, 143–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flanagan, K. (2009), ‘Conversion: Heroes and their Sociological Redemption’, in Giordan, G. (ed.), Conversion in the Age of Pluralism. Leiden, 33–71.Google Scholar
Fredriksen, P. (1986), ‘Paul and Augustine: Conversion Narratives, Orthodox Traditions, and the Retrospective Self’, JTS n.s. 37, 3–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geertz, C. (1966), ‘Religion as a Cultural System’, in Banton, M. (ed.), Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion. London, 1–46.Google Scholar
Goette, H. R. (2012), ‘Die Topographie der Karystia in der Euböischen Rede des Dion von Prusa: Autopsie oder Fiktion?’, in Lehmann, G. A. (ed.), Armut – Arbeit – Menschenwürde: Die Euböische Rede des Dion von Prusa. Tübïngen, 167–89.Google Scholar
Gooren, H. (2007), ‘Reassessing Conventional Approaches to Conversion: Toward a New Synthesis’, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 46, 337–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Habinek, T. N. (1990), ‘Lucius’ Rite of Passage’, MD 25, 49–69.Google Scholar
Hall, J. A. (1981), Lucian's Satire. New York.Google Scholar
Harrison, S. J. (2002), ‘Apuleius, Aelius Aristides, and Religious Autobiography’, AncNarr 1, 245–59.Google Scholar
Humble, N., and Sidwell, K. (2006), ‘Dreams of Glory: Lucian as Autobiographer’, in McGing, B. and Mossman, J. (eds.), The Limits of Ancient Biography. Swansea, 213–25.Google Scholar
Jackson, R. (1988), Doctors and Diseases in the Roman Empire. London.Google Scholar
James, W. (1982), The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature., ed. with an introduction by Marty, M. E.. New York.Google Scholar
Jones, C. P. (1978), The Roman World of Dio Chrysostom. Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Jones, C. P. (1986), Culture and Society in Lucian. Cambridge, Mass.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kudlien, F. (1981), ‘Galen's Religious Belief’, in Nutton, V. (ed.), Galen: Problems and Prospects. London, 117–30.Google Scholar
Kühn, K. G. (ed.) (1821–1833), Claudii Galeni opera omnia. 20 vols. Leipzig.Google Scholar
Lamar Crosby, H. (tr.) (1946), Dio Chrysostom: Discourses. Vol. 4. Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Lamberton, R. (2001), Plutarch. New Haven.Google Scholar
Lofland, J., and Skonovd, N. (1981), ‘Conversion Motifs’, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 20, 373–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ma, J. (2000), ‘Public Speech and Community in the Euboicus’, in Swain, S. (ed.), Dio Chrysostom: Politics, Letters and Philosophy. Oxford, 108–24.Google Scholar
Macmullen, R. (1984), Christianizing the Roman Empire (A.D. 100–400). New Haven.Google Scholar
Misch, G. (1950), A History of Autobiography in Antiquity. London.Google Scholar
Mitchell, S., and Van Nuffelen, P. (eds.) (2010), One God: Pagan Monotheism in the Roman Empire. Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moles, J. (1978), ‘The Career and Conversion of Dio Chrysostom’, JHS 98, 79–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moles, J. (1990), ‘The Kingship Orations of Dio Chrysostom’, in Cairns, F. and Heath, M., (eds.), Papers of the Leeds International Latin Seminar, Vol. 6. Leeds, 297–375.Google Scholar
Montiglio, S. (2000), ‘Wandering Philosophers in Classical Greece’, JHS 120, 86–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montiglio, S. (2005), Wandering in Ancient Greek Culture. Chicago.Google Scholar
Nightingale, A. (2004), Spectacles of Truth in Ancient Greek Philosophy: Theoria in its Cultural Context. Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nock, A. D. (1933), Conversion: The Old and New in Religion from Alexander the Great to Augustine of Hippo. Oxford.Google Scholar
Pace, E. (2009), ‘Convert, Revert, Pervert’, in Giordan, G. (ed.), Conversion in the Age of Pluralism. Leiden, 189–212.Google Scholar
Pascal, R. (1960), Design and Truth in Autobiography. London.Google Scholar
Petridou, G. (2017), ‘Contesting Religious and Medical Expertise: The Therapeutai of Pergamum as Religious and Medical Entrepreneurs’, in Gordon, R. L., Petridou, G. and Rüpke, J. (eds.), Beyond Priesthood: Religious Entrepreneurs and Innovators in the Imperial Period. Berlin, 185–213.Google Scholar
Petsalis-Diomidis, A. (2006), ‘Sacred Writing, Sacred Reading: The Function of Aelius Aristides’ Self-Presentation as Author in the Sacred Tales’, in McGing, B. and Mossman, J. (eds.), The Limits of Ancient Biography. Swansea, 193–211.Google Scholar
Petsalis-Diomidis, A. (2010), ‘Truly Beyond Wonders’: Aelius Aristides and the Cult of Asklepios. Oxford.Google Scholar
Quet, M.-H. (1993), ‘Parler de soi pour louer son dieu: le cas d'Aelius Aristide’, in Baslez, M.-F., Hoffmann, P., and Pernot, L. (eds.), L'invention de l'autobiographie d'Hésiode à Saint Augustin. Paris, 211–51.Google Scholar
Rambo, L. R. (1993), Understanding Religious Conversion. New Haven.Google Scholar
Rebillard, E., and Rüpke, J. (2015), ‘Introduction’, in Rebillard, E. and Rüpke, J. (eds.), Group Identity and Religious Individuality in Late Antiquity. Washington, D.C., 3–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romm, J. S. (1992), The Edges of the Earth in Ancient Thought: Geography, Exploration, Fiction. Princeton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell, D. A. (ed.) (1992), Dio Chrysostom: Orations VII, XII And XXXVI. Cambridge.Google Scholar
Sandbach, F. H. (1989), The Stoics. Second Edition. London.Google Scholar
Shumate, N. (1996), Crisis and Conversion in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses. Ann Arbor.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sidebottom, H. (1996), ‘Dio of Prusa and the Flavian Dynasty’, CQ 46, 447–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stafford, E. (2012), Herakles. London.Google Scholar
Swain, S. (2000), ‘Reception and Interpretation’, in Swain, S. (ed.), Dio Chrysostom: Politics, Letters And Philosophy. Oxford, 13–50.Google Scholar
Szakolczai, A. (2009), ‘Liminality and Experience: Structuring Transitory Situations and Transformative Events’, International Political Anthropology 2.1, 141–72.Google Scholar
Thomassen, B. (2009), ‘The Uses and Meanings of Liminality’, International Political Anthropology 2.1, 5–27.Google Scholar
Trapp, M. (1990), ‘Plato's Phaedrus in Second-Century Greek Literature’, in Russell, D. A. (ed.), Antonine Literature. Oxford, 141–73.Google Scholar
Turner, E. L. B. (1985), ‘Prologue: From the Ndembu to Broadway’, in Turner, V., On the Edge of the Bush: Anthropology as Experience. Tuscon, 1–15.Google Scholar
Turner, V. (1967), ‘Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage’, in Turner, V. (ed.), The Forest of Symbols. Ithaca, N.Y., 93–111.Google Scholar
Turner, V. (1969), The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. London.Google Scholar
Turner, V. (1973), ‘The Centre Out There: Pilgrim's Goal’, HR 12, 191–230.Google Scholar
Turner, V. (1974), ‘Pilgrimage and Communitas’, Studia Missionalia 23, 305–27.Google Scholar
Turner, V. and Turner, E. (1978), Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture: Anthropological Perspectives. New York.Google Scholar
van Gennep, A. (1960), The Rites of Passage, tr. by Vizedom, M. B. and Caffee, G. L.. Second Edition. London.Google Scholar
Van Nuffelen, P. (2010), ‘Pagan Monotheism as a Religious Phenomenon’, in Mitchell, and Van Nuffelen, (eds.), 16–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Nuffelen, P. (2012), ‘Beyond Categorization: “Pagan Monotheism” and the Study of Ancient Religion’, Common Knowledge 18, 451–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Versnel, H. S. (1990), Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion. Vol. 1, Ter Unus: Isis, Dionysos, Hermes: Three Studies in Henotheism. Leiden.Google Scholar
Versnel, H. S. (2011). Coping with the Gods: Wayward Readings in Greek Theology. Leiden.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitmarsh, T. J. G. (2001), ‘“Greece is the World”: Exile and Identity in the Second Sophistic’, in Goldhill, S. (ed.), Being Greek under Rome: Cultural Identity, the Second Sophistic, and the Development of Empire. Cambridge, 269–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitmarsh, T. J. G. (2004a). ‘Aelius Aristides’, in de Jong, I., Nünlist, R., and Bowie, A., (eds.) Narrators, Narratees, and Narratives in Ancient Greek Literature. Leiden, 441–4.Google Scholar
Whitmarsh, T. J. G. (2004b). ‘Dio Chrysostom’, in de Jong, I., Nünlist, R., and Bowie, A., (eds.) Narrators, Narratees, and Narratives in Ancient Greek Literature. Leiden, 451–64.Google Scholar
Whitmarsh, T. J. G. (2005). The Second Sophistic. Oxford.Google Scholar
Winkler, J. J. (1985), Auctor & Actor: A Narratological Reading of Apuleius’ Golden Ass. Berkeley.Google Scholar