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On St. Artemius as ‘Deacon’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2016

David Woods
David Woods*
Affiliation:
Dept. of Ancient Classics University College, Cork
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Extract

The publication of an English translation of the 7th-century Miracles of St. Artemios, with facing Greek text and accompanying commentary, is most welcome, and will undoubtedly invite further discussion of the various points of interest raised by this text. Here I wish to focus on the physical appearance of St. Artemios, in particular his alleged appearance as a deacon in miracle 32. In this miracle, a friend tells a certain Menas how St. Artemius had appeared to him as he slept in the Church of St. John the Baptist and had cured his hernia. The text, and recent translation, run:

καἱ τῆ τρίτη ήμέρᾳ όρῶ καθ’ ὕπνους τινά χλαινηφόρον στιχάριν φοροῦντα καἱ βαλτίδιον...

“and on the third day” I saw in my sleep someone wearing a cloak, also a deacon’s alb and a belt ...

Type
Short Notes
Information
Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies , Volume 24 , 2000 , pp. 230 - 234
Copyright
Copyright © The Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham 2000

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References

1. Crisafulli, V.S. and Nesbitt, J.W., The Miracles of St. Artemios: A Collection of Miracle Stories by an Anonymous Author of Seventh-Century Byzantium (Leiden 1997)Google Scholar.

2. See Crisafulli and Nesbitt, op. cit., 238-39, where, in their commentary upon miracle 6, they state, ‘In our opinion στιχοβαλτίδιον = στνχ(αρ)οβαλτίδιον, a belt worn with a robe of office,’ and conclude, rightly in my opinion, that, ‘One could ask whether a βαλτίδιον differs from a στιχοβαλτίδιον. From the viewpoint of court dress, we do not believe that it does.’

3. In miracle 27, St. Artemios appears on a ship in the likeness of the captain but wearing a chlamys (φορών χλαμΰδα). One of the crew is then puzzled to see his captain wearing a chlaine (χλοανηφόρον).

4. Vis. Doroth. 11. 330-34. Text and translation from Kessels, A.H.M. and van der Horst, P.W., ‘The Vision of Dorotheus (Pap. Bodmer 29) edited with Introduction, Translation, and Notes’, Vigiliae Christianae 41 (1987), 313-59Google Scholar, at 342.

5. Prud. Peristephanon 1. 85-87: Illius fidem figurons nube fertur anulusl hic sui dat pignus oris, ut ferunt, orarium, quae superno rapta fiatu lucis intrant intimum.

6. BHG 497, ch. 12 in PG 116, col. 1181: #λαβών то όράριον τοΰ άγίου, έν αύτφ άνελέξατο то αίμα αύτοϋ; BHG 497, ch. 16 in PG 116, col. 1183: Λαβών οΰν τήν χλαμΰδα αύτοθ τήν έκ τών άγίων οάμάτων πεφυρμένην και μέρoç τοϋ όραρίου. The text is impossible to date accurately, other than to note that it must predate the 9th century. In general, see Skedros, J.C., Saint Demetrios of Thessaloniki: Civic Patron and Divine Protector 4th-7th Centuries CE (Harrisburg 1999) 60-70Google Scholar, and his English translation of the text, 149-54.

7. In miracle 6, St. John appears wearing a sheepskin and sandals (μηλωτήν φοροϋντα και σανδάλια), whereas in miracle 38 it is noted only that he was wearing a sheepskin #(μηλωτήν ένδεδυμένον).

8. Crisafulli and Nesbitt, op. cit., 276, quoting ODB, s.v. sticharion.

9. E.g. in miracles 2, 39, 42, and 44 when he appears in the guise of a doctor (έν σχη’μθίτι ίατρου) or in miracle 25 when he appears in the guise of a butcher (έν σχηματι μακελλαρίου).