Transcript Fathers and Hellenism - University of St. Thomas

Fathers and Hellenism
Dn Paul L. Gavrilyuk
Alexander Defeats the Persians
‘Alexander’ Sarcophagus. Royal Necropolis of Sidon, chamber #3. Last
quarter of 4th c BC. Istanbul Archeological Museum.
Isocrates on Hellenism
So far has our city [Athens] surpassed
the rest of mankind in thought and
speech that her pupils have become the
teachers of the rest of the world; and
our city has brought it about that the
name ‘Hellenes’ suggests no longer a
race, but an intelligence, and the title
‘Hellenes’ is applied rather to those who
share our culture than to those who
share common blood.
Isocrates (436- 338 BCE)
My students enjoying the Latrines of
Vespasian. Philippi, Greece.
Playing Mithras in Ostia Antica…
Mithraeum of the Seven Doors. Ostia Antica, Italy.
Mithras killing a bull
Julia Domna (193-217) as Mater Deum
or Cybele
Emperor Cult
Octavian Augustus
Julius Caesar
Alexander the Great
Remains of the Temple of Trajan and Hadrian.
Pergamum, Turkey.
Byzantine Emperor as
‘the Ruler of the Romans’
De-Hellenization vs. Re-Hellenization
Adolf von Harnack (1851-1930)
Georges Florovsky (1893-1979)
St Paul in the company of Sybil, Solon,
and Greek philosophers
Julian the Philhellene
From Roman Pietas to Christian Orans
Orans, ca 3rd c. Catacomb
of Priscilla, Rome.
Julia Maesa, grandmother of
Elagabalus and Alexander
Severus. AR Denarius, 218-225
Mother of God. Apse
Mosaic, St Sophia, Kiev,
11th c.
Baptism of Jesus with the Personification of Jordan
Baptism of Jesus. Arian Baptistery, Ravenna.
Personification of Jordan copied by
Rublev
Epiphany. Cathedral of Dormition. Vladimir. Workshop of
Andrey Rublev and Daniil Cherny. c. 1408.
Beyond Harnack and Florovsky…
Adolf von Harnack (1851-1930)
Georges Florovsky (1893-1979)