125 Representations of travel motivation controversy context.397 He has made the case that Gregory and by extension his disciples possibly could have been suspect of having iconoclast sympathies.398 By commissioning the Life, the monks could not only express their devotion to their spiritual father and celebrate him as a saint, they could also clear Gregory’s name399 – and by extension theirs – and make sure that they would not face any negative repercussions.400 According to Prieto Domínguez, such a motive might also connect to the commissioners’ choice for Ignatius as author. Ignatius himself seems to have had iconoclast views, but he had a change of heart later.401 Therefore, besides being a skilled author, he might have been sympathetic and understanding of the commissioners’ request, while at the same time also wanting to redeem himself and ensure that he would continue to receive commissions.402 Like Makris’ hypothesis about Josph the Hymnographer’s role, Prieto Domínguez’ interpretation of events remains speculative. Nonetheless, the contexts of iconoclasm – and the choice for Ignatius as an author – seems relevant to take into account. One member of the intended audience we do know, namely the saint himself. The saint is addressed in the epilogue of the Life: the narrator expresses a plea to Gregory to serve as an intercessor before God to save his flock and to expel heresy from the Church.403 397 Malamut has also presented a hypothesis on the aims of the commissioners. She thought the Life was commissioned by a monastic community at St. Antipas (cf. footnote 394 above) in an effort to obtain Gregory’s relics – who were at the time in Constantinople. See Malamut (2004), p. 1197-1198. However, Prieto Domínguez convincingly refutes her hypothesis, see Prieto Domínguez (2021), pp. 185–186. Interpreting the Life of Gregory of Decapolis in light of the iconoclast controversy aside, Prieto Domínguez furthermore argues that Gregory travelled towards Sicily for the Byzantine intelligence. This could also explain, according to Prieto Domínguez, why the motivations for many journeys are not specified in the narrative. Although he has many compelling arguments for this theory, it remains highly speculative. More importantly, these circumstances presumably did not play a great role in the motives for commissioning the text, nor in the choice of how to represent Gregory as saint (intelligence operations tend to be secretive and a spy identity for Gregory is not stressed in the narrative). Ibid., pp. 183–184. 398 Prieto Domínguez points out that it is impossible to know whether Gregory and his disciples actually were iconoclasts, but suggests that the disciples might have been afraid of such an accusation in the aftermath of the ‘Triumph of Orthodoxy’ in 843. Neither Gregory, nor his disciples seem to have actively defended icons and Gregory, as is apparent from the Life, had good contacts with people in power that were known iconoclasts (e.g., the bishop of Otranto). According to Prieto Domínguez, ‘[b]oth dangers [not actively having defended icons and an association with iconoclast people] could be warded off by promoting veneration of their leader by recalling his origin and the family iconodule network [e.g., Gregory’s iconodule uncle Symeon] that supported him in his youth’. Prieto Domínguez (2021), p. 185. 399 By stressing Gregory’s connection to his uncle Symeon, who actively defended icons and got imprisoned for that reason under the reign of Theophilus (see the Life of Gregory 77); and by inserting some digressions that stress Gregory’s orthodoxy, including a concise theological defence for the veneration of icons and Gregory’s willingness to suffer for this belief in a passage in which Gregory is called a ‘martyr without bruises’ (Life of Gregory 73). 400 Whether these fears of repercussions were likely to have actualised or not, we do not know, but it does seem reasonable to think that anyone being on the ‘losing’ side of the debate might have been anxious for their further careers and spiritual standing. 401 An earlier hagiography by Ignatius, the Life of George of Amastris has been considered an iconoclast hagiography, although Prieto Domínguez points out that George also had iconophile connections. This may lead us to speculate that icons were just not central to his spirituality, like to Gregory’s. Later Ignatius wrote the Lives of the iconophile patriarchs Tarasios and of Nicephorus. Prieto Domínguez (2021), pp. 169; 180; 185. 402 Ibid., p. 185. 403 Life of Gregory epilogue. 3
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