138 Chapter 3 with acquiring hesychia.446 The latter journeys and the significance of hesychia were extensively discussed in the previous chapter.447 3.3.3 Conclusions In the Life of Gregory of Decapolis we saw that the hagiographer mainly represented journeys as being motivated either by Gregory’s desire to advance in his monastic or spiritual development, or as part of a divinely inspired quest. Mobility in the narrative is thus used to shape essential aspects of Gregory’s identity: in the first instance by narrating his (literal and figurative) journey towards becoming a holy man and a monastic leader. Secondly, the divine revelation positions the journeys without specific motivation – which is the majority after he completed his monastic training – as part of a quest. The revelation and the resulting travels construe Gregory as a saint. The revelation reveals his close connection to God and places Gregory in the tradition of biblical models, as well as his obedience to God to follow up on the divine instruction. Moreover, the aim of the quest identifies him as a holy man: he is to be of benefit to other people’s souls. The presentation of a motivation for travel in general – rather than for a specific journey from point a to b – in combination with the omission of specific motivations for most of Gregory’s future journeys suggests to the audience that Gregory’s journeys are the actualisation of the divine revelation. That is, the journeys are part of the search for the destination that God envisioned for Gregory. Possibly travelling itself is thereby also understood as an act of piety, simultaneously an expression of Gregory’s obedience to divine will and the actualisation of God’s plan for Gregory to become a holy man.448 The few journeys for which the hagiographer does specify a travel motivation after Gregory’s departure from the cave and before he reaches Thessaloniki,449 either refer back to the divine revelation, or are motivated by Gregory’s desire for solitude and hesychia. The latter, as was explored in the previous chapter, communicate aspects of Gregory’s sainthood as well. 446 These are journeys 14, 15, 16 and 18. They are at the same time also part of Gregory’s development towards becoming a holy man, as discussed above (see pp. 129-130 above). Although unlike the first few stages in the monastic career, his journeys for hesychia do not represent a linear development (cf. footnote 425). In addition, journeys 21 and 23 are represented as being motivated by loyalty to personal connections/friendship; and journey 17 might be interpreted as involuntary mobility (his journey from Otranto, where Gregory is seized and almost killed, to mainland Greece – although Otranto seems never have been intended as the destination itself and thus would have served mainly as a – unfortunate – stop in between). 447 See section 2.3. 448 In the Life of Elias we will see divine revelations as travel motivations as well, in which the subsequent travel may also be perceived as an act of obedience and the actualisation of God’s plan. However, in the Life of Elias the divine instructions have concrete destinations, so that the emphasis is on reaching the destinations, and less on travel itself as an act of piety. The Life of Euthymius neither includes divine revelations as travel motivation, nor presents travel as a quest or as a spiritual activity. 449 It seems likely that Ignatius interpreted Thessaloniki as the end of Gregory’s quest. It appears from the narrative that he stayed there multiple years (at least the second time he stayed there), whereas it seems that he stayed only briefly stayed at his previous destinations. Moreover, his second stay at Thessaloniki coincides with the final stage in Gregory’s monastic development, in which he is considered a monastic leader.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTk4NDMw