152 Chapter 3 journeys from column to mountain to island twice – in the middle and at the end of the Life – the hagiographer emphasises Euthymius’ determinate longing for spiritual perfection. By emphasising Euthymius’ strive for spiritual progress, through representing his travel motivations and ascetical exercises, the hagiographer construes two aspects of his sainthood. Firstly, he is represented as having progressed as close as possible to the divine during his life, by attempting to deny his humanity and by avoiding human distraction. This is why, as the hagiographer informs the audience, Euthymius ascended to heaven after his death, where he can intercede with Christ on behalf of the living audience.516 To reach heaven through a virtuous conduct in life, we learn from a speech of Euthymius in the narrative, is expressed to be the ultimate aim of monastic life in general.517 Secondly, Euthymius’ way of life is represented as an exemplar for other monks. They too, may strive to reach the ideal of monastic asceticism, focussing on hesychia and a denial of human and earthly matters. An exemplary life and a place in heaven are thus aspects of Euthymius’ sainthood that the hagiographer construes by emphasising the travel motivation of spiritual progress in the narrative. 3.4.3 Conclusions To conclude, multiple travel motivations are represented in the Life of Euthymius, but the hagiographer puts more emphasis on mobility for spiritual development than on other motivations. He does so by presenting this motivation as a central theme throughout the Life, whereas the other motivations are clustered in specific parts of the narrative, and by repeating a set of three journeys of progressive isolation twice. Since Euthymius’ strive for hesychia and isolation are presented as motivations for his final journeys, at the end of the narrative, these might also be the motivations that linger the most in the minds of the audiences. These journeys are used by the hagiographer to construct Euthymius’ sainthood. The ascetical life is presented as the ideal monastic life, so that Euthymius appears exemplary. Moreover, this ascetical lifestyle would have guaranteed Euthymius’ entry into heaven at the side of Christ, making him a potent intercessor for the audience. While the hagiographer emphasises Euthymius as an ascetic in search of hesychia and (relative) isolation, this is not all there is to the story. In addition to journeys motivated by spiritual development, the hagiographer also presented other motivations. The first journeys represent Euthymius’ first phase in his monastic development. After having travelled to various monastic communities to cultivate monastic virtues, his move away from Asia Minor in his fourth journey marked the end of his noviciate and subordinate position. The subsequent journeys show Euthymius to alternate his search for hesychia 516 Life of Euthymius the Younger epilogue. 517 In the speech Euthymius refers to living like angels (ὡς ἄγγελοι ἐπὶ γῆς πολιτευσώμεθα) as the manner in which the Kingdom of Heaven can be reached. This again links to asceticism, as ascetics are often referred to as ‘angellike’ in monastic literature (again inspired by John Climacus’ Ladder of Divine Ascent, which itself was also rooted in early Christian literary traditions). Life of Euthymius the Younger 33.1; Muehlberger (2008); Zecher (2013).
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