154 Chapter 3 3.5 Representations of travel motivation in the Life of Elias the Younger 3.5.1 The creation of the Life Based on his Life, the Italo-Greek monk Elias the Younger probably lived from around 823 until 903, making him a contemporary of Euthymius (c. 820 – 898).519 In terms of the extent of his mobility, Elias was probably surpassing most people living at the time. Of the ninth- or tenth-century travelling saints, Elias travelled most widely and frequently, journeying to many destinations in the Mediterranean within and beyond the borders of the Empire. Elias’ Life is transmitted in four manuscripts, all of which provide (roughly) the same text.520 The text is written by an anonymous author. Because of the biblical, classical and hagiographical allusions in the narrative it has been assumed that the author was a learned monk, possibly from the monastery Elias founded at Salinas in southern Italy.521 The phrase ‘I, urged by you to compose the most illustrious life of our all-glorious father Elias the Younger […]’ may indicate that the author was commissioned to write this Life, probably by the monks of Elias’ monastery.522 Unlike the author of the Life of Euthymius, Elias’ hagiographer does not claim a personal connection to the saint, which may suggest that he did not come from the inner circle of Elias’ connections. In any case, the author must have had knowledge of Mediterranean topography and of historical events in the ninth century, as many events, particularly Arab attacks on Sicily and southern Italy, and some individuals mentioned in the Life are also known from other sources.523 In the prologue the author imagines that he speaks to an audience assembled to celebrate the feast, or panegyris, of the saint. This would most likely be the occasion that 519 Krönung (2010), p. 247; Malamut (1993), pp. 256–258. 520 See Rossi Taibbi (1962), pp. xxiv–xxxii. 521 Efthymiadis (1996), p. 72. Krönung proposes that Daniel, Elias’ disciple, must have been the informant who gave the author details of Elias’ life. Krönung (2010), p. 246. 522 Italics by the present author. Κἀγώ, προτραπεὶς παρ’ ὑμῶν τοῦ πανευφήμου πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ νέου Ἠλία τὸν λαμπρότατον ἀνατάξασθαι βίον […]. Life of Elias the Younger 1, lines 13-14. 523 For a list of some known historical events mentioned in the Life, see Krönung (2010), p. 248. Known individuals include for example Barsakios, the Byzantine strategos in Taormina until 881 and later of the Byzantine province Longobardia, the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI (r. 886-912), Elias the patriarch of Jerusalem (from 878 – c. 907) and Stephen V (pope from 885-891).
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