162 Chapter 3 hagiographer mentions when Elias and Daniel set off from Corfu they did so under good sailing conditions (εὐπλοήσαντες).553 In any case the hindrance allowed the hagiographer to narrate other episodes before Elias and Daniel finally travelled to Rome. The ship from Corfu takes them to Calabria, where Elias founds the monastery at Salinas. The following chapters are set in the monastery and surrounding region, while the hagiographer makes no mention of Rome again for a while. We might imagine that the he aimed to stick to the chronology of Elias’ life as he knew it from his sources and the reason for the early mention of a desire to go to Rome had to do with the hagiographer’s strategy of framing certain journeys in the narrative, just as he did for the journeys to Palestine and to southern Italy. Finally, at a point in the narrative when Elias returned from a local journey to the monastery, another divine revelation is recounted: Elias sees two men ‘radiant with light’ who appear as Peter and Paul. They tell him to go to Rome the day after, together with his disciple and without delay.554 The latter note recalls the earlier hindrance in Butrint. The vision thus urges them to continue the journey that they already aimed to undertake a few chapters earlier. As in the example of Elias’ journey to Palestine, the divine apparition implicitly approves Elias’ initial motivation, in this case to go on pilgrimage to Rome.555 The hagiographer informs the audience that Elias does as told and departs with Daniel to Rome the next morning ‘at the sound of the rooster’.556 Having arrived at Rome Elias fulfils his prayer.557 The apparition of Peter and Paul and Elias’ subsequent actions thus stress once more the interest of divine powers in communicating with Elias directly and Elias’ obedience to them, as well as a divine approval of his pious initial travel motivation. Prophecy as travel motivation Connecting travel motivations to divine revelations aside, the hagiographer highlights Elias’ sainthood by connecting Elias’ motives to travel to his prophetic abilities. This supernatural quality places Elias above ordinary mortals and demonstrates the divine powers working through the saint. It is clear that the hagiographer conceived the gifts of prophecy and perception of things happening elsewhere as important markers of Elias’ sainthood. At the start of the narrative, after the standard reference to his birthplace and parents, the author stresses Elias’ ability of prophecy as the first attestation of his saintly, extraordinary qualities: 553 Life of Elias the Younger 30. 554 Αὔριον ἀκωλύτως, λαβὼν τὸν μαθητήν, ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥώμην ὅδευε; Life of Elias the Younger 36. 555 The audience presumably would have understood Elias’ desire to pray in Rome as a desire to visit the pilgrimage sites of Rome (particularly the tombs Peter and Paul, considering their apparition). Élisabeth Malamut also assumed that a pilgrimage motive was understood. Malamut (1993), p. 258. 556 Life of Elias the Younger 36, line 725. 557 Life of Elias the Younger 36.
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