214 of sainthood, both on the level of language and on the level of representation. The entanglements between (im)mobility and sainthood discussed above lay bare a general function of mobility in saints’ Lives: mobility can facilitate a progressive and transformative development of the protagonists. In other words, geographical mobility and social mobility are interconnected. In all three Lives mobility allowed the monks to advance through various steps of the monastic career ladder, culminating in monastic leadership. In the Lives of Gregory and Euthymius (but less clearly in the Life of Elias), a search for hesychia and retreat allowed the saints to progress spiritually and gain spiritual authority as a result. The ways in which mobility was used or not used in the narratives with regard to spiritual development correspond to two conceptualisations of sainthood: one in which sainthood is conceptualised as a transformative development that the saint goes through, the other in which sainthood is conceptualised as a gift from God that is constant. Hagiographers generally do not express explicit theological views on the essence of sainthood, neither do they necessarily clearly hold on to one position over the other. Based on observations on the three Lives central to this thesis, it is my hypothesis that hagiographies may display elements of both conceptions, although a Life may lean more towards one position in comparison to another one. We have already discussed how the literal and metaphorical journey towards spiritual perfection is reflected in the Lives of Gregory and Euthymius. This narrative representation possibly reflects the view that sainthood can be developed through the course of a lifetime. On the other hand, hagiographies often also stress that the celebrated individuals already possess ‘saintly’ qualities from the start, for example by emphasising the virtuousness of their childhood and even of their parents, as is the case in both the Life of Gregory and the Life of Euthymius. Such representations lean towards the position that they were divinely chosen individuals who possessed saintly qualities all the time. The Life of Elias in particular leans more towards a conception of sainthood as stable. At the beginning of the narrative, for example, the hagiographer expresses that God had already ‘sanctified’ his soul before he was born. Moreover, in chapter 2 we saw that the hagiographer expressed the view that Elias possessed hesychia all the time, no matter how much he travelled or where he was: in other words, he possessed an ideal spiritual state as a stable rather than a changeable quality. Throughout Elias’ Life, the narrative does not present him to improve spiritually, nor was spiritual maturation necessary before Elias started working miracles. Rather, Elias is presented to possess these qualities all along. These diverse conceptions of sainthood are also reflected in metaphorical language, by the conceptual metaphors politeia is a journey and inner stability is immobility. Politeia mostly signifies a virtuous way of life in the linguistic metaphorical expressions of politeia is a journey. Inner stability refers to a stability of faith, withstanding temptations and persevering a virtuous politeia in the linguistic metaphorical expressions of inner stability is immobility. A virtuous politeia and stability of faith and perseverance are essential
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