79 Mobility, immobility and sainthood further. Therefore he stopped and stayed (ἡσύχαζεν) for a while at a monastery near Ephesus.264 Here hesychia may thus refer to a state of the body: physically stopping and/ or resting, and thereby interrupting a journey, in other words, a state of immobility. In this case there seems to be no specific connotation of a spiritual inner state of being, but it just seems to refer to a stop between two journeys: he continues his journey again as soon as spring arrives. In chapters 25 and 39, however, the verb does seem to be tied up with monastic spiritual practice. In chapter 25 the hagiographer narrates that Gregory went to Rome. The verb that is used to describe Gregory’s stay in Rome is ἐφησυχάζω: Εἰς ἣν ἀφικόμενος ἐπὶ μῆνας τρεῖς κελλίῳ ἐφησυχάσας καὶ μηδενὶ φανερὸν ἑαυτὸν καταστήσας, ὑπό τινος ἀνδρὸς πνεύματι πονηρῷ κατισχημένου πεφανέρωται. Ὃν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ δαίμονος ἀπολύσας ὀχλήσεως ἐξῆλθε τῆς Ῥώμης δεδιώς, μήπως τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης κολακείας θήραμα γένηται· καὶ γὰρ κατὰ πνευμάτων ἀκαθάρτων δύναμιν εἰληφὼς λαθεῖν οὐκ ἠδύνατο.265 After having arrived there, and after he ἐφησυχάσας in a cell for three months and not rendering himself known to anyone, he was revealed by a certain man possessed by an evil spirit. After freeing him from the annoyance of the demon he [Gregory] left Rome, because he feared that he would fall prey to human flattery: for having received power over impure spirits he could not remain hidden. Because the author does not inform the audience why Gregory went to Rome and there is no further description of Gregory’s activities there, except for this passage, it appears from the narrative that staying in a cell without disturbance of people is the main purpose of the saint’s stay in Rome. As soon as his solitude and especially his anonymity is disrupted, he leaves Rome. Michael Chronz translates ἐφησυχάζω with ‘Kontemplation üben’, which might indeed be a suitable interpretation of what the audience would expect Gregory to do in his cell when undisturbed and in solitude.266 So the translation of ἐφησυχάζω with a kind of activity – contemplation, or whatever Gregory did in a monastic cell – is understandable. However, in my view the choice for the verb seems to be mainly determined by the association of hesychia with silence and an absence of disturbance (from people in this case).267 Namely, the author adds that Gregory does not want to show himself to anyone and as soon as someone ‘reveals’ him, Gregory leaves the city for fear of being sought out 264 ἐν σεμνείῳ τινὶ τῶν περὶ τὴν Ἔφεσον τέως ἡσύχαζεν. Life of Gregory of Decapolis 17, line 9. 265 Life of Gregory of Decapolis 25. 266 Michael Chronz provided the translation in the edition of Georgios Makris. See Makris (1997), p. 91. 267 Chronz’ translation is not necessarily wrong: ἐφησυχάσας here can refer both to the activity of what a monk is expected to do when alone in a cell – prayer and contemplation – and to the state of being in silence and calmness without external disruption. 2
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