84 Chapter 2 Some of these spaces stand in a long (pagan and Christan) tradition of symbolic and religiously significant meanings. Mountains, for example, are already connected to Gods in classical Greek mythology, such as Mount Olympus or Mount Ida. Also in the biblical tradition, mountains are spaces for divine encounters, for example the transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor and Moses receiving the ten commandments on Mount Sinai. Moreover, mountains have a long tradition of being privileged places for sanctuaries.273 Also caves retained a symbolic meaning in early monastic literature: as spaces for monks to dwell in and as spaces associated with demons.274 The hagiographers and the monks themselves would of course be aware of the symbolic significance of mountains and caves, and were acting and writing according to this tradition. However, the qualities that all these types of spaces share – not just caves and mountains – are equally or possibly even more relevant if we want to find out how why these spaces were associated with hesychia. These qualities may have made them privileged spaces in the Christian imagination in the first place. In the following section, a few examples will be discussed to illustrate the characteristics that these spaces have in common.275 2.3.2.1 Interior, enclosed spaces Four out of seven instances of the enclosed spaces are monastic cells.276 In two of these instances, which were already discussed above, the verb cognate of hesychia is used (chapters 25 and 39 of the Life of Gregory of Decapolis). In the other two instances hesychia is presented as the object of desire, and in order to reach it the monks go and live in a monastic cell.277 Monastic cells are not described in detail in the hagiographical texts and often it is not clear to which monastic establishments these cells would have belonged. However, some general observations can be made about contemporary monastic cells and identify what type of space they were. In doing so, the image of monastic cells that hagiographers and their audiences would have had can be postulated. 273 See e.g., a discussion of the connections between mountains and divine presence in ancient Greek, Roman and early Christian traditions, König (2022), pp. 3–92. For the continued biblical tradition (including reappropriations) of Christian symbolic meanings connected to mountains in Byzantine literary and visual culture, see Della Dora (2016), pp. 145–175. 274 Della Dora (2016), pp. 145–202. Furthermore, there also has been work done on the significance of enclosed spaces, particularly prisons, in martyrdom accounts. They may function as spaces that are privileged for ‘transformative moments’ in the portrayal of the characters, especially with regard to their spiritual advancement. See Papavarnavas (2021b). 275 See appendix 2 for all instances of hesychia. 276 Life of Gregory of Decapolis 25, 39 and 55, Life of Euthymius the Younger 34 (see appendix 2). The other (semi-) enclosed spaces are a tower, a cave, and a ravine (obviously, the latter is not an interior space). 277 Life of Gregory of Decapolis 55: ‘Another monk, named Petros, decided, passionately desiring the hesychia of the holy man, to build a cell near him’ – this passage also implies that the saint served as an example for other monks, as they want to achieve the hesychia that the saint already embodies. In order to achieve that, the monk Peter does not just live in a monastic cell, but builds one near the saint. Apparently, vicinity to the saint was thought to facilitate imitation of the saint. Life of Euthymius the Younger 34: [Euthymius] ‘ordered me [Basil, the hagiographer] to live outside the monastery for a short time in his anchoritic cells. For an ardent love of spiritual tranquility [hesychia] held me fast (even though later on, …, I preferred the clamor and distractions of a city)’; translated by Talbot in Alexakis (2016).
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