Nick: New page: The '''''Philopatris''''' (Greek:Φιλόπατρις ἢ Διδασκόμενος) is a work of Byzantine literature, a dialogue formerly attributed to Lucian, but now general...

2020-04-30T04:16:48Z

New page: The '''''Philopatris''''' (Greek:Φιλόπατρις ἢ Διδασκόμενος) is a work of Byzantine literature, a dialogue formerly attributed to Lucian, but now general...

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The '''''Philopatris''''' (Greek:Φιλόπατρις ἢ Διδασκόμενος) is a work of [[Byzantine literature]], a [[dialogue]] formerly attributed to [[Lucian]], but now generally admitted to be spurious. Its date and purpose have long formed the subject of discussion.

==The story==
The scene is laid at [[Constantinople]]. A certain Trephon, who has been converted to [[Christianity]] by a bald, long-nosed Galilaean, who was carried up through the air into the third heaven (an evident allusion to [[Paul of Tarsus|St. Paul]]) and meets a friend, Critias, who is in a state of great excitement.[1]

Trephon asks the reason for Critias' excitement, and the invocation of [[Zeus]] by Critias leads to a discussion on [[paganism]] and Christianity, in which all the gods proposed by Critias are rejected by Trephon, who finally suggests that Critias should swear by the Trinity (the Greek subtitle, ἤ διδασκόμενος, refers to this "instruction" of Critias in matters relating to Christianity).[1]

Critias goes on to relate how he had been introduced to a gathering of pessimists, who predicted all kinds of disturbances in the empire and defeat at the hands of its enemies. In the meantime a third person appears on the scene, with the news that the imperial armies have obtained a glorious victory. The hope is expressed that [[Babylon|Babel]] ([[Baghdad]], the chief city of the ''[[caliph]]s'') may soon be destroyed, [[Egypt]] subdued (that is, reconquered from the [[Arab]]s), and the attacks of the "[[Scythians]]" ([[Russians]] or [[Bulgarians]]) repulsed.[1]

The dialogue concludes with thanks to the unknown god of [[Athens]] that they have been permitted to be the subjects of such an emperor and the inhabitants of such an empire.[1]

==Controversy==
The ''Philopatris'' was for a long time regarded as an attack upon Christianity, and assigned to the time of [[Julian the Apostate]] (emperor 361-363). Chronological indications (e.g., the allusion to a massacre of women in [[Crete]]) led [[Barthold Georg Niebuhr|Niebuhr]] to ascribe it to the reign of [[Nikephoros II Phokas|Nicephorus Phocas]] (963-969), and this view is now generally supported.[1]

There being at that time no pagans in Constantinople, the pessimists referred to must be Christians; either monks, especially the intimate friends of the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|patriarch of Constantinople]], who, aggrieved at the measures taken by Phocas in regard to the property of the Church, were ready to welcome the defeat of the imperial arms and the ruin of the empire; or harmless visionaries, who claimed to predict the future by fasting, prayer and vigil.[1]

In any case, the author, whether he was a [[sophist]] commissioned by Phocas to attack the monks, or some professor who hoped to profit by singing the imperial praises, represents the views of the patriotic (as the title shows) as opposed to the unpatriotic party.[1]

According to another view, which assigns the dialogue to the time of [[Heraclius]] (610-641), the author was a Christian fanatic, whose object was to make known the existence of a conventicle of belated pagans, the enemies alike of the Christian faith and the empire; it is doubtful, however, whether such a pagan community, sufficiently numerous to be of importance, actually existed at that date. The object of the first and longer portion of the dialogue was to combat the [[humanism]] of the period, which threatened a revival of [[polytheism]] as a rival of Christianity.[1]

In 1982, [https://books.google.com/books?id=VBgJfKA1ZAwC&pg=PA321 The Date and Purpose of the ''Philopatris''], by [[Barry Baldwin]] was published in ''Later Greek Literature, Volume 27'', with arguments that effectively overturned the Byzantine dating. Baldwin considered the date alternatives, including the possibility that "the Philopatris belonged to the reign of [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]]", while noting that "the ''Philopatris'' is curiously hard to pin down."

==Editions and translations==
* Editions by J.M. Gesner (1715) and C.B. Hase in the Bonn [[Corpus Scriptorum Historiæ Byzantinæ|CSHB]] (1828), vol. xi.
* Included in Jacobitz's edition of Lucian (1839).
* [http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/philosophes/Lucien/philopatris.htm Translation in French] (1912).
* M.D. Macleod (ed.), in ''Lucian'' vol. 8 (1967, [[Loeb Classical Library|Loeb]]), with [[English language|English]] translation.

==Notes==
* 1. Chisholm 1911, p. 439.

==References==
Endnotes:
** B.G. Niebuhr, "Über das Alter des Dialogs Philopatris" in his ''Kleine historische Schriften'' (1843), vol. ii.
** [[Robert Crampe|R. Crampe]], ''Philopatris. Ein heidnisches Konventikel des siebenten Jahrhunderts zu [[Constantinople|Constantinopel]]'' (1894) [https://books.google.com/books?id=4PZCBGJbMQYC Google Books]
** C. Stach, ''De Philopatride'' ([[Kraków]], 1894), who shows its late origin by linguistic tests
** R. Garnett, "Alms for Oblivion" in ''[[Cornhill Magazine]]'' (May, 1901)
** S. Reinach in ''[[Revue archéologique]]'' (1902), vol. i.
** For further authorities, see the article by Von Dobschütz in Herzog-Haucks ''[[Realencyklopädie für protestantische Theologie]]'' (1904).

[[Category:Greek literature (post-classical)]]
[[Category:Works by Lucian]]
[[Category:Byzantine literature]]

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Philopatris - Revision history

Nick: New page: The '''''Philopatris''''' (Greek:Φιλόπατρις ἢ Διδασκόμενος) is a work of Byzantine literature, a dialogue formerly attributed to Lucian, but now general...