St.

Nersess Theological Review 5-6 (2000-2001)

THE ARMENIAN VERSION OF THE

"LIFE OF EvAGRIU8 OF PONTUS"

Monica J. Blanchard, Carl Griffin, Cornelia B. Hom, Janet A. Timbie

Introduction

vagrius of Pontus (c. 345-399) is one of the most interesting and

E important early monastic figures. His writings are at once
profoundly mystical in their contemplation of the various stages of the
spiritual life, I yet eminently practical in their explication of the
psychology of sin. Widely read and personally influential, Evagrius
made a deep impression on later monasticism in East and West, both
directly and indirectly through such disciples as John Cassian, John
Climacus, and Maximus the Confessor. However, with his con-
demnation for Origenism in 553 (Second Council of Constantinople),
many of his writings were lost, and few facts about him have survived
to our day?

1 For an overview of the life, writings and influence of Evagrius see Antoine & Claire
Guillaumont, "Evagre Ie Pontique," Dictionnaire de Spiritualite 4 (1961) 1731-1744;
Michael Wallace O'Laughlin, "Origenism in the Desert: Anthropology and Integration
in Evagrius Ponticus" (unpub. Ph.D. diss., Harvard Divinity School, Harvard
University, Cambridge, Mass., 1987).
2 His works were translated from Greek into the languages of the Christian Near East.
Much of the Syriac and Armenian is extant today. Although the Syriac texts have been
studied extensively, relatively little attention has been paid to the Armenian corpus
apart from the works of I. Hausherr and J. Muyldermans: !renee Hausherr, Les versions
syriaque et armenienne d'Evagre Ie Pontique: leur valeur, leur relation, leur ｵｴｩｬｾ｡ｯｮ＠
(Orientalia Christiana vol. XXII/2; Roma: Pont. Institutum Orientalium. Studiorum,
1931); J. Muyldermans, "A propos d'un feuillet de manuscrit armenien (Brit. Mus.
Cod. arm. 118)," Le Museon 65 (1952) 11-16; idem, A travers la tradition manuscrite
d'Evagre Ie Pontique: essai sur les manuscrits grecs conserves a la Bibliotheque
nationale de Paris (Bibliotheque du Museon, 3; Louvain: Bureaux du Museon, 1932);
idem, "Les citations bibliques dans la version armenienne de I' Antirrheticus d'Evagre
Ie Pontique," Handes Amsorya 75 (1961) 442-447; idem, "Le discours de Xystus dans
la version armenienne d'Evagrius Ie Pontique," Revue des etudes armeniennes 9 (1929)
183-201; idem, "Evagre Ie Pontique: les 'Capita cognoscitiva' dans les versions
syriaque et armenienne," Le Museon 47 (1934) 73-106; idem, "Evagriana," Le Museon
44 (1931) 37-68, 369-383; idem, "Fragment armenien du Ad Virgines d'Evagre;" Le
Museon 53 (1940) 77-87; idem, "Miscellanea Armeniaca," Le Museon 47 (1934)
293-296; idem, "Repertoire de pieces patristiques d' apres Ie catalogue armenien de

25
 26 ST. NERSESS THEOLOGICAL REVIEW

Our most important, and almost exclusive, source of information

on Evagrius' life is a short vita found in Palladius' Historia Lausiaca
(ch. 38). In the Oriental churches where Evagrius' works were openly
read, this chapter was excerpted and circulated independently, at times '.
prefixed to collections of his works. Thus the vita in the Oriental
versions often has a textual history separate from that of the Historia
Lausiaca, usually remaining quite close to the Greek but at times
exhibiting some interesting differences. This is especially true of the
Coptic version, which is substantially longer and may represent, if not
the original text, at least a "lateral tradition" or separate work also
coming from the pen of Palladius. 3 That the Coptic agrees substantially
with one fragmentary Greek text of the vita is suggestive of the unique
and possibly authentic readings which may survive in the versions
alone.
The Greek text of Palladius itself has a rather complex textual
history. Butler discerns among the Greek manuscripts three basic
texttypes. The predominant texttype (B) might be called the textus
receptus and is that found in all printed editions before Butler. A
second texttype (G) seems to be simpler, less rhetorical, and shorter
than B in Butler's judgment. He regards G as nearest to the autograph
and bases his edition upon it. A third texttype (A) is quite
heterogeneous but is typified by the conflation of Band G, with
frequent interpolations of the Historia monachorum. 4
The Armenian text of the vita presented here is the 1907 edition of
the Mechitarist Barsegh V. Sargisean. 5 Sargisean's base text A (A) is

Venise," Le Museon 47 (1934) 265-292; idem, "S. Nil en version armenienne," Le

Museon 56 (1943) 77-113; idem "Sur les seraphins et sur les cherubins d'Evagre Ie
Pontique dans les versions syriaque et armenienne," Le Museon 59 (1946) 367-379.
3 This is Gabriel Bunge's contention in his article "Palladiana I: Introduction aux fragments
coptes de I'Histoire Lausiac," Studia Monastica 32 (1990); 79-129. See also and more
generally Bunge's Evagrios Pontikos, Briefe aus der Wiiste. Eingeleitet, iibersetzt und
kommentiert (Trier: Paulinus-Verlag, 1986); and now, Tim Vivian, "Coptic Palladian a ii:
The Life of Evagrius," Coptic Church Review 21,1 (Spring 2000) 8-23.
4 Cuthbert Butler, The Lausiac History of Palladius: A Critical Discussion Together with
Notes on Early Egyptian Monachism (vols. 1/11; Texts and Studies 611-2; Cambridge,
1898-1904; reprinted, Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1967) II.ix-xx. His reconstruction was
severely criticized. See Bunge, "Palladiana... ," n. 3 above.
5 Barsegh V. Sargisean, Srboy Horn Ewagri Pontats'woy, Vark' ew matenagrut'iwnk':
t'argmanealk' i yune i hay barbaf i hingerord daru. Ashkhatasirut'eamb ew
tsanot'ut'eambk' i loys entsayeats' (Venetik: S. Ghazar, 1907). The editor's name also
appears as Basile or Parsegh Sarghissian, Sarkisian, or Sargisian. Modern Armenian
 Blanchard, Griffin, Hom, Timbie 27

Venice San Lazzaro MS 716, a copy of a manuscript dated A.D. l305

from the Monastery of Medzoph. Manuscripts which appear in the
critical apparatus include: fl (B) Venice San Lazzaro MS 427, undated;
'J. (D) Venice San Lazzaro MS 966, dated to the fourteenth century by
Sargisean; f (E) Venice San Lazzaro MS 1552, undated. 6 The work is
difficult to obtain in the United States. We have, therefore, included a
copy of Sargisean' s text along with our English translation. 7
This is not a text-critical study and we will not speculate on the
precise relationship of the Armenian version to any particular Greek
Vorlage. However, in Butler's opinion the Armenian version represents
a G text. 8 If this is so, it nevertheless contains a number of notable
variants from his reconstruction of G. Whether these variants represent
a divergent Vorlage, redactional embellishment, or interpolations, what
emerges is a unique portrait of Evagrius as seen through the eyes of the
Armenian Church. 9

transliteration is a problem. In order to simplify library searches, Armenian book titles

and personal names have been transliterated in Library of Congress romanization
format.
6 Also indicated in the apparatus on pp. 2 (n.2) and 4 (n.10) is CJ. (G) Venice San Lazzaro
MS 1071. The description of MS 1071 on p. zI Jl'J. (184) does not make clear its
relevance. In correspondence with the Mechitarist Fathers in Venice, J. Muyldermans
learned that MS 966 is designated both CJ. (G) and I; (El) in the San Lazzaro Library. As
one of the Library's nine Evagrian MSS it is classed CJ., the third of nine. MS 966 also
contains the Lives of the Fathers, and it is classed 1;, the seventh of that group of MSS.
In order to avoid confusion in the edition Sargisean used 'J. for MS 966, keeping CJ. for
MS 1071 and I; for MS 1552. However, in several places he seems to have reverted to
the Library designations CJ. and I; for MS 966. See J. Muyldermans, "Le discours de
Xystus dans la version armenienne d'Evagrius Ie Pontique," Revue des etudes
armeniennes 9 (1929) 186-187. A descriptive list of the Armenian manuscripts at San
Lazzaro and elsewhere, which were consulted by Sargisean, can be found on pp. zIl,b
[175]- zI'l.[) [192] of the Vark' ew matenagrut'iwnk'.
7 The text is reproduced in Barz, a freeware Armenian font.
8 C. Butler, The Lausiac History of Palladius I1.1xxxi and note 7, p. 217.
9 Evagrius continued to be honored by the Armenian Church. He is depicted in religious
art, e.g., in Armenian MS 285, Library of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem:
Lives of the Egyptian Desert Fathers, dated 1430, Kaffa. See Nira Stone, The Kaffa
Lives of the Desert Fathers: a Study in Armenian Manuscript Illumination (CSCO vol.
566. Subsidia t. 94; Lovanii: Peeters, 1997) 156-157, fig. 43. Evagrius is wearing a
purple robe with a green undergarment. He appears in the 1696/97 miniatures of the
Monastic Instructions of St. Evagrius of Egypt and John of Sinai (St. John's Armenian
Church of Greater Detroit, Alex and Marie Manoogian Museum, ace. no.1988.269).
See Thomas F. Mathews and Roger S. Wieck (eds.), Treasures in Heaven: Armenian
Illuminated Manuscripts (New York: Pierpont Morgan Library; distributed by
Princeton University Press, N.J., 1994) 109, cat. 85, pI. 42.
28 ST. NERSESS THEOLOGICAL REVIEW

Armenian Text

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 Blanchard, Griffin, Hom, Timbie 29

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fJhwJ'p, wn..hl;[' w'l0fJu C,W[,,,L[, wh'fwJ' JWLI1L['h, hL
'l-[,bln1 " m'!1['Lnph q'f"[,u wJ'hhwJh 1whw9h nL['
phw'tkwlh 1;[', 1 wuh q" fnJfJ 1;[' wn.. p 'f['kl £!.um
hJ'whl1LfJkwh fl.f!ul1h" "l[,.f!kwJ: {;L Cf'th" C,h'fhmwuwh
 Blanchard, Griffin, Hom, Timbie 31

WU" ｾｫｨｷｓ＠ "L[InS krzbL u['pbwb bL 'l'fwumwsbw [

ｾｷｭ｛Ｇ｢＠ fun[,t.[''fnt{ ["h" w['d-wt" lhn['t.ws IJnL['p
l,n'fLn Jh. ilL In [nt{ "J' wumnL[cIbwJ'p b [' Ｂｾｉ＠ ｦｵｮｴＮｷｾｨｌﾭ 1
[cIkwJ' p WIL'b!;[' .[!'b'bnL[cI"Lhu t.n'fw1h: l,wumwm!;[, b [' "u
'f" ['U wumnLW:'-w lnLh tu U "w JhwSb ins, bL ｾｨＧｦｬ｟Ａ［ｕ＠ pw-
hwumb'l:'-ws'b, bL ｾｨＧｦＡ［ｕ＠ '1-"LWS'b t.'bw [,w'f"mnL[cIbw'b:
8bm ｷｊｵｮ｛Ｇｾ＠ 'fw[,dbw[ 'bb'lbwS 'l'bw 'fbLh
ｬＱ｛ｮｌｨｾ｣ｉｫｷＧ｢Ｌ＠ n['l1[!;u G.L "'b.[!'b l1[wmubws J'b'l: GL
t.wmbw [ fun ['w1' "m U" fun [" 'lwJ' b'bw Jh '[hb ['U ｾｷｊ＠ [' "
hb ['.[!u JWLnL['u dJ' b ['whLnJ' U "h tbL uWlLnLsbw [ l1[WrzbSWL
WU bhwJ'b U w ['J' "hh: GL 'fw ['dbw [ hbrzbw S 'lhw t.n'l"h
t.wJt.nJnL[cIbwh, bL nt bJ'nLm ｾｕＧｉ｟＠ ｊｗ｛Ｇｾｌ＠ 'l.[!wlLwunLh 0["
U "U tbL ｾｷ＠ lkSWL WU bhw Jh U w ['U "hh n ['l1[!;u whwuhn J:
?-w['dkw[ k['ilLbswh hJ'w " mnL'b£bwh b['k.[! 'fiIL.[!' "
hJ'whnL[cI"L'b ｾｲｺ｢｛ＧＭｴｮｵｌｕｓ＠ ""Sb[n" ｾｨＧｬ＠ hJ'w l{wuh
t.wLLUmnJ: flJ'h " hnSLUh!; wu!;[' 'l"h.[!'b lJ.['''whnu ilL U!lLuh
GLhnJ'l;nu bL J'''Luh lJ.l1[I1'l"'bw['nu, bL JLU'l[clbws hJ;19W
"U wumnL[cIkLUuph "L['111. bL :'-whnLSbw [ 'l1In ['dnL[cI "Lhu'b,
t.wupw['dbwl 'ldblLu "L[' Jb[,'-t"h WIL lJ.umnLLU:'-'
1w'l1w'lw'-t" whb[,ilLnJ[cI k'lbh '1i1L.[!h " hULU'bI;: ?-w['dbw[
" U "nLu LULnL[' 'lpwhw ["uh ｾｮ｛Ｇｊｵ＠ 'lb'[b'lbSLI1Jh, bL
'-th.[!kwl 'l'l-!;uu ＢＧｗｾｌｕｓ｢＠ Jw'bnLh 'fl['''umnu'', ilL dblLh
LU[,'-tbw/ "'b.[!h,,'b pwswh hJ'w: {jLU b'lbL mUlh£bw[
WU bhLUl,,"[,d " PLU'lJ' UI'lUl'b '1-"LW S' bL WIL 'It.wh'fwJ' Ulhu
hnsw n[' nt 'fI1J [cI"L 'bnsw: GL brziIL 1WfuSwhb[ t.o['h, ｢ｾｨ＠
nJ'h l1[UlmJ'bLUS hJ'UI, bL hw Ulul;. [lLbLU " t.wJt.nJnL[cIb'b!;,
'l" "u t.wJ[,'b UlhJ'LUt. !;: GL u!, JUllUl'-tb[,mUlS hn['UI
1U1[,d-kLU[ ｾｨＧｬ｟＠ hULU wJ'u nL[cIbLmUluh, l1[UlmubLUS
'lUlJ' bhUlJh ｾｵｭ＠ mbu[bUlhh LUILW £'bnJh. bL J' UI[''[UI['l;wSbw [
hJ'LU LUU!; ShLU' b[cll; In['u!; t.bm!; p'bUl'-tbSUlJ Jw'bwl1[Ulm",
nt '[b['bwl nt fuwLUI[,m bL nt pWh£w[, '1_W[UI[' bL nt
fuw'ln'l bL nt U" [,'f' n t U "u b-L 11 t lflLwsnLuh U UI['J'hn J'
wJ[ t.wS ilL ,["h" wJ'b'biIL"h nt SUllw'-tbUl[: pWJS In['d-wu
'-tw [''' m'-t w ['UlSWL J'UI['J' "hh " fu "um w ['nLsh, ｕｗｾｌ＠ U" 1
'-twu'-t ｾｨＧｬ＠ W['J'wLw£nL[' fuwlL'bbUlS 1 wuh '-t Ul ['!, SUlLnJ
umwun.[!u"'b, 'lwJh !;WIL £blLnLsbwL t.['n1. WJL " t.UlS bL "
'f"h" h nt " '-t w [''' '-tw['!;l1[l;mu t."Llu'b'ff1L[cIbwh'b
U b ['dbSWL. pWJS J'"UI Jh SUllw'-t!;[' unLrz "h t pwh £UI[, ilL
nLu'Iu ilL '[wUI[W£nL[, tl"htiIL " 1wfuSwh'b: GL b'lliL Jbm
 32 ST. NERSESS THEOLOGICAL REVIEW

c,wlzn[lIz_b LnJ'b o[,"'bwS'b ｊ｢ｾｲｺｓｌｮＲＧ＠ JWLnL[1ll JWJm-

'bnLjJbw'bs' "(wmJ'bws wJ'bnLC,bmbL brzpw[,S'b J'b['d "
tf w fu-&w'bb L'b "L['nLJ', b jJl; w Jll b ['b.[! wJ'.[! b'b In [',UC,bml;
tbJ' 'bblZbwL " sw'blinLjJb'bl; J'w['J''bn'J: Obm wJ'btwp
mw'bfw'bws bL 'bbrznLflbw'b s bL w'bc,'bw[,,,'b ,"n[,dnLjJblll'b
'l-fnws'b, bL Jbm WJlltWp -&Cf'bnLflbw'bs bL ｗＧ｢ＢＨｾｬ＠
wrzofl"s ｾ｛Ｇｯ｢ｷｌｮｬ＠ plll[,f 1w['nL.[!, qC,wLwmll'b "(lllC,bllll
bL qC'b flWSll'b ｾｷｭ＠ ['blll L' C,w'bC[buJL " 'bJ' ,,'b lll'bwullllm" "
-f!['"umnll 0 "unLU SI;[, J' b [' n['nLJ' pwn..[! JWL"mbw'bu: {/.Ju
{;Lllc[_[,,,nll ｾｬｓ｢ｷ＠ Jw'bwll[lllm" lllJ'U J"unL'b bL tn['ll
qo['nLjJblllJ'p llnL[,l' l,nC[Ln J 'b bL OfunLu" -#['11l1mnu"
ｐ｛ＧｾｴＢ｢＠ J'b['ni J'b3-w"(l;u lnJll 3-111CfbwS ,,'bd W'blll[,d-W'bfo:
ｾ｛Ｇ｢ｓＢ＠ bL ｾｬ｛Ｌｃｦ｢ｓＢ＠ cum ｾｬ｛Ｇ＠ "J'nLJ' b[,,,u Cf"['u
JO[,,,'bbllllll 'l-11L['wC,lllu bL tflllJbLnLt S.Wn."L.[!, wn.lllf"'b'b'
JlllrzWC[_ll J'''w'bdw'bS -&lJ'w['''m C,wLlllmns, ｢｛ＧｾｮｬＭ＠
c'b'l-'l-I;J' tff-&nrzlllS bL pw'bwumbrz3- w s· b['['n[''l-' JlllrzWC[1l
WJllns tlll['nLjJbw'b lll['lll['lll.[! "(lllmwu fuw'b" " ｾ｛Ｇｮｳ＠ u ['pns
wn. 'lhu'b' n[' pn['db'b Cf.J'bCf.: 9."
h db[' f!'bflb[,SbLUl h
llllC,blllt' JlllrzjJnrz lll['lllllSI; -#[,,,Ulnnll 11 tfb[,lllJ wJuns'b
tlll['nLjJbw'b:

English Translation

Life of the Blessed Evagrius

In many ways, 0 beloved ones, Evagrius, the faithful servant of

God, appeared very wonderful and celebrated in his way of life. A man
trained in everything, like the apostles and the prophets, he blossomed
and bore fruit in all parts through his virtuous conduct, to the glory of
the most holy Trinity. Unable to speak worthily about him, I am
obliged to speak briefly, for the edification of those who will read and
for the profit of the eager hearers. Having been summoned once more
by the Holy Spirit, he came to a remote place, Rebon, lO and by great

10 Rebon is unintelligible as it stands in Armenian; the Greek text here refers to the
monere bion of Evagrius, while later it places him at Nitria. In both instances the
Armenian text has Rebon, Hrebon. Armitage Robinson wrote about the Armenian vita
of Evagrius in chapter 11 of Cuthbert Butler's, The Lausiac History of Palladius.
Robinson suggested a confusion in the Armenian text based on the word division mone
 Blanchard, Griffin, Hom, Timbie 33

asceticism he was found worthy of the good things of heaven. He died

at the age of fifty-four as a monk in the desert, having killed the earthly
members (cf. Col 3:5) in entire accord with Scripture. In fervent faith,
he took up the cross of Christ many times in pure thought.
He was of Pontic origin, from the city of Iberia,tl the son of a
priest, a pious man, a reader for Saint Basil, the bishop of Neocaesarea,
who is celebrated among all because of his brilliant understanding.
When the blessed Basil died, the holy bishop Gregory Nazianzus, wise
and dispassionate, saw Evagrius' very gracious ability and ordained
him archdeacon. At that time an assembly took place, a great synod of
the city of Constantinople,12 and when the blessed ones came there,
Gregory left Evagrius with the holy bishop Nectarius. 13 While still in
earliest youth, Evagrius strove against the entire heresy of the Arians;
the God-inspired one flourished and his entreaty bore fruit in the great
city. By his words he defeated the heretics. They did not know how to
oppose the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke (Acts 6: 10), and
for his brilliance he was honored by the citizens.
The evil and jealous Satan cast him into desire for a certain
woman, as he himself told us. And after a few days, when he found a
little peace of mind, again a meeting would take place with the same
woman, who was of high rank and very attractive. From fear of God
and shame before men, keeping shame and endless torments con-
tinually before his eyes, Evagrius prayed to God in supplication that he
might be able to suppress the terrible temptation of the woman, but he
was unable. Since the woman disturbed him very much with the
stirrings of desire, and in manifold ways with love and devotion, he
was bound as if by fetters and was not able to move. But the beneficent

rebionfor monere bion. See 1.101-102, n.l. He used the Armenian text in the 1855
Mechitarist edition of the Lives of the Holy Fathers, i.e., Vark' srbots' harants' ew
kaghak'varut'iwnk' nots'in est krkin t'argmanut'ean nakhneats' (2 vols.; Venetik:
I tparani Srboyn Ghazaru, 1855).
II Iberia, for Ibora in Helenopontus, one of two Pontic provinces created by Diocletian;
see "Pontos," ODB 3.1697; Gabriel Bunge, Evagrios Pontikos, Briefe aus der Wiiste:
Eingeleitet, iibersetzt und kommentiert (Trier: Paulinus-Verlag, 1986) 21, 95 n.8.
12 Council of Constantinople, AD 381.
13 Nectarius, bishop of Constantinople 381-399, was the choice of the emperor
Theodosius to succeed Gregory Nazianzus at the time of the council (381). Works of
Nectarius survive in Armenian. See Matenadaran Haykakan t'argmanut'eants'
nakhneats' (Dar D-DzG) [Catalogue des anciennes traductions armbliennes (Siecles
IV-XIII)] (Venetik: Mkhit'arean Tparan, 1889) 632-633.
 34 ST. NERSESS THEOLOGICAL REVIEW

God heard his prayers and did not leave him in temptation. Suddenly a
vision appeared before him of an army of angels, and they carried him
off as to judgment, with an iron collar on his neck and chains on his
feet and hands, and they threw him in prison without revealing his
crime. But he felt guilt over the woman, suspecting that her husband
was his accuser. While he suffered this torment, he saw certain
criminals whom they tortured in front of him because of some other
matter, and being still more frightened, he was confused. After all this,
the angel who had shown the vision to him appeared in another form,
in the likeness of a beloved and familiar friend, saying to him, "Bound
with such awful chains, in the midst of many dangers, why are you
imprisoned, lord deacon?" Evagrius said to him, "Truly, I swear to
Christ that I do not know." The angel said to him, "Don't you have any
thoughts on the matter yourself?" Evagrius said, "I believe that
someone with the title of eparchl4 has slandered me, wounding with
jealous words, and I am afraid that, God forbid!, he may have bribed
the prince and he shall order me to be tortured." He said to him,
"Listen to me, your friend, it is not good for you to dwell in this city."
Evagrius said to him, "God alone will save me from this temptation. So
if you see me again in this city, know that I am in these torments
justly." The angel said to him, "If that is the case, I am bringing the
Gospel; 15 swear on it that you will leave the city. You will save
yourself and I will carry you away from this torment." And taking the
Gospel, he swore and said, "After today, when I have taken my clothes
to the ship, I will not delay here one hour." At that moment he woke up
in the night from his dream and got up, thinking about the oath that was
in his dream. Immediately he threw his belongings on the ship and left

14 This is the title of various imperial functionaries, the most important of which was the
"eparch of the city," who served as the head of the police in Constantinople. See the
entry "Eparch," with additional bibliography in ODB 1.704. The word appears in
Armenian dictionaries as I"'lwl'.pnu meaning "prefect" or "viceroy" (M. Bedrossian,
New Dictionary Armenian-English (Beirut: Librairie du Liban, 1985) 157. It is a
standard loan-word in Armenian. .
15 This usage suggests that the gospels are bound in a separate book and it is on this that
Evagrius swears his oath. In Byzantine Greek usage, evangelion refers to the gospel
lectionary, a single volume, containing only those gospel passages read in liturgies. The
tetraevangelion contained the complete text of the four gospels with the readings
marked by notes in the margins. Consult the ODB entries "Evangelion," 2.761 and
"Gospel Book," 2.861. Helpful bibliography is provided in both.
 Blanchard, Griffin, Hom, Timbie 35

for Jerusalem, v.isiting the holy places there and the'blessed Melania, a
Roman matron.
Later, his heart, like Pharaoh's, was hardened by Satan, for he was
still a young man. He did not want to confide in anyone, for his
thoughts were mixed up. He began to change his style of dress,16 and
he became proud and full of vainglory. But God, the creator of all
beings, who does not desire for anyone to transgress, cast him into the
pains of a fever for six months. His whole body withered, and
physicians were not able to find a cure. The blessed Roman lady came
to see him and said, "This prolonged illness of yours is not pleasing to
me, child, because it does not happen without God." And he confessed
to her his innermost thoughts. The noblewoman said to him, "Swear
before the Lord that you will undertake a great work in the desert of
Rebon. Though I am a sinner, I will pray that He will give you time for
repentance." Now Evagrius repented at her words, immediately came
to his senses, and was well again. And getting up, he left and set out
toward Mt. Rebon in Egypt. He settled there for two years and then he
entered the innermost desert. He stayed in the Cells 17 for fourteen
years, eating a pound of bread every five months and a measure of
olive oil. Then he totally abstained from the delicacies and pleasures of
this world. He lay stretched out on the ground all night reciting psalms,
offered one hundred prayers daily, and throughout the year he wrote
the books for every monastery in which he was dwelling, since he was
skilled in the Oxyrhynchus hand. IS After fifteen years, his way of life

16 This passage is difficult to understand in Armenian. Perhaps Evagrius had adopted the
dress of the Christian ascetic, the tribon, when he arrived in Jerusalem, and later
changed his style of dress. Michael Wallace O'Laughlin makes this point in his
unpublished dissertation, "Origenism in the Desert: Anthropology and Integration in
Evagrius Ponticus" (Harvard University, 1987) 31, n.1D2.
17 Armenian !"nul"),' meaning "the huts". Just as the Greek plural kellia, "cells," came to
refer to a loosely organized monastic settlement at the western edge of the Nile Delta,
so too in Armenian, a descriptive term is also a place name. See A. Guillaumont,
"Histoire des moines aux Kellia," Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica 8 (1977) 187-203.
The same can be found in the Syriac version of the Life of Evagrius. See Rene Draguet,
Les formes syriaques de La matiere de L'Histoire Lausiaque (CSCO vols. 389-390,
398-399. Scriptores Syri t. 169170, 173-174; Louvain: Secretariat du CSCO, 1978)
voI.399.184, n.S. The term is consistently used in the Armenian apophthegmata when
the Greek has kellia; see for example Vark' srbots' harants' 2.98.
18 Earlier editions and translations of the His/oria Lausiaca state that this refers to a
"sharp-pointed" style of writing and has no connection to the city; see Robert Meyer,
The Lausiac History (New York: Newman Press, 1964), p. 113, n. 350, citing V.
Gardthausen, Griechische PaLaeographie 2 (Leipzig, 1913), p. 113ff. For a more recent
36 ST. NERSESS THEOLOGICAL REVIEW

became pure and sober and, perfected in mind, he became worthy of

grace from the Holy Spirit. With much knowledge, with surpassing
discretion, he conducted studies with the help of the Spirit. He
composed three divinely-inspired books for solitaries, both against
myth-makers, 19 and against the cleverness of demons. 2o
After this, again the demon of fornication tormented him, as he
reported to us, and digging a deep hole, he stood in it every night
during the winter days, until his whole body froze. Then the spirit of
blasphemy tormented him and he did not go under a roof for forty days
until his whole body became as tough as the hide of an animal. Later,
three demons appeared to him in daytime in the likeness of clerics and
disputed with him concerning the faith. One of them claimed to be an
Arian, another an Eunomian, and another an Apollinarian,21 and he
defeated them by means of his intelligence. Upon his recognizing the
temptations and lifting his hands to heaven toward God, the demons
vanished from him immediately. Then one day he lost the keys to the
church, and signing the front of the locks in the name of Christ and
thrusting forth his hand, they opened by themselves for him. He was
tested by every trial from various demons and in countless ways. When
his father died, someone came and told him and he said, "Cease from
blasphemy, for my Father is immortal."22 One of his disciples, who
studied with him for eighteen years, related everything from his

discussion, see E. G. Turner, Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World, 2nd ed.
(London: Institute of Classical Studies, 1980), pp. 20·-23, on styles of handwriting.
Oxyrhynchus was an important center for the copying of manuscripts; see E. G. Turner,
"Roman Oxyrhynchus," Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 38 (1952), pp. 78-93.
19 The Armenian word pw'bwumlnzlrw9'b [pw'bwuurl"llr] literally means "word-builders."
In standard Armenian dictionaries it is translated by "poets." See, e.g., M. Bedrossian,
New Dictionary Armenian-English 91.
20 The passage is very confused in Armenian, as it is in Greek. It may be a garbled
reference to Evagrius's Antirrhetikos, an eight-book treatise giving advice to ascetics,
since the word antirrhetikos appears at this point in the Greek text of the Historia
Lausiaca. The title of the Antirrhetikos appears in Armenian manuscripts as ｃＧ｢ｦｾＢ＠
u/wmwu/uw'bj. I' 9-['n9 Ul'lW9 un,- 'l.bLU'b n[' ,pn['db'b 'l"b'l' which can be
translated into English as A Reply from Holy Scripture to the Demons Who Tempt Us.
•
21 The spelling of Greek names in classical and medieval Armenian is not uniform. Variant
spellings can involve confusions between proper and descriptive names. It is possible to
read this line as "One of them claimed to be Arius, another Eunomius, and another
Apollinarius." The preferred reading above follows the Greek version of the vita.
22 G. Bunge, Evagrios Pontikos, Briefe aus der Wiiiste, p. 76 mentions that Evagrius cites
this story in reference to someone else in the Praktikos 95.
 Blanchard, Griffin, Hom, Timbie 37

previous observations. Speaking like a prophet, Evagrius said to him,

"Since I came to dwell in the desert, I have not eaten vegetables or
green herbs or grapes or fruit or meat, nor washed the body, not even
tasting bread and wine at all." But when his body became very weak
from a hard way of life, he mixed a little barley with date palm water
and warmed this on the fire because of the great pain in his stomach.
But from bread and wine and from much that is necessary for sickness
he abstained. He ate only a few green vegetables, legumes, and barley
water up to the end. It happened then, after partaking of Communion in
the church on the feast of Epiphany, that he said to the brothers at that
time, while he was near his own end, "It is three years since I have
been tormented by the desires of the flesh." After such suffering and
troubles, and difficult temptations from the demons, and after such
austerities and perpetual prayer in monastic life with good conduct,
guarding the faith and completing the race (cf. Acts 13:25; 20:24;
2 Tim 4:7), he rested in the same desert in Christ Jesus, our Lord, to
whom be glory forever. This Evagrius lived in the desert for fifty-'four
years23 by the power of the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ, our Savior;
greatly the light shone on me, the unworthy one.
I wrote and arranged to the best of my ability three books with
ordered and easy-to-understand and appropriate discourses: first,
concerning the monks' true faith; second, against debaters and
myth-makers; and third, concerning evil spirits, a reply from Holy
Scripture to demons who tempt US. 24 Thus, when you read and profit,
Christ may make you victorious over these evil ones.

23 An e.rror in the Armenian version, since the opening paragraph clearly states that he
"died at the age of fifty-four."
24 The last paragraph of the Vita, which purports to introduce the reader to the same
works of Evagrius mentioned earlier (see pp. 33-34 above), is written in the first
person. Modem scholars have speculated on the content and function of this paragraph.
See Robinson in C. Butler's The Lausiac History of Palladius 1.103-106.