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The Watchers' Whispers: Athenagoras's "Legatio" 25,1-3 and the "Book of the Watchers"Author(s): Drago-Andrei GiuleaSource: Vigiliae Christianae, Vol. 61, No. 3 (Aug., 2007), pp. 258-281Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20474822.
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bE
Vigiliae
/683
Christianae
BRILL
Vigiliae
Christianae
1
(2007) 258-281
www.brill.nl/vc
TheWatchers'
Whispers:Athenagoras's
egatio
25,1-3
and
theBook
of the
Watchers
Dragos-Andrei
iulea
Marquette
University,
oughlin all
100,
Milwaukee,WI
53201, USA
dragos.giulea
marquette. du
Abstract
The passage 25,1-3
in
Athenagoras'sLegatiopro
christianis,writing replete ith
Greek
philosophical and
mythologicalmaterial, seems to represent
retelling f a Jewish ar
rative, oth biblical and pseudo-epigraphic,namely themyth of theWatchers. A thor
ough investigation f the
passage
from
egatio
discloses that
thenagoras's version of
the
myth
is closest to the
first
ersionof the
narrative, amely
to theBook
of
theWatch
ers. t the same
time,
theAthenian
introduces reek
philosophical
terminology nd
problems
within
his retelling f
the
myth.
However,
the
most significant
iscovery is
the fact that
thenagoras, employing
especially
toic
psychological terms,
nvestigates
theway the fallen
ngels
act
within the
human souls.
In
thisway, one
may say
that the
Athenian
internalized he
myth and conferred n it a
psychological
analysis.He was
probably
the first o undertake
thiskind of
investigation-beforeClement,
Origen,
and
especiallyEvagrius,
the latter
eing
the one
who
articulated themost
elaborate
analysis
f the
psychological
effects f the
demonic
influences.
Keywords
giants, fallen
ngels, demons, Enoch,
irrational ovements,
affinityf the soul, ratio
nality/freeill, image,
idol
Several
scholars
argue
that
Athenagoras
of
Athens,
a
philosophically
instructedreek, sent
supplication n behalf f his
fellow hristiansto
the
emperor nd
philosopher arcus
Aurelius.
The
event seems
to have
taken lace in the ate seventiesf thesecond century .D.' Among the
1}
Regarding
the
temporal
localization of
the
Supplication,
L.W
Barnard
argues
for
a
date between
176
and
180
(Athenagoras.
A
Study
in
Second
Century
Christian
Apologetic
[Paris:
Beauchesne,
1972]
19).
Moreover,
making
room
in
discussion
for
a
study
on
the
?
Koninklijkerill V,
eiden,007
DOI: 10.1
63/157007207X218875
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D.-A. Giulea /VigiliaeChristianae 1 (2007) 258-281 259
abundantGreek
philosophical
nd
mythological
aterial
in the
upplica
tion, ne encounters his assage
f
Jewish esonance:
These angels, then,who fell fromheaven busy themselves bout the air and the
earth and
are no
longer able
to
rise
to
the realms above
the
heavens.
The
souls
of thegiants are thedemons
(8ai,uove;)
who wander about theworld. Both angels
and demons produce
(notu?o)
ovements
(Kitvf(Yt;)-demons
movements
which
are akin to
thenatures theyreceived, nd angels
movements
which
are akin to
the
lusts
F'Meueiat)
with which they ere possessed. The prince ofmatter, asmay be
seen from hat happens, directs and administers things na manner opposed to
God's goodness...
But since
the demonic impulses and
activities
&xlgovtKxA
KtVT9GC1t
xt
?V?p7etcxt)
f the hostile spirit
(nveiUwa)
ring thesewild attacks
(axtKrl
?ity0popai)-indeed
we see
them
move men
from
ithin
and from
ith
out, one
man one
way and another
man
another,
ome
individually
nd some as
nations,
one
at a time
nd all together, ecause
of
our
kinship
(agn&6Oe-utx)
ith
matter
and
our
affinity
ith
the
divine...
But
to the
xtent
that
t
depends
on
the
reason
peculiar
to
each
individual nd
the
ctivity
Evt
y7Foa)
f
the
ruling
rince
and his attendant
demons,
one
man
is
swept
along
(@pPpTct
at K
tlV1ctal)
ne
way,
another
man another way,
even
though
all have the
same
rationality
(XoR05T6)
within.2
imperial
titles ascribed
to
Marcus
Aurelius
and his
son
Commodus,
B.
Pouderon
even
raises
the
hypothesis
of
a
more
precise
date,
namely
A.D.
177
(ed.
and
trans.
B.
Pouderon,
Ath?
nagore:
Supplique
au
sujet
des chr?tiens
et
sur
la
r?surrection
des
morts
[SC
379;
Paris: Les
Editions du
Cerf,
1992]
23).
For
scholarship
regarding Athenagoras's theological
system,
see
F.
Schubring,
Die
Philosophie
des
Athenagoras
(Wiss.
Beilage
zum
Programm
des
Koel
nischen
Gymnasiums,
1888);
L.
Richter,
Philosophisches
in
der
Gottes-
und
Logoslehre
des
Apologeten
Athenagoras
von
Athen
(1905);
J.
Geffcken,
Zwei
griechische Apologeten
(1907);
A.
Puech,
Les
Apologistes
grecs
du
IIe
si?cle de
notre
?re
(1912);
H.A.
Lucks,
The
Philosophy of
Athenagoras:
Its Sources
and Value
(1936);
J.H.
Crehan,
Athenagoras
(ACW
XXIII,
1956);
A.B.
Malherbe,
"The Structure of
Athenagoras'
'Supplicatio
pro
christianis',"
Vigiliae
Chris
tianae
23
(1969)
1-20;
B.
Pouderon,
Athenagoras
d'Ath?nes,
philosophe
chr?tien
(Paris:
Beauchesne,
1989);
B.
Pouderon,
D'Ath?nes
?
Alexandrie: ?tudes
sur
Ath?nagore
et
les
origines
de la
philosophie
chr?tienne
(Qu?bec:
Presses
de l'Universit?
Laval;
Louvain:
Editions
Peeters,
1997);
B.
Pouderon,
"Ath?nagore
et
la tradition
alexandrine,"
in
Origeniana
Octava,
Vol.
1,
ed.
L.
Perrone
(Leuven:
Peeters,
2003)
201-19;
B.
Pouderon,
Les
Apologistes
grecs
du
Ile
si?cle
Paris:
erf,
2005)
205-7.
2)
Athenagoras,
Leg.
25,1-3
in
W.R. Schoedel's
Athenagoras:
Legatio
and
De resurrectione
(Oxford:
Clarendon
Press,
1972)
61-3.
For
other
translations,
see
C.C.
Richardson's
in
ECF (London, 1953), J.H. Crehan's Embassy for theChristians. The Resurrection of theDead
(London:
Longmans,
1956),
and
B.P
Pratten's
in
ANF
II:
129-48.
For
the Greek
text,
I
use
in
the
present
study
Pouderon's
version
from
SC
379,
1992.
Cf.
W.R.
Schoedel's
in
Athenagoras
and
M.
Marcovich's
edition
Athenagoras,
Legatio
pro
Christianis
(Berlin;
New
York:
W.
de
Gruyter,
1990).
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260
D.-A. Giulea /
VigiliaeChristianae
1 (2007) 258-281
The
roots
f thepassage
seem
to
go
back
to the
main
story f
theBook
of
theWatchers,
ne
of
the
documents
ncluded
n
the
nochic
collection
known
under the
title f The thiopic
ook ofEnoch
or
1
Enoch.
6:1/
When
the sons
of
men had
multiplied,
in
those
days, beautiful
and
comely
daughters
were
born
to
them.2/
And thewatchers,
the sons of
heaven,
saw them
and desired
them.
And they
aid
to one another,
"Come,
let
us
choose for ur
selves
wives
from
the
daughters
ofmen, and
let
us beget
children
for urselves."
[...]
5/
hen
they
ll swore together nd bound
one another
with
a curse.
6/And
they ere, allof them,twohundred,who descended in thedaysof Jared nto the
peak of
Mount
Hermon.
[
...]
7:1/
These
and
all theothers
with
them took
for themselves
ives from mong
them
such as
they
hoose. And
they
egan
to
go
in
to
them, nd
to
defile
them
selves through
hem,
nd to
teach them orcery
nd
charms,
nd to
reveal
to them
the
cutting of
roots and
plants.
2/ And they
conceived
from them
and bore
to
them
greatgiants.And
the
giants begotNephilim
[
..]
3/
They were devour
ing
the
labor of all the
sons of
men,
and
men
were not
able
to supply
them.
4/And
thegiants began
to
kill
men and
to
devour them.
5/And
they egin to sin
against thebirds and
beasts and
creeping things nd
the
fish,
nd
to
devour
one
another's flesh. nd they rank theblood.3
3)
1
En.
6:1-7:5,
in 1
Enoch.
A New
Translation,
eds.
G.W.E.
Nickelsburg
and
J.C.
VanderKam
(Minneapolis:
Fortress
Press,
2004)
23-5.
As
the editors
claim,
"The Book of the
Watchers
probably
took
its
present
form
by
the
mid-
or
late third
century
B.C.E."
(1
Enoch.
A
New
Translation,
3).
For
secondary
literature,
see
for
instance,
J.T
Milik,
"Turfan
et
Qumran:
Livre des
g?ants
juif
et
manich?en,"
in
Das
fr?he
Christentum
in seiner
Umwelt,
eds.
G.
Jeremias,
H.-W.
Kuhn,
and
H.
Stegemann
(G?ttingen,
1971)
117-27;
D.
Dimant,
?The
Fallen
Angels?
in
the Dead
Sea
Scrolls and
in
the
Apocryphal
and
Pseudepigraphic
Books
Related
to
Them
(Ph.D.
Thesis,
Hebrew
University,
1974);
M.
Delcor,
"Le
Mythe
de
la
chute des
anges
et
l'origine
des
g?ants
comme
explication
du mal
dans
le
monde dans
l'apocalyptique
juive.
Histoire
des
Traditions,"
RHR
190
(1976)
3-53,
22-24;
P.
Hanson,
"Rebellion
in
Heaven,
Azazel and
Euhemeristic
Heroes
in 1
Enoch
6-11,"
fBL
96
(1977)
195-233;
G.W.E.
Nickelsburg,
"Apocalyptic
nd
Myth
in 1
Enoch
6-11,"
fBL
96
(1977)
383-405;
D.W.
Suter,
"Fallen
Angels,
Fallen
Priests. The
Problem
of
Family
Purity
in
1
Enoch
6-16,"
UCA
50
(1979)
115-35;
J.
anderKam,
noch and the
rowth
of
n
Apoca
lyptic
Tradition
(The
C.B.Q
Monograph
Series
16;
Washington:
The Catholic
Association
of
America,
1984);
I.
Fr?hlich,
"Les
enseignements
des veilleurs dans
la
tradition de
Qum
ran,"
RQ
13
(1988)
177-87;
M.J.
Davidson,
Angels
at
Qumran.
A
Comparative
Study of
1Enoch 1-36, 72-108 and Sectarian
Writings
from
Qumran (Sheffield, 1992); P.S. Alexander,
"Wrestling
Against
Wickedness
in
High
Places:
Magic
in
the
Worldview
of the
Qumran
Community,"
in
Qumran
Fifty
Years
After,
eds.
S.E. Porter
and
C.A. Evans
(Sheffield, 1997)
319-30;
A.M.
Reimer,
"Rescuing
the
Fallen
Angels:
The
Case
of the
Disappearing Angels
at
Qumran,"
DSD
7
(2000)
331-53.
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D.-A. Giulea /VigiliaeChristianae 1
(2007) 258-281 261
The present tudy
uggests hat
beyond the
overall
imilarities hat ne
may discernbetween
the twopassages,thedistinctive
thenagorian ote
consists
f
the
nsertion
ithin the
upplication
arrative
f
a
few reek
philosophical erms, ost of them
riginating
n
Stoic psychology.hese
terms
ot only lend
a
philosophical
olor
to
thewhole
account,but also
suggest
hat he
thenagorian ragmentight represent
he
ink
etween,
or at
least
n
important ilestone n
the
ay
from he ook
of
the
atchers
to the
Evagrian
Treatise n the arious vil
Thoughts.
n theone
hand,
Athenagorasreshaped he nochic narrative boutWatchers,about their
fall,
nd their nfluence
n
human conduct.
n
the ther
hand,Athena
gorasdescended into thedomain of human
psychology
nd
investigated
the
ay
thefallen
ngels nd their
ffspring
ct
within the
uman soul.
He
was
probably
he
first o
undertake his ind
of
investigation,
efore
lem
ent,4
rigen,5
nd
Evagrius,6
ll ofwhom
most
likely
ollowed,
ediated
4)
See,
for
instance,
Paed.
3,3-15;
Protr.
2,41; 3,42-4;
Str.
2,20,114,
Eclogae
46,1.
See
also
F.
Andres, "Engel- und D?monenlehre des Klemens
von
Alexandrien," RQ34 (1926) 129
40;
307-30.
5)
For
instance:
PArch.
1,8,1;
3,2,4; 3,3,4;
CCels.
1,31;
4,92-3;
6,69;
8,31;
Com.Lc.
12; 35;
Com.Jn.
13,59;
Hom.Jos.
15,4-5;
Com. Ct.
3-4
(for
?iaX-oyia^ioi
=
cogitationes),
and
many
others.
See also
J.
Dani?lou,
"D?mon:
Dans
la litt?rature
eccl?siastique
jusqu'? Orig?ne,"
Dictionnaire
de
spiritualit?,
asc?tique
et
mystique,
doctrine
et
histoire,
Vol.
3
(Paris,
1937
1967);
EX.
Murphy,
"Evagrius
Ponticus
and
Origenism,"
in
Origeniana
Tertia,
eds.
R.P.C.
Hanson
and
F.
Crouzel
(Rome:
Edizioni
dell'Ateneo,
1985)
253-69;
M.
O'Laughlin,
"Elements of
Fourth
Century
Origenism:
The
Anthropology
of
Evagrius
Ponticus
and
Its
Sources,"
in
Origen
of
Alexandria,
eds.
C.
Kannengiesser
and
W.L. Petersen
(Notre
Dame,
IN:
University
of
Notre Dame
Press,
1988)
357-73;
A.M.
Castagno,
"La
demonologia
di
Origene:
Aspetti
filosofici,
pastorali,
apologetici," Origeniana
Quinta
(Leuven:
Peeters,
1992)
320-5;
G.S.
Gasparro,
"Eguaglianza
di
natura
e
differenza di condizione dei
logikoi:
la soluzione
origeniana
nel
contesto
delle formule
antropologiche
e
demonologiche greche
del
II
e
III
sec?lo,"
Origeniana
Quinta
(Leuven:
Peeters,
1992)
301-19;
H.
Crouzel,
"Dia
bles
et
d?mons dans les hom?lies
d'Orig?ne,"
BLE
95
(1994)
303-31;
G.
Gould,
"The
Influence of
Origen
on
Fourth-Century
Monasticism: Some
Further
Remarks,"
Origeniana
Sexta
(Leuven:
Peeters,
1995)
591-98;
M.
Peshty,
"Logismoi
orig?niens?logismoi ?vagriens,"
Origeniana
Octava
(Leuven:
Peeters,
2003)
1017-22.
6)
The doctrine about the
various
kinds of
influences that
demonic
spirits
exert
on
the
human soul
is
present
almost
everywhere
in
the
Evagrian
treatises.
Thorough
analyses
occur
especially in The Prakticos, Antirrheticos, Treatise on Various Evil Thoughts, or The Chapters on
Prayer.
See,
for
instance,
A.
Guillaumont's
synthesis
"D?mon:
Litt?rature
monastique:
Evagre
le
Pontique,"
Dictionnaire
de
spiritualit?,
Vol.
3,
196-205;
A.
Guillaumont,
Les
'k?phalaia
gnosticd
d'Evagre
le
Pontique
et
l'histoire
de
TOrig?nisme
chez les
grecs
et
chez les
syriens
(Paris:
Eds. du
Seuil,
1962);
A.
Guillaumont,
Aux
origines
du monachisme chr?tien:
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262 D.-A. Giulea /
Vigiliae
Christianae 1
(2007) 258-281
or not, the thenagorian roject.7 elying n this raditionbout internal
demonic influencesnd
on
the
spiritual xperience
f
the fathersf the
desert,Evagrius
will
articulate, hrough hilosophical terms,
he
most
elaborate nd
organized
xamination
f the nternal
rocesses
nspired y
the evil
spirits.8 evertheless,
he
origins
of
Evagrius's
nterprise
ost
probably ie
n
the thenagorian
egatio ro
christianis.
or this eason, he
following
ages investigate
he
Athenagorian
onstruction
n
its
border
like
haracter,
n
its two
pivotaldimensions: he
mythological-Jewish
nd
the
hilosophical-Greek.
The Jewish nd Jewish-Christian
ontext
As documentary vidence hows,
he traditionbout giants ndWatchers
was
circulating
n
multiple
versions
duringAthenagoras's
ifetime.
he
most elaborate eportsf themyth of
Watchers and giants
find
xpression
in the
ersion f the
1
(Ethiopic) noch 1-36 (Book f the
Watchers),
n
that
of
Jubilees
,9
hich
preserves
very
imilar
arrative
n
an
extended
orm,
pour
une
ph?nom?nologie
du monachisme
(B?grolles
en
Mauges,
Maine
&
Loire:
Abbaye
de
Bellefontaine,
1979);
A.
Guillaumont,
M?langes
Antoine
Guillaumont:
contributions
?
l'?tude des
christianismes
orientaux:
avec une
bibliographie
du d?dicataire
(Gen?ve:
P.
Cra
mer,
1988);
J.T.
Lienhard,
"On 'Discernment of
Spirits'
in
the
Early
Church,"
Theological
Studies
41
(1980)
505-29;
G.
Bunge,
Akedia: die
geistliche
Lehre
des
Evagrios
Pontikos
vom
?berdruss
(K?ln:
Luthe-Verlag,
1983);
M.
O'Laughlin,
"The
Bible,
Demons and
the
Desert?Evaluating
the Antirrheticus of
Evagrius-Ponticus,"
Studia
Mon?stica
34:2
(1992)
201-15;
A.
Diogenes,
"Ascetic
Theology
and the
Eight
Deadly
Thoughts:
[Evagrius
of
Pontus' Teachings As Resource for Spiritual Regeneration]," Evangelical Journal 13 (1995):
15-21
;
.
Diogenes,
"Ascetic
Theology
and
Psychology,"
Limning
the
Psyche
(Grand
Rapids:
Eerdmans,
1997)
297-316;
A.
Louth,
and
J.
Raitt,
Wisdom
of
the
Byzantine
Church:
Evagrios
of
Pontos
and
M?ximos
the
Confessor.
Four Lectures
(Columbia,
MO:
Department
of
Religious
Studies,
University
of
Missouri,
1998);
A.
Guillaumont,
Un
philosophe
au
d?sert.
Evagre
le
Pontique
(Paris:
Vrin,
2004)
220-59.
7)
Pouderon
argues
that
Athenagoras,
Clement,
Origen,
Eusebius,
or
Cyril
shared
various
ancient
Greek
sources
(see
Pouderon,
"Ath?nagore
et
la tradition
alexandrine").
8)
As
one can see
in
the above
note
6,
scholars
analyzed
in
great
detail
Evagrius's
elaboration.
9)
J.C.
VanderKam,
The Book
of
ubilees
CSCO
511;
Leuven:
Peeters,
1989).
Cf.
O.S.
Wintermute's translation
in
The
Old
Testament
Pseudepigrapha,
Vol.
2,
ed.
J.H.
Charlesworth
(New
York:
Doubleday,
1985)
52-142.
See
also
K.
Berger,
"Das
Buch
der
Jubil?en,"
in
J?dische
Schriften
aus
hellenistisch-r?mischer
Zeit.
Bd.
2:
Unterweisung
in
erz?hlender
Form,
eds.
WG.
K?mmel;
H.
Lichtenberger
(G?tersloh,
1981)
273-576;
J.C.
VanderKam's "The
Angel
Story
in
the Book of
Jubilees,"
in
Pseudepigraphic
Perspectives:
The
Apocrypha
and
Pseudepigrapha
in
light
of
theDead
Sea
Scrolls.
Proceedings of
the
International
Symposium of
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D.-A. Giulea
/
Vigiliae
Christianae
1
(2007) 258-281
263
and finallyn that f2 (Slavonic) noch 18.10Justin artyrmakes two
referenceso
themyth,
n
his
1
Apology ,2
and
2Apology
,3-5. In the
first
apology,
hich
Justin
roduced
in
154
or
155,11 e
tookover
the
general
lines
f the
nochic
narrative
nd
identifiedhe
giants ith
"demons."
n
the econd
one,
elaborated
round
165,12
e
operated ith
the
istinction
between
fallen
ngels
nd
demons, onceiving
f
demons
s
the
hildren f
thefallen
ngels.
3
atian
in
his
Oration
to
he
reeks
,3 also
mentions that
a
certain
first-begottenne"
(o
irpow6yovo;)
ecame a
demon
andmany
other
angels imitated im.
Tertullian, oo,proves
to
be
acquaintedwith
themythof thefallen pirits ho disclosed orrupt nowledge ohuman
kind.14
renaeus's roof
f the
postolic
reaching 8,
elaborated lmost
ne
or
two
decades after
thenagoras's
upplication'5
nd
retelling he
tory f
1
Enoch
6-9
in
its
major
lines,may
represent
n
important itness
for he
widespread
cceptance f the
narrative f the
Watchers
among
the
hris
tian
ommunities f
the
econd
century.16
One
of the
most
interesting
etellings
f the
Enochic
story
bout the
fallen
ngels,
n
particular
he cenario
f
the
fall, ay
be
encountered
n
the
eighth
pseudo-Clementine
omily.'7
s a
distinguishing ark,
the
the
Orion
Center
for
the
Study
of
theDead Sea
Scrolls and
Associated
Literature,
12-14
Janu
ary,
1997,
eds.
E.G. Chazon
and
M.E. Stone
(Leiden,
New
York, K?ln,
1999)
151-170;
G.W.E.
Nickelsburg's
"The Nature
and Function
of
Revelation
in
1
Enoch,
Jubilees,
and
some
Qumranic
Documents,"
in
Pseudepigraphic Perspectives,
eds.
E.G.
Chazon
and
M.E.
Stone,
91-119;
M.
Albani,
J.
Frey
and
A.
Lange,
eds.,
Studies
in
theBook
of
ubilees
(TSAJ
65;
T?bingen,
1997).
10)
A.
Vaillant,
Le
livre
des
secrets
d'Henoch: Texte
slave
et
traduction
fran?aise
(Paris:
Institut
d'Etudes Slaves, 1952); EL Andersen, "2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch," The Old Testa
ment
Pseudepigrapha,
Vol.l,
ed.
J.H.
Charlesworth
(New
York:
Doubleday,
1985
[1983]);
A.
Orlov,
Enoch-Metatron
Tradition
(T?bingen:
Mohr-Siebeck,
2005).
n)
E.R.
Goodenough,
The
Theology of
Justin
the
Martyr
(Amsterdam:
Philo
Press,
1968)
81.
12)
Ibid.,
86.
Cf. A.
Wartelle,
Saint
Justin,
Apologies.
Introduction,
texte
critique,
traduc
tion,
commentaire
(Paris:
Etudes
augustiniennes,
1987)
22
and
29-35.
13)
Justin,
2Ap.
5.
Barnard
suggests
that
Justin
follows
a
Jewish
tradition
also
encountered
in
Zohar
on
Gen.
6:4;
R.
Judah
(AD 200);
Pirq.
de
R.
Elizer
22;
Clem. Horn.
6,18;
Papias,
Fr.
4.
According
to
this
tradition the
sons
of
the fallen
angels
are
demons.
On the
contrary,
Athenagoras
seems
to
rely
on
more
ancient
materials such
as
1
En.
15:3
and
Jub.
4:22,
where
the
children
of
the fallen
angels
are
the
giants
(see
Barnard,
Athenagoras,
114).
14)
Tertullian,
e.g.
De
anim.
2;
De
Virg.
Veland.
7;
Adv. Marc.
5.18;
De
idol.
9.
15)
Irenaeus,
Proof
of
the
Apostolic
Preaching,
trans.
Joseph
P.
Smith
(London, 1952)
6.
16)
For
other Irenaeic
occurrences
of
the
myth,
see
Dem.
27;
Haer
4,16,2,
and
4,36,4.
17)
Ps.
Clem. Horn.
8,11-23
in
ANF VIII:
272-5.
Cf.
F.
Bovon
and
P.
Geoltrain,
Ecrits
apocryphes
chr?tiens
II(Paris:
Gallimard,
2005)
1380-4.
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264
D.-A. Giulea
/Vigiliae
Christianae 1 (2007)
258-281
original
in
and thus
theway evil entered
theworld
are
differently
on
ceived than
n
both
the
tradition
fAdam and Eve and thetradition
f the
Watchers:
the
original
in
belongs
to thewhole humankind
nd
consists
of luxury
nd lack
f the fear
f
God."8
In this ontext
the
ngels
f
the
lower ank
sked to be
sent n
the
didactic
mission
inwhich
they ould
show to the
humans
the
ways
of holiness.
aking
use
of their apacity f
changing
heir ubstance
nd form,
hey
ransformedhemselves
nto
men,
precious
tones, nd
gold, aswell
as beasts
nd
reptiles.19
owever, hanged
intomen inall respects,he ngelspartook f human lust nd tasted atal
cohabitation
ith
women.
Making
a
possible
referenceo
Psalm
104:4
and
Hebrews 1:7 ("He
makes his angels
winds and
his
servants
lames
f fire"),
the nonymous
uthor
urther
xplains
ow the
eight
f
lust xtinguished
theheavenly
ire n
angels.
mptied
of their
ower,
the
ngelic
creatures
become unable
to
turn ack
to
the
first
urity
f their
ature.20
n
the
contrary,hey
dvance
n
ustfulnessnd,
wishing
to
please
their
istresses,
reveal
the secrets
f the
earth and cosmos:
metals and
precious stones,
magic and
astronomy,arments
nd
jewels.2'
heir
offspring
re
the
iants
and,as a sign fultimate ecadence, iants ndulge hemselvesndrinking
blood
and
eating
human
flesh.22
The
interestingact
s
that ll
these
ccounts f the
myth
of theWatch
ers re
different
rom he
biblical
ones
and,
keeping
n
mind
themodified
aspects
f
the
myth, especially
hose f the
pseudo-Clementine
ersion,
they
re close to
the nochic
narrative.
iblicalmaterials uch as
Genesis
6:1-8,
Numbers
13:33,
and Deuteronomy 1:28;
2:10,
21;
9:2
weremost
likely sed
in
the hristian
ommunities
f the
firstenturies.
hile the
text
f
Genesis
6 recounts hefornication
f the
onsof
men
(h'lhym)
nd
mentions thepresence f giants nplym)n earth, hebooks ofNumbers
and Deuteronomy
associate the
giants
with
the terrestrial
eople
of
Anakites,
the
sonsof
Anak,
the
nhabitantsf
Hebron at
the time
hen
the Israelites
ame from
gypt;
this
association
most
likely
reflects
18)
Ibid.,
8,11.
19)
Ibid.,
8,12.
20)
Ibid.,
8,13.
21)
Ibid., 8,14.
The disclosure
of
secrets
represents
an
Enochic motif
(cf.
1
En.
7-8).
How
ever, the reason of disclosure is different; while the Enochic material sets it as part of the
diabolic
plan
of the
Watchers,
in
the Clementine
account
the
reason
of disclosure
is
lustful
ness.
In
general
terms,
since
the
fallen
angels
are
not
guilty
for the
original
sin,
the
primary
evil
action
that
may
be
charged
on
the fallen
angels
is
lustfulness.
22)
Ibid.,
8,15.
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Giulea
/
VigiliaeChristianae 1
(2007)
258-281
265
differentradition.everal therfugitiveeferenceso themythappear in
Wisdom
14:6,
Sirach
16:7,
Baruch
3:26-8,
Testament
f
Reuben
5:6, and
TestamentfNaphtali 3:5, and a larger
emaking
n
Philo's e Gigantibus
6-18
and 58-61.23
In
De
Gigantibus
6 Philo of
Alexandria dentifiesoulswith
daemons
and
angels, onsidering
hemno more than
differentames of
the same
sortof
animated
reality istributed verywhere
ithin
the elements
f
the niverse.
owever,
someof these ealities
escended nto odies
while
others
ever
onsented
o
a union
with
anyparts
f the arth
nd
devoted
themselveso the ervice f
the
Father nd Creator.24he
descended ni
mated realities eem to be
Philo's reworking
f
themyth of the
Watchers.
For the
Alexandrian,
the
evil ones cloak themselvesnder the
name
of
angels
nd
do
not know
the
"daughters
f
right eason,
he
sciences
nd
virtues
(-a&;
6p4Ou
X6you Owycat?pcc;, ?71TuYT?LX;
ai
&prTa;,
OV)K
i80T?),
but court the
leasures
hich
are
bornofmen."25
urthermore,
isplaying
in a
clearer anner his
allegorical eading
f the
myth,Philo envisions he
giants s
a
particular pecies
f
human
beings,
he born f
earth" ersons
or the sons f the arth," ho huntthe odilypleasures.n the ontrary,
the
umans
born f heaven" re oncerned
ith
the
leasures
f the
mind
(vo01)),.e.,
with
arts, ciences, nd
moral life.
inally,
he umans
"born
f
God," namely
the
priests
nd
prophets,
irect their
nterest
eyond
the
sensible
orld,
towards herealm
nlynoetically
ccessed.26
Athenagoras'sReading
of
the nochic
Story through
reek
Cosmological
Notions
While
it
is
reasonable
o
assume that
thenagoras
ould have had
a
direct
or
mediated access to
part
f these
aterials,
he
followinguestion
rises
23)
It
might
be
worth
mentioning
that
the short
passage
from the
Testament
of
Reuben
5:6
charges
the
Watchers
primarily
with the
crime
of
lustfulness
similarly
with the later
eighth
pseudo-Clementine
homily.
Another noticeable
common
element of
the
two
writings
would
consist
of
angels'
capacity
of
changing
their
form,
especially
into
the human
one.
24)
De
Gig.
12,
in
hilo
//(LCL, 1950).
25)
Ibid., 17-18.
26)
Ibid.,
60:
oi
jx?v
yn?,
oi ??
o?pocvov,
oi
??
6eo?
yey?vaaiv
avGpomoi.
In
Leg.
All.
2,72
ff. nd
3,66
ff.
the
serpent
of the book
of Genesis
is
also
interpreted,
in
a
similar
allegorical
manner,
as
the
human desire
(n?ovrj)
for
material
things,
which induces
passions
into
the
human
soul.
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266 D.-A. Giulea /VigiliaeChristianae 1 (2007) 258-281
naturally: hy did he appropriate he nochic report?
ince the asespre
sented bove lead
to
thehypothesis
hatthe nochic
version
f themyth
circulated idely amongChristianwritings
f
thefirst
hree enturies,nd
there s
no
evidence
f their
olemic against
he iblical ccount,the
no
chicmaterial eems o
have
been read
s
a
sort
f explanation
f the iblical
passages.
A constant
feature, owever, mong
the
mentioned Christian
documents
eems to consist
n
a
literal, on-allegorical
eading, owhich
may be added a certain reedom n re-workinghedetails f the nochic
narrative. one of these heologians onfers o thisnarrative treatment
through hilosophical erminology.
Plot orcarelessness?Athenagoras,
n
his turn, hooses the nochic account
from ll the iverse eportsbout thefall f the atchers, nd,
in
amanner
similar
o
that f
his
Christian
fellows,
oes
not
showmuch reverence o
this ccount.27
rom
his
perspective,ngels
had
the task f
administrating
the universe;
more
accurately,
hey
were
charged
to
exercise rovidence
(tpo6voux)
n
the
things
hatGod had
set
in
order28nd tomanage the
matter
"iXr)
nd
its
orms
''6r).29 It is
significant
hat,
y
insertinghese
Greek philosophicalterms nto thenarrative, thenagorasoffers new
semantic
nput
o an
old traditionbout the task f the
ngels,
tradition
that lso finds
xpression
n 1
Enoch
60:12-22, 75:1-9,
80:1-8,
2
Enoch
19:1-4, Jubilees
:2
or Papias.30 ngels, according to
this tradition, er
sonify
elestial
verseers
nd
ministers
f the
arious osmic
lements uch
as the
un,moon, stars, ains, inds,
and
their
ircular ovements
n
the
universe.
imilarly,
he
duty
of
the
angels
is to
supervise easons, rivers,
fruits,nd any sort f food.
According to
the
Athenagorian
ersion
f thenarrative, ome of
the
angelsmanifested arelessnessoCgeqiLo)31n their utyand desiredter
27)
Pouderon,
Athenagoras
d'Ath?nes,
149-153.
28)
Leg.
24,3.
29)
Ibid.,
24,2;
25,5.
For
a
short introduction
into
the
philosophical
tradition
of
the
terms
matter,'
'forms,'
providence,'
from
Plato and Aristotle
to
the
Neo-Platonists,
see
for
instance F.E.
Peters's Greek
Philosophical
Terms
(New
York:
New
York
University
Press,
1967).
It
seems
that
Athenagoras,
though
considered
a
Platonist
by
some
scholars
(see,
e.g.,
Lucks,
The
Philosophy,
33-37\
Malherbe,
"The
Structure,"
1),
takes forms
to
lie within the
things, similarly to the tradition originated inAristotle.
30)
See
Fr.12,
after Andreas
of
Caesarea,
in
Apocalypsin
c.34,
serm.
12,
where the
manager
angels
are
the fallen
ones,
i.e.,
theWatchers
(in
U.H.J.
K?rtner
and
M.
Leutzsch,
Papias
fragmente.
Hirt
des
Hermas
[Darmstadt:
Wissenschaftliche
Buchgesellschaft,
1998] 64).
31)
Athenagoras,
Leg.
24,5.
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/VigiliaeChristianae
1
(2007)
258-281 267
restrialirgins. he fruits
f this elestial
ffair ere thegiants:
n ethical
lesson
that monstrousoutcome
follows
n
outrageous
ct.32
ogether
with the ouls
f the
giants, hey
tand for
emons
nd represent
oth the
agent nd
origin f evil.33 s L.W
Barnardobserved, thenagorian
heol
ogydoes
not connect
the rigin
f evil
in
the orldwith thefall fAdam
and Eve,
butwith this ccount bout
thefallen ngels.34
Nevertheless, thenagoras
nce
more modifies
the story. he Enochic
report
nforms hat theWatchers,
under the leadership f Shemihazah,
actually lottedgainst od.35 owever, heresnomention f the arelessness
in their
rovidential
uty,
n
the nochic corpora.
n the ontrary,hey
purposely
escended
to
earth
iving
irth
to
every
vil
thing
rom
orcery
and charms (7:1),
weaponry (8:1) and cutting
the
roots to
astrology,
knowledge f the igns,
nd observing
he
tars
nd the ourse f the un
and
the
moon
(8:3).
Their
time as one of
"much loodshed
n
the
arth,"
"ungodliness
nd
violence"
(9:1). Succinctly
aid, they
revealed
o the
humankind very ort
f evil deed (9:8) and
"thewhole earthwas filled
with
iniquity"
9:9). Nevertheless,
thenagoras,
nstead f
providing
his
detailedtable f evil actions, nvestigateshepsychologicalrocesses hat
theWatchers induce
nto
thehuman
mind.
A
different
ext,
he
Testament
f
Reuben
3:3-6,
may
also
be
connected
with the theme f the
nternal
perations
f the vil
spirits.
he author f
the
testamentssociates hewicked
spirits,
n
number
f
seven,
ith the
32)
Athenagoras,
Leg.
24,6.
33)
Ibid.,
25.1.
Cf.
1
En.
15:8-9
where
giants
are
called
'evil
spirits'
who
came out
of their
bodies.
While
at
15:10
they
are
called the
'spirits
of the
earth,'
at
15:11
their
title
is
that of
the
'spirits
of
giants.'
34)
Barnard,
Athenagoras,
117-8.
See
also
L.T.
Stuckenbruck's
"The
Origins
of
Evil
in
Jewish
Apocalyptic
Tradition:
The
Interpretation
of
Genesis
6:1-4
in
the
Second
and Third
Cen
turies
B.C.E.,"
in
The
Fall
of
the
Angels,
eds.
C.
Auffarth and
L.T
Stuckenbruck
(Leiden:
Brill,
2004)
87-118.
Pouderon
analyzed
Athenagoras's
view
on
the
relationship
between
matter
and
evil,
which
are
intimately
connected,
as
in
the whole Platonic
tradition.
On the
contrary,
for
Athenagoras,
God made himself
flesh without
the element
of desire.
For this
reason
Pouderon
is
inclined
to
place
the
origin
of evil
(in
Athenagoras)
not
in
the flesh
but
in the carnal influences (Athenagoras d'Ath?ne, 171-7, esp. 175). Sometimes matter seems
to
be,
for
Athenagoras,
just
the
medium
through
which the evil
Prince
of
matter
who
resides
around
matter
operates
against
the human soul
(e.g. Leg.
24
if.).
In
this
scenario,
mater
is
not
evil
per
se.
35)
i En.
6:2-7.
Cf.
Sib.
Or.
1,98;
1,123.
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268
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Giulea
/
Vigiliae
Christianae
1
(2007) 258-281
seven, robably apital,vices.36his text hus
witnesses to the
Hellenistic
phenomenon f
cultural
yncretism,
n
which
Greek
and
Jewish erms
nd
images
function ogether
s semantic
toolswithin
the
same text.
s for
Athenagoras,
ne may
reasonably ffirm
hat
he also
was part
of, and
offered is personal
ontribution
o,
this
henomenon.
The
eader f therebels:
hemihazah, he
erpent, r the
rince
fMatter?
Another
Athenagorian
Greek
terminological
nsertion
ithin the
story
may be
noticed
f
ne
focuses
ttention n
the eader f
the fallen
ngels.
While Justin, or nstance,alled the eader serpent, atan,and devil,"37
terms
elonging o theJewish
anguage nd
imagery,
thenagoras
ntitled
this haracter
he Prince fmatter
nd theforms
n
it"
o6i;
'S
Xi;
Kai
tcov
?V
x&Trji6ov
C`pxwv),38
he
spirit
round/about he
matter,"
to
ntcpt
iiv
6UXriv
rvp6gic),39
he
"ruling rince"
o
Ei?X?OV
pCxov),40
r
the
"material
spirit"
iXlKOv
vwI5go)
s
opposed
to
the
pure"
KxOxpov)41
r
"heavenly"
(o9p
Iov)42
ne.
This
distinction
etweenhe pirit
fmatter
nd the
pure
or
celestial
pirit
ecalls he
traditionf the two
pirits,
ow in
a
mix
ture
f
biblical
Jewish
nd
mythological
reek flavors.43
Punishedt thefinaljudgmentr ddicted omatter? differentspect f
the
story
nderlines he
theme f
the
punishment scribed
to
the evil
36)
Cf.
Evagrius's
De
octo
spiritibus
malitiae,
where the
author
explains
how
wicked
spirits
cause
the
human
vices.
For
the number of
eight
spirits
and
thoughts,
see
for
instance
Guillaumont,
Un
philosophe,
214-5.
37)
1
Ap.
28.1.2:
o
-
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D.-A. Giulea /
VigiliaeChristianae
1
(2007)
258-281
269
agentsfor their orrific eeds.ForAthenagoras, heconsequence f the
Watchers'
original
ct of
desiring
arthly
irgins as
their
mprisonment
within
the
omainof atmosphere
nd
earth. hile
the apiential radition
of
Wisdom 14:6 and
Baruch 3:26-28 speaks
bout
the
vanishing
f the
giants,theBook
of theWatchers oes
notmake anymention
of such an
event. nly chapter
7 of
1
Enoch,part
f the ookofSimilitudes,
ritten
probably
n
the
firstentury C, offers
description f the
ast udgment
and
of the
unishment
f thefallen
ngels.
Jubilees :6 thenportrays
he fallen
ngels
as sent to theearth
rather
than lotting gainst
od
or
manifesting
arelessnessn their
uty.
hile
the ccount
f Jubileesoes not
bring p the
inof the
Watchers,
it is
said
that he ther
ngels f heaven
received hemission
to
"tie them p
in
the
depths f
the arth."44
Nonetheless,thenagoras,
nstead
f
taking
nto
iscussion
he
ssue
fjudg
ment,preferredo
talk bout special
inding, f a psychological
ature, hat
inhibits
ny scent f the allen
ngels ndkeeps
them ound to the arth.45
Jean
anielou noticed
that hristian ocuments
uch sEphesians
:12
or the scensionf saiah10:29-30 preserved differentewish radition,
similar
ith
Athenagoras's,
amely
that
hefallen
ngels
received
he un
ishment
f residing
n
the
ir or
atmosphere.
n
the ontrary,hristian
writers
uch
as
Papias,Justin,
nd
Tatian
preserve
nother radition,
hich
claims that
ctually
hefirst
irmament
as
the
ostlapsarian lace
for he
imprisonment
f thefallen ngels.46
s
Athenagoras
entions ir nd
earth
(25,1),
he
probably
mixes the traditionsttested
n
Ephesians
andAscen
sion
fIsaiah
with that f
Enoch.
n
I
Enoch 15:10
one can
encounter
he
clear-cut istinction
etween
the
spirits
f the arth"
i.e.,
the
Watchers)
and the spiritualeings f heaven" i.e.,the ngels). owever, nthis ase
again,Athenagoras
mprints
he
story
ith
hisGreek
philosophical
eal,
since
n
Legatio
4,2,6
he
portrays
hefallen
owers
s
concerned
ith,
or
even
residing
bout,
the
matter
(n?pi
tijv
tXr1v)
nd
operating
hrough
t
44)
Jub.
5:6,
in
VanderKam's
translation.
As
VanderKam
states,
"it
now seems
safe
to
claim
that the Book of
Jubilees
was
written
between
years
170
and
150
B.C.
(VanderKam,
"Intro
duction," in The Book offubilees, vi).
45)
One
can
further
see
in
the
present
study
that
Athenagoras designated
this
binding,
in
the
case
of human
beings,
with the
Stoic
term
aDUTtocOeioc.
46)
Dani?lou, "D?mon,"
165.
Cf.
H.
Bietenhard,
Die
himmlische
Welt
(T?bingen
1951)
209-21
and
H.
Rahner,
"Erdgeist
und
Himmelgeist,"
?ranos
fahrbuch
13
(1945)
237-75.
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Vigiliae
Christianae
1
(2007)
258-281
Athenagoras's laboration of
the
Narrative
through
sychological
Terminology
1.
TheTheory
f the
rrational
ovements f the
oul
Although
philosopher,
thenagoras
id
not
dismiss he arrative
bout the
Watchers
s
purely ymbolical.
he
Watchers,
herefore,
ad
to
have
n
onto
logical, ot
only
ymbolical,ubstance.47
thenagoras
rticulatedis
peculiar
treatment
f
the
narrative
hrough
hilosophical
erminology
n
several
is
tinct heories,hichwill constitutehe ubject f thefollowingages.
Before
thenagoras, ustin
pproached
he
matter f
the
nternal
ove
ments that
thedemons
may
produce. For
Justin,
emons try o
subdue
humans
by
deceiving
trategies,
sometimes
y appearances
n
dreams, nd
sometimes
ymagical
impositions."48
ut
according
o
thenagoras, emons
induce
other types f
movements
(Ktv15jotl)
nd activities
'v
pytax)
within the
human souls
as
well, sometimes
n
an
individual
KOCO'
_Vx),
sometimes
n
a
whole nation
(KOCt\
,Ov).'1
Studying
the
meaning
of
the
Stoic
concept
of
"internal
ovements,"
RichardSorabji pointed out Seneca'sdistinction etweenthree
inds of
emotions r
passions
adfectus,
hich
translateshe
Greek
iuiOi1).50
alen
gives
itness that
hrysippus efined
motion
s
"an
irrational
ovement
of
the
oul
contrary
o
nature."'" he
scheme f
the three
inds
of emo
47)
Athenagoras,
Leg.
24,5.
48)
Justin,
1
Ap.
14.
For
non-Jewish
or
Jewish-Christian
contexts,
especially
for
the
Greek
world,
Plutarch should be
mentioned
for
the
idea
that
daemons
are
active
in
the
feasts
and
religious
ceremonies
(De
Def
Orac.
13,
417a. Cf.
Albinus,
Epit.
15,2).
However,
on the
ethical and
everyday
levels the
theme of the
two
daemons,
which
P.
Boyanc?
claims
has
roots
in
the
Pythagorean
tradition
(Boyanc?,
"Les
deux
d?mons,"
189-202),
is
more
important.
It
might
be
encountered
in
Athenagoras's
time in
one
of
his
contemporaries,
Numenius
of
Apamea.
In
Fr.
37
(preserved
from his
original
On
the
Incorruptibility of
the Soul
in
Proclus's
In Tim.
1,76,
30-77)
Numenius
claims that
daemons
may
be
good
or
bad
and
they
may
be
classified
in
three
categories:
divine,
relational,
and those
destroying
the souls
(E.
des
Places,
Numenius:
Fragments
[Paris,
Les
Belles
Lettres,
1973]).
However,
Athenagoras
seems
to
be
the
first
to
investigate
the evil
psychological
influence of the
daemons
in
the
context
of the
Enochic
story.
In
fact,
Numenius
claims that
matter
is
the
source
of
the evil
in
the human
soul: xr\v|n)%fjx? kockov, ano ji?v xfj? vXr\q (Ibid., Fr. 49b).
49)
Athenagoras,
Leg.
25,3.
50)
R.
Sorabji,
Emotion
and
Peace
of
Mind.
From
Stoic
Agitation
to
Christian
Temptation
(Oxford
000)
6lff.
51)
Galen,
PHP
4,2,8,
p.
240
de
Lacy,
from
Sorabji,
Emotion,
60.
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VigiliaeChristianae 1
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tions hat eneca expounded
n
hisOn Anger
.4.1 was
in
fact
n attempt
at harmonizing
he
previous
toic
positions.According
to
the
Senecan
scheme, hefirst ype f emotions,
r thefirst ovement
p rimus otus)52
of themind, is
involuntary,
annot
be
avoidedby reason, nd
affects
ven
thewise.53 he aspectwhich
is
worthy
f
notice at
thisfirst
tage
f
the
scheme onsists
n
the fact hat hefirst
ovement f the oul isnot ethi
callygood or bad, but neutral. n
the ontrary,
in
the econd
stage,"
s
Sorabji explains,
themind
assents
o
the
ppearance
f
injustice,"nd,
in
thisway, a "moralmistake of reason"54ill takeplace. Finally, he third
stage f Seneca's cheme
s
that f the
ncontrolledimpotens) ind,
which
"has overthrownevicit)reason." orabji observes s well that this third
stage corresponds
o
Chrysippus'
talk
f
disobeying
eason
nd turning
away
from t."55
The first ovement needs further
ttention ince, as Sorabji claims,
Origen
made
a
"decisive
hange"
n
the
theory
f the first
ovements
f
the
mind by connecting
hem
ith evil
thoughts
Xo7tirioi,
lat.
ogitatio
nes]).56
or
the
Alexandrian theologian, herefore,
he
term
first
ove
ment" acquired negative onnotationnd its thicalneutralityanished.
Athenagoras evelopsa similar octrine
o
that laborated yOrigen.
In
52)
In
his
On
Anger,
Seneca
refers
to
the first internal
movement
with
the
following
terms:
primus
ictus
animi
(2,2,2);
movet mentes
(2,2,4);
animum
impellunt
(2,3,1);
motus
animi
(2,3,4);
prima
agitatio
animi
(2,3,5);
primus
motus
(2,4,1);
primus
animi ictus
(2,4,2).
As
Sorabji
noticed,
the
roots
of the
idea
of the first
movement
of the
mind
can
be also
encoun
tered
in
Zeno, Plutarch,
or
Cicero
(Sorabji,
Emotion,
67).
53)
Seneca,
On
Anger,
2,4,1-2;
2,2,2.
54)
Sorabji,
Emotion,
61.
55)
Ibid.
According
to
Sorabji,
Seneca
undertook
his
synthesis
as an
attempt
at
harmonizing
Chrysippus'
and
Zeno's
positions
(Ibid., 55-65).
56)
Sorabji,
Emotion,
346.
Cf.
Origen,
PArch.
3,2,2-4;
Hom.Jos.
15,3;
Com.Mt.
21;
Com.Ct.
3;
Com.Ps.
54,5.
One should also
keep
in
mind
that,
for
Origen, thoughts (cogitationes)
as
first
movements
(primi
motus)
can
also
come
from God
or
angels
and
they
are
evil
just
when
they
come
from the adverse
spirits
(PArch. 3,2,4).
Origen
mentions
in
Peri
Archon
3,2,2-3
such natural
movements
(naturales
motus)
as
sexuality,
anger,
or
sorrow,
which do
not
seem to
be evil
as
long
as
they
do
not
exceed
the bounds of natural
measure
(naturalis
mensura)
and moderation
(temperantia).
Moreover,
the second
homily
on
the
Song
of
Songs
commences with the affirmation that themovements of the soul are good by nature. The
idea of first
movement
as a
demonic
attack will be
present
in
many
ascetical
and
mystical
Christian
treatises,
especially
those included
in
the well-known
collection of the
Philokalia,
and
sometimes
considered
not
an
ethical
error
(e.g.
Mark the
Ascetic,
The
Spiritual
Law
141,
etc.).
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272 D.-A. Giulea /
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(2007) 258-281
orderto
understand thenagoras's
osition,
t s
necessary ohave
recourse
to a
perspective ifferentrom
he
philosophical
ne:
namely, he bove
mentioned idea f 'two nclinations'
nd 'two
pirits,'specially
n
its ibli
cal form.
Jean
Danielou's
explorations
may bring
a
deeper
insight
or
understanding
he doctrineof
6uxXotyi,to'
n
Origen's
theology.
he
French cholar tudied his
octrine rom he rism f
theJewish radition
of the
two
nclinations'
ysr,
rom
enesis
6:5
or
8:21, rendered
n
Greek
by
8taooiktov
[resolution,ecision,
eliberation]
n
the
eptuagintnd
by
conciliumn theVulgate). srdenotes theinclinationf thehuman heart
either
owards
ood
or
towards vil
actions.57
he
idea
was
also present
n
Sirach
5:14 and 37:3 and had later
evelopments
n
the
almud
Qidd
30b)
and PirkeAboth :2.58
t is
remarkablehat heTestament
fAsher
:3-6,
in
referringo the
two
opposite inclinations,
mployed the same term f
8to,3ouXtov
s
theGreek
texts
f
Sirach
15:14
and
37:3.
Furthermore,
A. and C.
Guillaumont associate the
Evagrian onceptof
oytag'6;
ith
the
ame
biblical
ysr
through
he
tradition
f theTestaments
f
the
welve
Patriarchs
ndOrigen'sHomilies in
Joshua.59
Theysrdoctrine ssignificant or hepresent tudy s far s itexcludes
from he
very
beginning
he
ethical
neutrality,nd Origen gave
a
Greek
philosophical
treatment o
this ld
Jewish
radition.
e
ascribed
to
the
Jewish onception
f inclination
o
evil
(ysrl
tBoIU'Xtov)
he
toic term
of
68tXoyt16R5;
cogitatio
lat.],
oytug6;
for
vagrius),0
the
term
sed for
denoting
hefirst ovement f
the
oul,
but
removed ts
neutral haracter.
Consequently,
oth
ysr
nd
6toXoytcg6o;,
hough
ot
synonymous,
xhibit
several imilarities.
oth
are not
ethically
eutral,
ut denote
a
human
intention r
commitment
irected ither owards
heevil
or towards he
57)
Dani?lou,
Dictionnaire
de
Spiritualit?,
Vol.
3,
152-89.
Ysr
may
also
signify
council'
as
in
Job
18:7
(?o-?^ri
n
LXX)
or
'thought'
s
in
1
Chr.
29:15
(?iavoia
in
LXX,
which
echoes
Genesis
6:5
where
ysr
is
rendered
through
ti?
?iavoercai
[?v
xx\
Kocp?ia]).
58)
The
Greek
term
used
in
the
passages
from the Book
of Sirach
is
Oia?ou^iov.
A.
&
C.
Guillaumont observed that the
word
employed
in
the
Syriac
version is
yasr?,
while
the
Hebrew
manuscript
from
Cairo
Genizah has
ysr,
see
A.
&
C.
Guillaumont,
Evagre
le
Pontique.
Trait?
pratique
ou
le
moine
(SC
170:1;
Paris:
Les
Editions
du
Cerf,
1971)
60-3
who
base their
argumentation
on
I.
L?vi's
L'Eccl?siastique
ou
La
Sagesse
def?sus,
fils
de
Sira,
Vol. 2 (Paris 1901), 110-1.
59)
Guillaumont,
Evagre
le
Pontique,
60.
60)
The
term
?iot^oyiGuo?
also
appears
in
Plato,
Axiochos
367a,
Strabon
284,
Stobaeus
2,7,10c,
Chrysippus,
SVF
2,890;
891;
911;
Epictetus,
Diss.
1.9.10;
4.2.4;
4.4.48;
Ench.
24.1.
The
term
Xoyiouo?
occurs
in
Chrysippus
and
Epictetus
as
well.
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273
good. Consequently, t appears that theJewish radition f ysr, rigen
(e.g.
P.Arch.
,2,4),
and
Athenagoras
e.g.Leg.
24,4 and
25,4) presuppose
implicitly r explicitly hat
free
ill is a cardinalplayer
in
the human
intentionality.6"
Athenagoras, efore rigen, elaborated theory f
psychological ro
cesses ith
no
place
for thical
eutrality.or the thenian theologian, he
evil
in
thehuman
soul
seems to
originate
n
two
distinct ources.The first
one is
xternal nd
comes from he shocks
/ ttacks"
int(popat)62
hat he
wicked spirits nfuse nto themind. Athenagoras also calls theeffects
of these ttacks irrational ovements"
(&Xkoyol
lv
a?l)63-with
one of
Chysippus'sexpressions-and
"activities
operations" ?v?pyrtaC1),
nd
qualifies
hem
s
"demonic,"
or heir
oming
from
n
adverse
pirit.64
he
second ource
f
interior
vil is nternal
nd
consists
n
human
affinity
nd
deliberation
22,12; 24,4),
which are not
ethically
eutral. he
next
sec
tion f the
resent tudy
s
dedicated
to their
nalysis.
In
general
erms
thenagoras
ets
the rrational
nd demonic
processes
ofmind
in
opposition
to that
f
the
ontemplationro3pla)
of the ruth
and to that f the ntuitionf the ather n?ptv06r1G1oi0 iratp6;). ccord
ing
to
him,
the
human
mind
(vo-3;)
nd
reason
Xoyo;)
have the
apacity
of
comprehension
Kaxwa6xVt;;
0,1)
and
intuition
nr?ptv0fl6t;)
f
God.65
Hence
there
re
two
ppositeways
in
which the uman
mindmay operate:
evil internal
ovements
versus
ontemplation
f the
divine.
t seems
that
this
trong
isjunction
oes
not leave room
for
the ethical
neutrality
f
the
mind.
61)
For the
connection
between
^oyiouoc
and
rcpoaipeoic
('deliberation
or
choice'),
see
Aristotle's
Metaph.
1015a.33.
LoyiGuxSc
and
?ia^oyiGuo?,
therefore,
encompass
delibera
tion
and
choice,
and this Greek
philosophical
aspect
should
not
be
overlooked
during
the
course
of
this
discussion.
62)
Athenagoras,
Leg.
25,3.
It
might
be worth
mentioning
that
later
Porphyry
will talk
about
the brutal and
surprising negative
attacks
of
the
daemons
(DeAbst.
2,39
A)
63)
Athenagoras,
Leg.
27,1.
64)
Ibid.,
25,3:
ai
arco
touvavciot)
nve\)\iaxoq
?a?uoviKai
Kivr|Gei?
Kai
?v?pyeiai.
Cf.
27,1.
65)
Ibid.,
27,2.
For
7t?pivor|Gi?,
see
23,7
where the
term
comes
in
association
with
the
notion
of'Truth'
(??TjGeia,
i.e.,
God,
probably
the
Son),
a
divine
title different from that
of'Father'.
As
in
Leg.
27,2
the
faculty
of
Gecopia
is
associated with the
Truth,
one
may
sup
pose that 7t?pivor|Gi? and Gecopia have, ifnot a synonymous, then a similar meaning. As
Clement of Alexandria
testifies,
Posidonius viewed the ultimate
goal
of
existence
as to
"live
contemplating
the truth
of all"
(to
?f^v
Gecopo?via
xrjv
xcov
oXcov
aXriGeiav).
See Str.
2,21,129,4;
cf. Posidonius.
Volume
I:
The
Fragments,
eds.
L.
Edelstein and
LG.
Kidd
(Cambridge
1972),
Fr.
186.
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274 D.-A. Giulea /
Vigiliae
Christianae 1 (2007) 258-281
2.
The Theory
fuxa
Ocioc: Phenomenologyf
Human
Mind's
Affinity
Each of these woways inwhich the umanmindmay operate ependson
a special ort f previous
inclination"
r
affinity
f
the
mind.
In
its
turn,
the inclination" oes not appear
to
be
ethically
eutral nd
Athenagoras
offers
everal indicationsfor
upholding
its
lack of
neutrality.
n
this
context, n analysis f his concept
of
moZa?Oia
(affinity,
ttachment,
co-affection,inship)66
ay lead
to
the onclusion that his
oncept
plays
a similar unction o that f thebiblicalconcept f 'inclination'.
Ihe
term f
(umgniOta
lso derives rom
toic
vocabulary
nd suffered
semantic
eshaping
nder
Athenagoras's
en.
FE.
Peters
bserved hat he
Stoic
theory
f
G
nuxa'Ola
as
deep
roots
n
a series f
premises
hatthe
Greek
philosophy
hared
from
ts
verybeginning.67
hile
Milesians,
for
instance,onceived he orld as a living ntity,ythagoreansnvisaged
t
s
an
ordered hole. Plato,
in
his
turn,
n
Timaios
0d,
also
regarded
hekos
mos
as
a living eing.
On
thebasis of thesetheoretical
onstructs,
toics
proposed theconception f thekosmos s
a
unity D.L. 7,140), rational
being 4coov o7tiov; VF 1,111-4), ndorganism/wholeo6ov; ed. 7,13).
For thephilosophers f the toa thekosmos as not a totalityn&v; VF
2,522-4) of disparate hings, ut rathern organism here every hing as
in
a strong nter-connectionith the thers, onnection hat hey sed to
call
mugnoc&a.
osidonius
was
the
ne
who
synthesizedhe toic concep
tions n the nteractions
r
affinitiesetween he arts
f
theuniverse.68
Nonetheless, picurus,
in
his Letterto
Herodotus
nd
within the theo
retical
ontext
f
his
atomism,
ad
represented hings
s
organisms nd
envisioned
rur6Ocuta
s the
interaction
hat
holds
each
organism s a
whole. Throughthe ameconcept, e alsoqualified s sympathyhe nter
relation etweenthehuman soul and body, nd
that
etweenthe ompo
66)
Leg.
25,3:
r\
npbq
x?
9e?a cruuTt?Oeux.
Cf.
Leg.
7,2;
22,12; 27,1;
Res.
15,2-3;
21,4
(esp.
for
the
affinity
for
material
things).
67)
Peters,
"Sympatheia,"
in
Greek
Philosophical
Terms.
68)
See for
instance Fr.
106
from
the
edition
of
Edelstein and
Kidd.
For
modern scholar
ship,
see
K.
Reinhardt,
Kosmos
und
Sympathie.
Neue
Untersuchungen
?ber Poseidonios
(M?nchen: CH. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1926) orA.A. Long, Hellenistic Philoso
phy
(New
York:
Charles
Scribner's
Sons,
1974)
chap.
"The
Problem of
Posidonius,"
216-21,
and
J.
Dillon,
TheMiddle
Platonists.
80
B.C.
to
A.D. 220
(Ithaca,
New
York:
Cornell
Uni
versity
Press,
1977)
chapter
"Posidonius,"
106-113.
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Giulea /Vigiliae
Christianae
1 (2007) 258-281
275
nents f external
hings
s well.69 oreover,
one should
not overlook
the
presence f
this octrine
mong the eopythagoreans
nd
in
the gyptian
magical texts
e.g.Bolus
ofMendes
in
the econdcentury
C)70 as
well as
in
themystery
eligions.71
An emblematic
emantic evelopment
merges
n
themystery
ults nd
Posidonius's
ystem hen
the deaof affinity
s
developed
n
an anthropo
logic direction.
n the
one hand, the
initiand
n
themysteries
as to
empathize
with the sufferingod
in
order
to receive alvation. n
the
otherhand, according oPosidonius,there s an affinityetweenhuman
beings
nd
deity
n
the
basisof
some 'elements'
hich
humans
share
ith
thedeity.
2
Sharing
this
anthropologic
evelopment,
thenagoras
conceives of
,ugna'&ta
s
the connection
etween thehuman
soul and
an
external
instance,
ither
matteror the
divine
things.
ince
matter is the
dwelling
place
of the
demons,73
he onsequence
f having
n
affinity
mJr6OaEwta)
for
matter
consists
n
theemergence
f
irrational
ovements ithin the
mind.
In
the ractate
n Resurrection,
scribed
o
Athenagoras,
ne
can find
explicitlyxpressedhe deathat hebodywith itsmaterial eanings raws
the soul
to
affinity
or
material
things.74
n the
contrary,
he
ffinity
or
divine
things ta&OCta;
Leg. 25,3)
will entail
good
behaviors
npa6-t;
ayooai;
Ib.
1
,4),
moderate
life
,?Irpto;
Ptio;
Ib.
12,1),
intuition f the
truth
voiVwaxt
riivXa
Otav;
Ib.7,2),
and
Father's
doption Ib.
1
,2,
citing
Mt 5:45).
While
in
Leg.
7,2,
for nother nstance,thenagoras
peaks
bout
69)
Epicurus,
Epistula
ad
Herodotum,
in
Epicuro, Opere
(Turin:
Einaudi,
1973).
For
the
interaction
between soul
and
body,
see
63,7
and
64,10.
For
that between the
parts
of the
external
things,
see
48,10;
50,2; 52,7;
and
53,1.
70)
See
the
book On
Affinities
and
Antipathies.
Cf.
P.
Kingsley,
Ancient
Philosophy,
Mystery,
and
Magic.
Empedocles
and
Pythagorean
Tradition
(Clarendon
Press:
Oxford,
1995),
esp.
298-300,
335-8.
71)
S.
Angus,
The
Mystery-Religions
and
Christianity.
A
Study
in
the
Religious Background
of
Early
Christianity
(New
York: Charles Scribner's
Sons,
1925)
117-21.
72)
Ibid.,
48-9
for
Posidonius;
for
affinity
in
mysteries,
see
58-62,
117-21,
229.
73)
Athenagoras,
Leg.
24,2;
25,1;
27,2.
74)
Res.
21,4.
Scholars
are
divided
in
their
opinion
on
the
paternity
of this
tractate.
In
his
critical edition, M. Marcovich, though ascribing the date of the tractate to the end of
the second
century
A.D.,
denies
Athenagoras's
authorship.
See
Athenagorae
qui
fertur
De
resurrectione
mortuorum,
edidit
M.
Marcovich
(Supplements
to
Vigil