Abstract
Abstract Among the fragments of Saint Pachomius edited by Louis T. Lefort there is one that is mirrored in the apophthegmatic tradition in various ways, in terms of language and region (Coptic, Greek, Latin, Ethiopic, and Armenian) as well as in terms of variations in the text itself. It is indeed also part of the Meterikon and there attributed to Melania. It seems that the original form of the saying belongs to Pachomius (in spite of some doubts raised by Samuel Rubenson concerning the quest for the original apophthegms in general), and that it was later adapted to the anchoretic milieu. It has then been enlarged and has been transmitted in both the shorter (Coptic, Greek, Latin, the Meterikon) and the longer version (Greek, Ethiopic, Armenian, and also the Meterikon). While most of the Sayings of the Desert Fathers can be traced down only to the 6th century, when the larger collections were written in Palestine, we have in this case the rare opportunity of following an apophthegm up to its original source, and we know the speaker.
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Schedule a callMore From: Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum / Journal of Ancient Christianity
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