Description
Book SynopsisBased on a close rereading of material and textual remains, this volume challenges the interpretation of early Christian monasticism as a movement of anti-intellectual rustics. The various chapters explore how teaching was rooted in classical rhetoric, and examine practices that align with philosophical models of ancient education.
Table of ContentsPart I. The Language of Education: 1. Early monasticism and the concept of a 'School' Samuel Rubenson; 2. Translating paideia: education in the Greek and Latin versions of the Life of Anthony Peter Gemeinhardt; 3. Paideia, piety and power: Emperors and Monks in Socrates' Church History Andreas Westergren; Part II. Elementary Education and Literacy: 4. The Educational and Cultural Background of Egyptian Monks Roger Bagnall; 5. 'Excavating the Excavations' of early monastic education Lillian I. Larsen; 6. Homer and Menandri Sententiae in Upper Egyptian monastic settings Anastasia Maravela; Part III. Grammar and Rhetoric: 7. The school of Didymus the blind in the light of the Tura find Blossom Stefaniw; 8. Affecting rhetoric: the adoption of Ethopoeia in Evagrius of Pontus' ascetic program Ellen Muehlberger; 9. Classical education in sixth century Coptic monasticism: the example of Rufus of Shotep Mark Sheridan; Part IV. Philosophy: 10. The virtue of being uneducated: attitudes towards classical paideia in early monasticism and ancient philosophy Henrik Rydell Johnsén; 11. Plato between school and cell: biography and competition in the fifth-century philosophical field Arthur Urbano; 12. Pythagorean traditions in Early Christian asceticism Daniele Pevarello; Part V. Manuscript and Literary Production: 13. Textual fluidity and authorial revision: the case of Cassian and Palladius Britt Dahlman; 14. Production, distribution, and ownership of books in the monasteries of Upper Egypt: the evidence of the Nag Hammadi Colophons Hugo Lundhaug and Lance Jenott; 15. Greek thought, Arabic culture: approaching the Arabic recensions of the Apophthegmata Patrum Jason Zaborowski.
