skedros woods

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1/6

Harvard Divinity School

Response to David WoodsAuthor(s): James C. SkedrosReviewed work(s):Source: The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 93, No. 3 (Jul., 2000), pp. 235-239Published by: Cambridge University Presson behalf of the Harvard Divinity SchoolStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1510029.

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2/6

e s p o n s e

t a v i d

W o o d s

James C. Skedros

GreekOrthodox choolof Theology

Theoriginsof

the cult of

St.Demetriosare

ndeedobscure.

The earliest

ndisputable

evidence for the existence

of the cult

of St. Demetriosat

Thessaloniki

s the large

five-aislebasilicabuilt n

honorof themartyr nd

ocated n

the centerof this

impor-

tantportcity.

Based upon

archaeological ndart

historical vidence, the

basilica

can

be

dated o thelast quarter

f the fifth

century.lHowever, the

written radition f

the

cult

of St.

Demetrios, as preserved

n various

martyrdom ccounts

(whose dates

remainproblematic), laces thesaint'smartyrdom tThessalonikiduring heperse-

cution of

Diocletian, that is, during

the first

decade of the fourth

century,some

one-hundred

nd seventy

five yearsbefore the

erectionof

the saint'sbasilica.2

To

complicate

matterseven more, in the

earliestsurviving

martyrologies

datingfrom

the

fourthand

fifthcenturies, here s

no

mentionof a martyr

Demetrios who was

martyred r

veneratedat

Thessaloniki.Given

such lack of

historical vidence,

most

scholars,

ncluding )avid

Woods,whose article

appears n

the pages of this

journal,

have argued hatSt.

Demetriosof

Thessaloniki s a fictitious

saintandthat he

origin

of hisveneration tThessaloniki s not to befound n ahistoricalndividualwhowas

martyred nderDiocletian

atThessaloniki,but

rathermust

be soughtelsewhere.

In his

article, "Thessalonica's

Patron:St.

Demetriusor

Emeterius?"

Woods

offers a fresh look into

the

beginnings of the cult of

the martyrI)emetrios

at

Thessaloniki.

His solution to the

question of the origins

of the cult is

quite inge-

lJames

ConstantineSkedros,Saint

Demetriosof

Thessaloniki:Civic

Patron and

Divine

Protector th-7th Centuries

CE (HTS47;

Harrisburg: rinityPress

International,999)

29-39.

2Anapsidal

structurehas been found

underneath

he five-aisle basilica

and datedto

the

fourthcentury t is possiblethatthis structure epresents n earlier hree-aislebasilica to the

memory f the martyr

Demetrios; ee Vladislav

Popovic,"Sirmium:

ille imperiale,"n

Akten

des Vll.

Internationalen

Kongresses ur christliche

Archaologie

(2 vols.; Rome:

Pontificio

Istitutodi

archeologia

cristiana,1969) 1. 671.

HTR

93:3

(2000) 235-39


3/6

236

HARVARDTHEOLOGICAL REVIEW

nious.Woodsbegins

by noting hat n oneof themartyrdom

ccounts f St.

Demetrios,

known as the Passio altera, two contact

relics associatedwith the saint are

identi-

fied: an orarion,orneckscarf, nda ring.Bothof theserelics,according o thePassio

altera, were soaked n the martyr'sblood

andrecognizedas

having healingpowers.

Woods takes these

two substitute elics as a starting

point in arguing or a

new

solution o the origins

of the cult of St.

Demetrios.Acknowledging he unusual

om-

binationof these two contact relics,

Woods states that, to

his knowledge,there is

only one other

nstancewherethese two relics, in

combination, re associated

with

martyrs:heearly ourth-centurypanish

militarymartyrs meterius nd

Chelidonius.

Given the similarity

between he names

Emeterius ndDemetrios, he same

unusual

combination f contactrelics associated

with these Spanish

martyrs ndDemetrios,

and the lack of evidence for a historical

martyrDemetrios

of Thessaloniki,Woods

arrivesat the

following hypothesis.Sometimeduring

379-80, in honor of the

new

emperor, he Spanish

generalTheodosius

, who hadrecentlymade his

residenceat

Thessaloniki,anunknownpersonor

persons ransferredhe

orarionand ring of the

martyrsEmeterius

and Chelidonius o Thessaloniki.Shortly

hereafter,Theodosius

moved his imperial

hrone o Constantinople, ndthe shrine

builtto house the

relics

of the two Spanish

martyrsat

Thessalonikiwas soon neglected. Accordingto

the

Passio altera,Leontios,the prefectof

Illyricum c. 412-413), visited

Thessaloniki

andwas healedof anailment fter oming ntocontactwith herelicsof St.Demetrios.

Woods identifiesthese relics as the

orarion and ring of the

Saints Emeteriusand

Chelidonius. n

response o hismiraculous ure,Leontios

builta basilicaat the

spot

where the relics werekept. While

excavating he area

around he shrine,Leontios,

according o Woods,discoveredan

inscription o the martyrEmeterius,which

he

interpreted s preserving he name

Demetrius.Leontios

then erected a basilica in

honorof a St.

Demetrios,who, on

accountof "localfolkmemory"which

associated

the

relics with a militarymartyr, ecame

St. Demetrios hemilitary aintand

martyr.

Thus the originsof St.

Demetrios.

Woods has

offered a new andcreative solution to a

question that still does

not

have a satisfactory

answer. In

particular,Woods should be commended for

hav-

ing raised the very

important ssue of the origin of the

contact relics associated

with St. Demetrios as

recorded n thePassio altera.

However, his reconstruction

of the origin of the

cult of St.

Demetrios has severalproblems, three of

which I

shall discuss briefly.

As is known, thereis no mentionof a

martyrDemetriosof Thessaloniki n

the

two earliestextantmartyrologies, he

Syriac Martyrology

datedto c. 362; Woods

uses the more traditional name of Syriac Breviary) and the Hieronymian

Martyrology dated oc. 431-450). As

Woods himselfadmits, hese

martyrologies

do not contain an

exhaustive list of

historicalmartyrsof the early church. In

my

work on St. Demetrios, I attempted to

demonstratethe insufficiency of

these

martyrologiesby

arguing hatthe

calendarof martyrsdepicted on the walls of

the


4/6

JAMES

C. SKEDROS

237

Rotunda

at

Thessaloniki

depict

three

martyrs

who

were

commemorated

at

Thessaloniki

but

whose

names

do

not

appear

in

the

Syriac

or

Hieronimian

Martyrologies.Woods has challengedthese threeexamples.Woods may be cor-

rect

in pointing

outthat

one

of

these

martyrs,

Therinos,

ought

to

be identified

with

the

martyr

Tirinus,

who

is

commemorated

nJune

7 in

theSyriac

Martyrology.3

he

two

other

martyrs,

Onesiphoros

and

Leo,

Woods

dismisses

as

fictitious

martyrs,

thus

claiming

that

they

cannot

be used

in

support

of the

argument

hat

there

were

historical

martyrs

venerated

at

Thessaloniki

whose

names

did

not

appear

n

the

early

martyrologies.

Onesiphoros,

who

is paired

with

Porphyrios

n

the

Rotunda

mosaics,

is to

be

identified

as the

companion

of

the

apostle

Paul

(2

Tim

1:1S18),

and

therefore

s

a fictitious

martyr.

Here

I

am

in

agreement

with

Woods.

As for

the

martyr

Leo,

however,

there

is simply

no knowledgeof this martyroutsideof the

Rotunda

mosaics.

To

claim,

that

he is

a

fictitious

martyr

eems

too

simplistic.4

Woods

suggests

that

I

have

chosen

the

wrong

examples

to

demonstrate

hat

the

early

martyrologies

do

not

preserve

complete

lists

of

martyrs.

Rather,

what

needs

to be

shown

is

that

these

early

martyrologies

omit

the

name

of

a

martyr

who

was

celebrated

n

a metropolitan

rea

for

which

the

martyrologies

ist

other

martyrs.

should

like

to

offer

just

such

an

example.

St.

Basil

the

Great,

he

fourth-century

ishop

of

Caesarea

of Cappadocia,

deliv-

ered five panegyricalhomilies dealing with martyrsthat have survived. These

consist

of

homilies

on

the

martyrs

Julitta,

Barlaam,

Gordios,

the

Forty

Martyrs

of

Sebaste,

and

Mamas.

The

martyr

Julitta

will

serve

as

an

illustrative

response

to

Woods.

No

specific

date

for

the

homily

on

Julitta

s

given,

yet

it

most

likely

dates

between

370

and

379

when

Basil

served

as

bishop

of

Caesarea.

The

homily

was

delivered

on

the

feast

day

of the

martyr

n

the city

of

Caesarea.

Basil

tells

us that

the

martyr's

relics

lie

near

the

entrance

nto

the

city.

The

location

of

her

shrine

outside

the

city

walls

suggests

that

this

shrine

s

most

likely

herburial

site

and

not

a shrine

housing

substitute

elics,

which

would

have

been

the

result

of

a translation

of relics. Basil even mentionsa springthatflows out fromthe groundaround he

martyr's

tomb,

clearly

acknowledging

the

sacred

nature

of

the

site.S

All

of

this

suggests

that

Julitta's

shrine

was not

of recent

date

but

that

it

most

likely

dates

to

the

first

half

of

the

fourth

century.

3Therinos

was commemorated

at Constantinople

along

with

St Demetrios

on

May

6 and

with

St.

George

on

April

23.

For

the

Greek

Passio see

Analecta

Bollandiana

00

(1982)

63-78.

4Woods

states

that

the

names

of

fifteen

martyrs

have

survived

from

the

mosaics

of

the

Rotunda However, of these fifteen martyrsonly thirteen of the accompanying inscriptions are

currently

identifiable,

a

fourteenth

has

been

sufficiently

reconstructed,

while

the

fifteenth

(the

martyr

paired

with

Ananios)

cannot

securely

be identified;

see,

Denis

Feissel,

Recueil

des

inscriptions

hre'tiennes

eMace'doine

uIlle

au

Vlesiecle(Athens:

Ecole

Franvaise

d' Athenes,

1983)

103-10.

5Hom

Jul

2.,

PG

31.

237-61.


5/6

238

HARVARD

THEOLOG ICALREVI

EW

Turning to the

Syriac

Martyrology,

martyrsof Caesarea of

Cappadocia are

mentionedon six

separate

dates.6However,

here s no

mentionof the martyr

ulitta.

The tenth-centuryMenologion of Basil II gives the date of July 30 for her feast

day. It

would appear,

herefore, hat

the martyrJulitta

s an

example of how the

Syriac

Martyrologyomits the name

of a

historicalmartyrwho is

commemorated

at a city

for which the

martyrology

ists othermartyrs.

The conclusion is

rather

simple:

the Syriac

Martyrologydoes

notpreserve

complete lists of

historicalmar-

tyrs for

some

metropolitan reas.

A second

majorproblem

with the origins

of the cult of St.

Demetrios,

and my

second

criticismof

Woods's thesis, is the

reliance

upon the various

martyrdom

accounts

of the saint for

evidence of

the originof the

cult. Thereis very

little dis-

agreement hat the

literary

accountsof the

Passions of the saint

cannot be

read as

strictly

historicaldocuments

butrather elongto

the

categoryof epic

Passions.7This

does notmean that

these

martyrdom ccounts

do not

containelementsof

historical

veracity.

However,even if

one wereto granta

very

generoushistorical

reading o

the

Passions,the

majorobstacle n

using themas a source

for the

originsof the cult

of St.Demetrios s

that hePassions

are

hagiographicalexts and

are

extremelydif-

ficult todate.

These

martyrdomsccounts till

await

criticaleditionsand

evaluation.

The

problemwithWoods's

hypothesis,as is theproblem

with anydiscussion

of the

originsof the cultof St.Demetrios, s itsdependanceuponthePassio altera,one of

three

versions of the

martyrdom f St.

Demetrios.8 t is

in the

Passio altera where

the two substitute

elics

the orarionand ring

are introduced.

Woods

argument

that"the

Passio

alteraprovesthe

existenceof

an orariumand a

ring at thecenterof

the cult

of a militarymartyr,

Demetrius,atThessalonica"

elies tooheavily

uponthe

Passio altera as

well as

misunderstandinghe

historical

developmentof the

cult of

St.

Demetriosat

Thessaloniki.

The

Passioalteracontains

even

episodesoreventsnot

found n

the Passioprima

or

"shorter ersion" f the

martyrdomf St.

Demetrios. t

is mycontention

hat hese

seven episodes,

one of

which is the

introductionof the

orarion and ring

of St.

Demetriosascontactrelics

with

healingpowers,are

simply

intended o enhance he

authority ndstatus

of the

cult of St.Demetios.9

Theyhave been

introduced

nto the

martyrdom tory

of St.

Demetriosas proof of

the divineauthority

f the

saint, and,

therefore,

heirhistorical

value must

be approachedwith

caution.

Finally,

Woods's associationof

Emeteriusand

Demetrios is

based, in part,on

the

identityof

Demetriosasa military

aint.In

fact, there s

absolutelynoevidence

6March , Gordianos;May29, Cyril;July 12, Dios;July 13,Dios thePresbyter;November

3,

Germanos,

Theophilosand Cyril; and

November23,

Veronikios

7Skedros, aint

Demetrios

of Thessaloniki, 0 n.

66.

8Fora detailed

discussion

of the Passions, see

ibid., 60-70

9Ibid.,

66 I have argued

extensively

for this in explaining

the

additionof the Sirmium

subplotto

the Passio altera, see

esp. pp.

22-29.


6/6

JAMES

C. SKEDROS

239

to

indicate

that

St.

Demetrios

was venerated

as a

military

martyr

earlier

than

600

CE.

Surviving

conographic

vidence

n

the

Basilica

of St.

Demetrios

n

Thessaloniki

does not depict the martyr n any militarygarb.Rather,the saint is shown as an

intercessor

standing

n

the orans

position)

or

a protector

of

children )

wearing

a

traditional

hlamys

or tunic

withan

embroidered

ablion,

indicating

a

high

social

rank

or

status.

Woods

argues

that

it

was the

"local

folk

memory"

of

Emeterius

as

a

military

martyr

hat,

added

to a

misreading

of

a non-existent

inscription,

pro-

duced

the

military

martyr

Demetrios

during

the

first

quarter

of the

fifth

century.

However,

the

development

of St.

Demetrios

into

a

military

saint

was

gradual;

he

pivotal

point

coming

during

andafter

the

Slav-Avar

siege

of Thessaloniki

n

586

CE.

It

was

thepresence

of the

Slavs

in

the

Balkans

at

this time

and

throughout

he

seventhcentury hatwas thereal impetusfor the transformation f St. Demetrios

into

a

military

martyr.l

On

the

contrary,

the

early

cult

of

St. Demetrios

at

Thessaloniki

did

not identify

the

martyr

as a

military

saint.

It

is

refreshing

o

read

a

well-argued

discussion

of the

origin

of the

cult of

St.

Demetrios

that

does

not

rely

upon

the traditional

iew

that

the

cult

had

its

origins

in

the

martyr

Demetrios

of

Sirmium

mentioned

n

the

Syriac

Martyrology

or

April

9.

Woods

has

offered

an

attractive

hypothesis

based

upon

the contact

relics

the

orarion

and

ring

identified

n the

Passio

altera.

Unfortunately,

his thesis

cannot

be supportedby theexistingevidence. It placesundueemphasison

the

complete-

ness

of the

early

martyrologies,

relies

upon

a hagiographical

text

of dubious

historical

value,

and

misunderstands

he trajectory

of

the

cult of

St.

Demetrios

at

Thessaloniki.

Without

any firmer

evidence,

the origins

of

the

martyr

Demetrios

should

remain

n

the city

in which

he continues

to be

venerated

o

this

day.

'Ibid.,

105-32

skedros woods

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