Damaris () is the name of a woman mentioned in a single verse in

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of The gospel, its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make u ...

() as one of those present when

Paul of Tarsus Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

preached in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

in front of the Athenian

Areopagus The Areopagus () is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Its English name is the Late Latin composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos, translated "Hill of Ares" (). The name ''Areopagus'' also r ...

in c. AD 55.

Biblical narrative

Together with

Dionysius the Areopagite Dionysius the Areopagite (; ''Dionysios ho Areopagitēs'') was an Athenian judge at the Areopagus Court in Athens, who lived in the first century. A convert to Christianity, he is venerated as a saint by multiple denominations. Life As rel ...

Damaris embraced the Christian faith following Paul's

Areopagus sermon The Areopagus sermon refers to a sermon delivered by Apostle Paul in Athens, at the Areopagus, and recounted in Acts 17:16–34... The Areopagus sermon is the most dramatic and most fully-reported speech of the missionary career of Saint Paul ...

. The verse reads:

Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. (
KJV The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...
)

As usually women were not present in Areopagus meetings, Damaris has traditionally been assumed to have been a ''

hetaira A (; , ; . , ), Latinized as ( ), was a type of highly educated female companion in ancient Greece who served as an artist, entertainer, and conversationalist. Historians have often classed them as courtesans, but the extent to which they ...

'' (courtesan, high-status prostitute); modern commentators have alternatively suggested she might also have been a follower of the

Stoics Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. The Stoics believed that the universe operated according to reason, ''i.e.'' by a God which is immersed in nature itself. Of all the schools of ancient ...

(who welcomed women among their ranks) or a foreigner visiting Athens. The Georgian text of ''Acts'' makes Damaris the wife of Dionysius.

Veneration

She is a saint of the

Greek Orthodox Church Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Christianity in Greece, Greek Christianity, Antiochian Greek Christians, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christian ...

, remembered on 3 October together with

and two other disciples of Dionysius, who also became martyrs.Church of Greece
/ref> 3 October in the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

, which is used by the

Old Calendarists Old Calendarists ( Greek: ''palaioimerologitai'' or ''palaioimerologites''), also known as Old Feasters (''palaioeortologitai''), Genuine Orthodox Christians or True Orthodox Christians (GOC; ), are traditionalist groups of Eastern Orthodox Ch ...

, currently coincides with 16 October in the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

Etymology

The etymology of the name is uncertain. Proposals include derivation from ''damar'' δάμαρ "wife, spouse", a contraction of the classical Greek name ''Damarete'' Δαμαρέτη (attested as the name of a daughter of

Theron of Acragas Theron (, ''gen''.: Θήρωνος; died 473 BC), son of Aenesidemus, was a Greek tyrant of the town of Acragas in Sicily in Magna Graecia from 488 BC. According to Polyaenus, he came to power by using public funds allocated for the hire of priva ...

and wife of

Gelo Gelon also known as Gelo (Greek: Γέλων ''Gelon'', ''gen.'': Γέλωνος; died 478 BC), son of Deinomenes, was a Greek tyrant of the Sicilian cities Gela and Syracuse, Sicily, and first of the Deinomenid rulers. Early life Gelon was t ...

), or derivation from ''damalis'' δάμαλις "heifer"; a Coptic derivation has also been considered.Mark W. Hamilton, Thomas H. Olbricht, Jeffrey Peterson (eds.), ''Renewing Tradition: Studies in Texts and Contexts in Honor of James W. Thompson'' (2006)
p. 210ff

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Damaris 1st-century Romans 1st-century Greek people 1st-century Christian female saints People in Acts of the Apostles Saints of Roman Athens Roman-era Athenian women Women in the New Testament 1st-century Greek women