Logismoi

Evagrius Ponticus (), also called Evagrius the Solitary (345–399 AD), was a Christian monk and ascetic from Heraclea, a city on the coast of Bithynia in Asia Minor. One of the most influential theologians in the late fourth-century church, he was well known as a thinker, polished speaker, and gifted writer. He left a promising ecclesiastical career in Constantinople and traveled to Jerusalem, where in 383 AD he became a monk at the monastery of Rufinus and Melania the Elder. He then went to Egypt and spent the remaining years of his life in Nitria and Kellia, marked by years of asceticism and writing. He was a disciple of several influential contemporary church leaders, including Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Macarius of Egypt. He was a teacher of others, including John Cassian and Palladius of Galatia.

Life

There are five main sources of information on Evagrius's life. Firstly, there exists a biographical account in chapter 38 of ''The Lausiac History'' of bishop Palladius of Helenopolis (c. 420); Palladius was a friend and disciple of Evagrius, and spent about nine years sharing Evagrius's life in the desert. Secondly, there is a chapter on Evagrius in the anonymous ''Enquiry about the monks of Egypt'', which predates Palladius, and is a first-hand account of a voyage taken by seven monks from Palestine in the winter of 394–5 to the principal monastic sites in Egypt. The final three sources are briefer and with more distinct biases: Evagrius features in some of the ''Apophthegmata'' literature, as well as in the church histories of Socrates and Sozomen.

Evagrius was born into a Christian family in the small town of Ibora, modern-day İverönü, Erbaa in the late Roman province of Helenopontus. He was educated in Neocaesarea under Basil the Great. Around 380 he joined Gregory of Nazianzus in Constantinople, where Gregory had been installed as bishop, and was promoted to deacon. He stayed on in Constantinople after Gregory left in July 381, and eventually became an archdeacon. When Emperor Theodosius I convened the Second Ecumenical Council in 381, Evagrius was present, despite Gregory's premature departure.

According to the biography written by Palladius, Constantinople offered many worldly attractions, and Evagrius's vanity was aroused by the high praise of his peers. Eventually, he became infatuated with a married woman. Amid this temptation, he is said to have had a vision in which he was imprisoned by the soldiers of the governor at the request of the woman's husband. This vision, and the warning of an attendant angel, made him flee from the capital and head for Jerusalem.

For a short time, he stayed with Melania the Elder and Rufinus of Aquileia in a monastery near Jerusalem, but even there he could not forsake his vainglory and pride. He apparently took special care of his dress, and spent much of his time sauntering through the streets of the cosmopolitan Holy City. He fell gravely ill and only after he confessed his troubles to Melania, and accepted her instruction to become a monk was he restored to health. After being made a monk at Jerusalem in 383, he joined a cenobitic community of monks in Nitria in Lower Egypt in around 385, but after some years moved to Kellia. There he spent the last fourteen years of his life pursuing studies under Macarius of Alexandria and Macarius the Great (who had been a disciple of Anthony the Great, and lived at the monastic colony of Scetis, about 25 miles away).

Evagrius lived an ascetic life. He ate only once a day and did not consume fruit, meat or vegetables or any cooked food. He also refrained from bathing. His extreme diet ruined his digestive tract and it is suspected he suffered from urinary tract stones. Evagrius did not sleep more than a few hours each night and devoted much time to contemplation and prayer.

Evagrius is venerated as a Saint in the Syriac Orthodox Church, which celebrates his feast on January 16, and likewise in the Armenian Apostolic Church, which celebrates his feast on February 11.

Writings

The following titles are considered authentic works attributable to Evagrius:

*''Epistula fidei''. This was probably written around 379 in Constantinople and is possibly Evagrius's earliest published work.
* ''Rerum monachialum rationes'' is also an early work, though from the time Evagrius was in Egypt.
* ''Tractatus ad Eulogium'' (= ''Treatise to the Monk Eulogius / To Eulogius'') is also an early work.
* ''The Praktikos''
*''The Gnostikos''
*'' Kephalaia Gnostica'' (''Problemata Gnostica'')
*''De oratione'' (''De oratione caputula'' = ''Chapters on Prayer''). This consists of a prologue and 153 chapters.
* ''Antirrhetikos'' (''Counter-Arguments''), which lists 487 temptations and categorizes them into the 8 evil thoughts. Only the Syriac and Armenian versions survive.
* ''Institutio ad monachos'' (''Exhortations to Monks'')
*''Sentences for Monks''
*''Ad virginem ''(''Exhortation to a Virgin'')
*''Hypotyposis''
*''De diversis malignis cogitationibus''
* ''De magistris et disciplulis''
* ''Treatise on Various Evil Thoughts'' (''Capita Cognoscitiva'')
*''Protrepticus''
*''Paraeneticus''
* ''The Chapters of the Disciples of Evagrius''
*62 letters
* Various ''scholia'' also remain, including
** ''Scholia on the Psalms''
** ''Scholia on Proverbs''
** ''Scholia on Ecclesiastes''
** ''Scholia on Job''
*Scriptural commentaries
**''Commentary on the Psalms''
**''De Seraphim'' (deals with the vision of Isaiah)
**''De Cherubim'' (deals with the vision of Ezekiel)
**Commentary on the Pater Noster
**Various ascetic treatises: ''De Justis et Perfectis''

Although ascribed to Evagrius, these two works are considered to be of doubtful authenticity.
*''De Malignis Cogitationibus''
*''Collections of Sentences''

Teachings

Most Egyptian monks of that time were illiterate. Evagrius, a highly educated classical scholar, is believed to be one of the first people to begin recording and systematizing the erstwhile oral teachings of the monastic authorities known as the ''Desert Fathers''. Eventually, he also became regarded as a Desert Father, and several of his apothegm