Eustathius

“ And Eustathius was in the desert hunting wild animals, and one day there appeared unto him the figure of a cross between the horns of a stag, and the cross-reached up to the clouds. And Eustathius chased the stag into the mountains, and he pursued it that he might kill it. And the Lord spoke unto him from between the horns of the stag, and told him His Name, and He commanded him to go with his sons and his wife to the bishop of that city, and be baptized with Christian baptism. And our Lord Jesus Christ informed him that poverty should come upon him speedily. ”

“ But the other historians (Socrates and Sozomen) are reticent about the nature of the charges, and only tell us that Eustathius had been unfortunate enough to get involved in a controversy with Eusebius Pamphili (of Caesarea) . Eustathius was at once ejected from his see, and was regarded by the emperor as having been the cause of the riot his expulsion excited among the people, with whom Eustathius was a favourite. Marcellus of Ancyra was the next victim. He had all along been the friend and champion of Athanasius. ”

“ In this similar crisis all men were so held captive and enchanted by Eustathius, that they did not hesitate to commend a man of the Hellenic faith to the ears of the emperor; although the earlier emperors had been accustomed to elect for embassies men who had won distinction in the army, or military prefects, or men who were next in rank to these and had been selected for office. But at that time, at the imperious call of necessity, Eustathius was sought out and admitted by general consent to be the most prudent of all men. ”

“ But this interest of problem is not the only one that attaches to the "drama," as he calls it, of Eustathius or Eumathius "the philosopher," who flourished at some time between the twelfth and the fourteenth century, and is therefore pretty certainly ours. For the purposes of literary history the book deserves to be taken as the typical contribution of Greek during the period, much better than the famous Alexiad of Anna Comnena [181] in history, or the verse romances of Eustathius's probable contemporaries Theodorus Prodromus and Nicetas Eugenianus. ”

“ Afterwards when he dwelt in Antioch, it happened that Eustathius was deposed on the accusation of Cyrus of Berœa for holding the tenets of Sabellius. Then again he associated with Euphronius, successor of Eustathius, and avoiding a bishopric, he retired to Alexandria, and there devoted himself to the study of philosophy. On his return to Antioch he formed an intimate acquaintance with Placitus [or Flaccillus] , the successor of Euphronius. At length he was ordained bishop of Alexandria, by Eusebius, bishop of Constantinople ”

“ Let me, then, briefly state the history and tenets of these three religionists.
1. Aerius was an intimate friend of Eustathius, bishop of Sebaste, in Armenia, whose name has already occurred above. Both had embraced a monastic life; and both were Arians in creed. Eustathius, being raised to the episcopate, ordained his friend presbyter, and set him over the almshouse or hospital of the see. A quarrel followed, from whatever cause; Aerius left his post, and accused Eustathius of covetousness, as it would appear, unjustly. ”

“ On the receipt of these letters from the emperor, Euphronius was ordained; and I have heard that Eustathius bore this unjust calumny calmly, judging it to be better, as he was a man who, besides his virtues and excellent qualities, was justly admired on account of his fine eloquence, as is evidenced by his transmitted works, which are highly approved for their choice of words, flavor of expression, temperateness of sentiments, elegance and grace of narration. ”

“ But notwithstanding the persecution now directed against them, they continued in existence till the 6th century. The Eustathianists took their name from Eustathius, Bishop of Sebaste, the founder of monasticism in the eastern provinces of the empire. Their fanatical contempt of marriage went so far that they regarded fellowship with the married impure and held divine service by themselves alone. They repudiated the Church fasts and instead ordained fasts on Sundays and festival days, and wholly abstained from eating flesh. ”

“ Presently he sent a message by his household officials to invite him to his table, and when he obeyed the summons, since the king seemed to him to have a natural bent for virtue, Sapor joined him at the banquet. Thus Eustathius became his companion at table, and by his eloquence won such influence over him that the king of Persia came within an ace of renouncing his upright tiara, laying aside his purple and bejewelled attire, and putting on instead the philosopher's cloak of Eustathius ”

“ But some more zealous than the rest, refusing to own any other Bishop so long as Eustathius lived, held their Assemblies apart, under the Direction of Presbyters animated with the like Zeal. These, from their steady Attachment to Eustathius, were called Eustathians, and with them alone Athanasius communicated while he was at Antioch [1033] . This Schism or Separation continued even after the Death of Eustathius, those of his Party declining not only the 196Communion of the Arians and their Bishops, but of the Orthodox, who communicated with them. ”

“ Letter cxxxvi., where it appears that Basil kindly nursed a deacon Eustathius. The fact of an Eustathius being one of Basil’s deacons is so far in favour of Basil’s having written the letter. But Eustathius was a common name, and Eustathius, a monk, is mentioned in the will of Gregory of Nazianzus. ”

“ Meletius of Antioch, then in exile in Armenia, was also to be there. Sebaste was almost on the road between Caesarea and Nicopolis, and Basil, aware of the suspicion entertained by Theodotus of the orthodoxy of Eustathius, determined to stop there on his way, and demand a definite statement of his faith. Many hours were spent on fruitless discussion until, at three in the afternoon of the second day, a substantial agreement appeared to have been attained. To remove all doubt of his orthodoxy, Basil requested Theodotus to draw up a formulary of faith for Eustathius to sign. ”

“ This was never forgiven by Aerius. Eustathius endeavoured to soften his friend's disappointment by at once ordaining Aerius presbyter, and setting him over the hospital established at Sebaste (ξενοδοχεῖον, or πτωχοτροφεῖον) . But all his attempts were fruitless. Aerius threw up his charge, deserted the hospital, and openly published grave accusations against his bishop. The rupture with Eustathius widened into a rupture with the church. Aerius and his numerous followers openly separated from their fellow-Christians, and professed ἀποταξία, or the renunciation of all worldly goods. ”

“ EUSTATHIUS, of Antioch, sometimes styled “the Great” (fl. 325) , was a native of Side in Pamphylia. About 320 he was bishop of Beroea, and he was patriarch of Antioch before the council of Nicaea in 325. In that assembly he distinguished himself by his zeal against the Arians, though the Allocutio ad Imperatorem with which he has been credited is hardly genuine. His anti-Arian polemic against Eusebius of Caesarea made him unpopular among his fellow-bishops in the East, and a synod convened at Antioch in 330 passed a sentence of deposition, which was confirmed by the emperor. ”

“ As he persisted in the enunciation of the same sentiments, either by word of mouth or by means of signs, when the archdeacon closed his mouth, a contention between both sides occurred, not unlike that of the pancratium; the followers of Eustathius shouted aloud and rejoiced and leaped, while the Arians were cast down. Eudoxius and his partisans were transported with indignation at this discourse, and contrived by their machinations to expel Meletius from Antioch. ”

“ They tracked him down and beset him like hounds baying before his doors, and threatened to tear him in pieces if he should devote wisdom so great and so rare to hills and rocks and trees, as though he were not born a man or with knowledge of human life. He was forced by speeches and actions of this sort to return to the life and converse of ordinary men; and now he applied his talents to the inferior of the two ways. He left Cappadocia, and handed over to Eustathius the charge of his property there----they were indeed kinsmen----while he himself passed into the province of Asia ”

“ In any case he was not recalled from banishment until after Constantine’s death. Our Eusebius has been severely condemned by many historians for the part taken by him in the Eustathian controversy and especially in the war against Athanasius. In justice to him a word or two must be spoken in his defense. So far as his relations to Eustathius are concerned, it is to be noticed that the latter commenced the controversy by accusing Eusebius of heterodoxy. ”

“ Euzoius, who had been an intimate friend and constant associate of Arius himself, was put into the see. The Church of Antioch now split into three parties: the old and rigid orthodox set, who, ever since the deposition of Eustathius in A.D. 327, had adhered to his doctrine, and were called after his name; the moderate Catholics, who regarded Meletius as their bishop ”

“ The first blow was 291directed against Eustathius, the Bishop of Antioch, who was charged with heresy, profligacy, and tyranny by the two Eusebii and a number of other bishops, then on their way to Jerusalem. Whether the charges were well founded or not, the tribunal was a prejudiced one and the sentence of deprivation and banishment passed upon Eustathius was bitterly resented in Antioch. ”

“ The first in dignity was the orthodox Eustathius, who either was, or was on the point of being made, bishop of the capital of Syria, the metropolis of the Eastern Church, Antioch, then called "the city of God." He had suffered in heathen persecutions, [Pg 310] and was destined to suffer in Christian persecutions also. But he was chiefly known for his learning and eloquence, which was distinguished by an antique simplicity of style. One work alone has come down to us on the "Witch of Endor." ”

“ I am persecuted by them as a Homoousiast. Eustathius, who brought the Homoousion in the script from Rome to Tyana, although he was not able to get admitted into their much to be coveted communion, either because they feared, or respected the authority of, the large number of persons who had agreed in condemning him, is now in intimate alliance with them. ”

“ The style is remarkable for the absence of hiatus and an extremely laboured use of antithesis. The digressions on works of art, apparently the result of personal observation, are the best part of the work. A collection of eleven Riddles, of which solutions were written by the grammarian Manuel Holobolos, is also attributed to Eustathius.
The best edition of both romance and riddles is by I. Hilberg (1876, who fixes the date of Eustathius between 850 and 988) , with critical apparatus and prolegomena, including the solutions ”

“ Eustathius died before the election of Meletius, and the orthodox party, after the exile of Meletius and the election of Euzoius, separated from the communion of the impious, and assembled by themselves ”

“ He was certainly a partisan in the great controversy of his time, and is even credited (although on insufficient evidence) with having used unworthy means to procure the deposition of Eustathius, the “orthodox” bishop of Antioch (Theodoret i. 21) . ”

“ He inherited great wealth, but resolved to devote his riches and his talents to the service of the church. In association with Diodorus, afterwards bishop of Tarsus, he supported the Catholic faith against the Arian Leontius, who had succeeded Eustathius as bishop of Antioch. ”

“ In 1185, when Thessalonica was captured by the Normans under William II. of Sicily, Eustathius secured religious toleration for the conquered. He died about 1193. His best known work is his Commentary on the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (παρεκβολαί, critical compilations) , valuable as containing numerous extracts from the scholia of other critics, whose works have now perished. He also wrote a commentary on the geographical epic of Dionysius Periegetes, in which much of Stephanus of Byzantium and the lost writings of Arrian is preserved. ”

“ Then, as his manner was, he smiled at them, on hearing the true facts (for as falsehood has no place in the choir of the gods, [45] so too it has none in their utterance) , and said: "Nay, these omens did not foretell this visit from me." Then he said something that in my judgement was too high for a mere mortal, for this was his reply: "The omens revealed were too trivial and too tardy for such dignity as mine." After this the renowned Eustathius married Sosipatra, who by her surpassing wisdom made her own husband seem inferior and insignificant. ”

“ Eustathius more truly makes it give name to the people: though he is not sufficiently determinate. [775] Καμπανοι απο των ὑποκαθημενων εκει Καμπων ωνομασθησαν, η απο Καμπου πολεως. There were many of these Campi in Greece, which are styled by Pausanias ὑπαιθρα, in contradistinction to the temples, which were covered. They are to be found in many parts of the world, where the Amonian religion obtained, which was propagated much farther than we are aware. ”

“ Soon after, Eusebius of Nicomedia was reinstated in his see, after having written a diplomatic letter to the emperor. Arius, who had taken refuge in Palestine, was also soon permitted to return, after having made a somewhat disingenuous recantation. So astute a politician as the Nicomedian Eusebius was not long before he regained his influence with the emperor, and then began a series of intrigues which led to a complete reversal of the position of the contending parties. Eustathius of Antioch, one of the staunchest adherents of Athanasius, was the first victim. ”