Updated 03-29-08
Eudocia /Athenais-Eudocia
/Aelia Eudokia (c.400-460)
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"I DWELLED IN THE TOWERING CITY OF THE WELL-BORN ATHENIANS."
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You can read the traditional story of Eudocia's life online
(see below). However, recent scholarship has called much of that
story into question. What seems to be accepted is that she was
born about 400, probably in Athens, to a non-Christian rhetorician,
Leontius, and perhaps named Athenais. From her father she received
a solid education in classical literature.
At some point Athenais moved to Constantinople, where she
may have been part of the circle of Pulcheria, the older sister
of Emperor Theodosius II (401-50) and de facto ruler during
the emperor's childhood. In 421 Athenais married Theodosius;
sometime before the marriage she had been baptized as a Christian
and given the name Eudocia (Eudokia in Greek spelling). After
the birth of her first child, she was crowned as Aelia Eudocia
Augusta.
For twenty years Eudocia lived without scandal; she and Theodosius
had three children, but only one daughter survived to adulthood,
to become the wife of the Roman emperor in the west. The only
contemporary notice taken of Eudocia was that she fostered classical
studies and that, although now a Christian, she continued to
support the civil rights of non-Christians living in the empire.
If these activities made her suspect, the fact that she brought
back to Constantinople valuable relics from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem
in 438 supported her orthodoxy.
However, sometime before 444 Eudocia left the court permanently.
The reason is not clear, although the traditional story (first
written 150 years later) accused her of sexual misconduct. What
is known is that from 440 there was conflict between Theodosius
and his sister Pulcheria; somehow Eudocia became involved in
this. Eudocia returned to Jerusalem, where she spent the rest
of her life, building churches and monasteries with money contributed
by Theodosius until his death in 450, and until her own death
ten years later signing herself with the title of Augusta. In
Jerusalem she continued her support of non-Christians, especially
defending the Jewish community.
Several of Eudocia's works are lost. However, three of her
poems survive at least in part; one of these is a brief fragment
of a poem recited at a dedication; the two longer poems are De
martyrio sancti Cypriani (Martyrdom of St. Cyprian of Antioch)
and the Homerocentones (Homeric centos). All were apparently
written after Eudocia had moved to Jerusalem.
De martyrio sancti Cypriani was originally made up
of three books; part of the second and all of the third books
are lost, although a summary written in the 800s gives an idea
of the whole. Book 1 is a third person account of the magician
Cyprian's attempt to help a young man seduce a virgin, Justa;
Cyprian's failure caused him to repent. Book 2 is a first-person
description by Cyprian of his early life. The missing Book 3
described the martyrdom of Justa and Cyprian.
Homerocentones is, like Proba's
Cento Virgilianus, a weaving together of lines of a classical
writer to create a new work on a new subject, the preparation
for and the life of Christ. The Roman Proba had used the works
of Virgil; the Greek Eudocia used Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.
We know that Theodosius II had a copy of Proba's work; we don't
know whether it influenced Eudocia. Until recently it was believed
that Eudocia had merely made minor changes to a cento
written earlier in the century by a bishop, Patricius. New scholarship
suggests that more than two-thirds of the poem's over 2300 lines
are Eudocia's work. The work is original to the extent that although
the lines are Homer's, the choices are Eudocia's.
In both of her long works, Eudocia is, like Proba, educating
the reader, but nearly a century later, the audience had changed.
Proba had used Virgil to give prestige to a still struggling
Christianity; Eudocia often seems to be defending the classics
to a now dominant Christian empire, deeply suspicious of anything
"pagan."
On this page you'll find:
Links to helpful sites online.
Excerpts from translations in print:
Martyrdom of St. Cyprian of Antioch
Homerocentones
On the spa at Hammat-Gadar
Information on secondary sources.
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Online
1. Passages in translation:
(a) After an introduction,
"I have seen many infinite wonders in my lifetime,"
the 17-line fragment of a inscription composed by Eudocia
on the occasion of the dedication of a spa complex, used by both
Christians and non-Christians, at Hammat-Gadar in Israel; the
lines were inscribed on a marble plaque at the spa. It is translated
here by Leah di Segni (for lines from another translation, see
below, under "In print").
(b) In this translation by E. Walford of the Greek historian
Evagrius Scholasticus' Ecclesiastical History, go to Chapter
20 (near the bottom of the page) for 'Tis
from your blood I proudly trace my line," one line of
Eudocia's greeting to the Greek people of Antioch on a 438 visit;
the following two chapters will give you more on Eudocia.
2. From Jacques-Paul Migne's 1857-66 Patrologiae Graeca,
you can download PDF
files of the Greek originals of Homerocentones and
De martyrio sancti Cypriani.
3. Other views of Eudocia:
(a) From De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia
of Roman Emperors, a detailed
2004 biography of Eudocia by Geoffrey Greatrex, with links
to other relevant entries.
(b) The traditional
story of Eudocia, from the 1913 edition of the Catholic
Encyclopedia.
(d) At Chapter 32 of Edward Gibbon's 1778-88 Decline
and Fall of the Roman Empire click on "His wife
Eudocia" for more detail on the traditional story (as note
#75 will tell you, Gibbons found the Homerocentones "insipid").
(e) At this chapter of J. B. Bury's History
of the Later Roman Empire (1923), see Section 4, "The
Empress Eudocia" (about a fourth of the way down the page)
for Bury's view of "this amiable lady."
(f) A brief note on Eudocia's initiatives
in Jerusalem.
4. Reviews (for excerpts from both books, see under "In
print"):
(a) James P. Holoka on M.D. Usher's 1998 Homeric
Stitchings: the Homeric Centos of the Empress Eudocia.
(b) Armand D'Angour on Josephine Balmer's 1996 translation, Classical
Women Poets.
5. A
2007 bibliography of studies on Eudocia.
6. A series of coins showing Eudocia's
likeness.
7. An inlaid marble
plaque of the 900s, believed by some to be a representation
of Eudocia. At another site, a 1997 article
on the plaque, by Sharon E. Gerstel; although Gerstel questions
whether the subject is in fact Theodosius' wife, the first part
of the essay describe that Eudocia's life and historical reputation.
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Martyrdom of St. Cyprian
of Antioch
[This anthology includes a prose translation by G. Ronald
Kastner of most of the extant Martyrdom of St. Cyprian
of Antioch; the introduction is thorough and the notes useful.
One correction: Kastner says that some of Book 1 is lost; in
fact, since the finding in 1965 of 99 "lost" lines,
Book 1 is believed to be complete:]
A Lost tradition: women writers of the early Church / Patricia
Wilson-Kastner... [et al.].Washington, D.C.: University Press
of America, c1981. (xxx, 180 p.)
LC#: BR60 .L59 1981; ISBN: 0819116424, 0819116432
Bibliography: p. 173-178.
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"For my parents strove that I might learn whatever there
was to know."
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[In Cyprian's words describing his education, Eudocia seems
to sum up all that she had learned and had heard from travelers
while she was growing up and studying in Athens:]
I was that Cyprian whose parents had once dedicated him to
Apollo.... I dwelled in the towering city of the well-born Athenians
since the time my parents lived there.
At the age of ten I bound fast a torch of Zeus and bore the
white mourning of Kore. I performed the snake rites which occurred
on the Citadel of Athens. Having been a temple attendant I went
to the temple of Mt. Olympus which those ignorant ones say is
the precinct of their feeble deities. I saw the grass, stumps
and such marvelous sights which the terrible evil-doing demons
look after. I saw the seasons going by and the changing storms,
and many effects which the meddlesome and cruel evil spirits
fabricate by delusion. I beheld the great shameless dance of
the singers and the others who battled in the crowds.... I saw
clearly the battle array of the gods and the saints for I tarried
there forty-eight days....
When I reached fifteen I was a disciple of all the spirits
and gods, and I knew about the seven levels of priests and the
deeds of the lawless demons. For my parents strove that I might
learn whatever there was to know about the earth, air, and sea,
not only how the corruption of men increases, but also what makes
a plant good, sturdy, and nourishing....
I was then in the large horse-grazing land of Argos, where
were the white-clad rites of the Tithonian Dawn. I was an initiate,
and on the spot I saw the girdle of mists and wind of the much
convoluted heaven, the kinship between water, well-nourished
farm land, and the watery stream of celestial ether.
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"...that I might know... writing and characters, and the
ancient lore of the universe."
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I went then to Elis, and I saw in Sparta the mighty wooden
image of the Caledonian bull huntress, Artemis, that I might
know the woods, multiform nature, gemstones, writing and characters,
and the ancient lore of the universe.
Coming to the land of Phrygia, I was a very wise diviner,
knowing what ought to be done with livers and hearts; from the
Scythians I learned of the echoing sounds of birds and the gyrations
of their flights, of the omens of youths who were foreseen, of
boomings from wood and rocks, and of voices emanating from the
dead...; of the visible pains of the body; of the monuments of
nature, what had been truthfully and falsely sworn, and of what
counsels might prevent rest.
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"...like the truth of the eternal wisdom."
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When my twentieth birthday had gone by I visited the land
of the dusky Ethiopians and reached Memphis. There I learned
things as dauntless to mortals as they are akin to infernal beings...;
what interests the magicians and what they do: a quick course
of knowledge, memory, fear, craftiness, the tracing of footsteps,
a secret forgetfulness of many people, sports of people or other
like things. There I learned the trembling of the earth, the
origin of rain-filled clouds, and their roar, and the swelling
of the earth and sea; like the truth of the eternal wisdom in
an imitated form which lasts forever.
[pp.159-161]
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Homerocentones
[There is no complete English translation of Homerocentones,
but in his detailed study of Eudocia's use of the Iliad
and the Odyssey, Mark David Usher translates, and gives
the Greek original of, many passages; the bibliography is useful
for the limited English-language sources available on Eudocia.
(See the book's
table of contents online.):]
Usher, Mark David. Homeric stitchings: the Homeric Centos
of the Empress Eudocia. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield
Publishers, c1998. (x, 173 p)
LC#: PA3972.E86 Z88 1998; ISBN: 0847689999, 0847690504
Includes bibliographical references (p. [147]-168) and index.
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"Here me now, you countless tribes of men."
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[The opening of the cento:]
Here me now, you countless tribes of men who inhabit this
land---
all you who are mortal and eat food on the earth
and as many as dwell facing the east or the west,
and those dwelling towards the murky gloom---
when I say what my spirit in my breast bids me,
so that you might have sure knowledge of both God and man. [ll.1-6;
p.64]
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"She unwittingly did a monstrous deed."
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[On Eve, reminding the reader/listener familiar with Homer
of the acts of Clytemnestra and of Jocasta:]
She destroyed her lawfully-wedded husband, and the song of
it
will make men shudder; she has also given women
a bad reputation, even the woman who does what is right.
She unwittingly did a monstrous deed,
and, destructive, she wrought many evils for men;
she cast many strong souls to Hades' abode,
wrought hardship for all, caused trouble for many. [ll.77-79,
84-87; pp.12-13]
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"Why me? what is this that God the almighty commands?"
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[On the visit of an angel to Mary to announce the birth
of Jesus:]
He shot swiftly over the nourishing earth
descending from heaven through fallow air
to tell the fair-haired bride about the sure plan.
He entered an elaborate room---there was the girl,
Sitting on a couch, a footstool supporting her feet
as she spun yarn into thread, a wonder to see.
She was unbroken: a man had not yet brought her under his yoke....
He stood before her, named her, and spoke,
Persuasive this herald, inspired with knowledge,
Softly intoning. Nonetheless, fear seized her limbs.
"Courage, woman of grace, do not be afraid.
Hear me now: I am God's messenger
He sent me to you with the following message:
'Hail to you queen, for all time, until there comes
upon the women and men of the nourishing earth
old age and death, which things are their lot....
Hail, woman of grace! and when the time is come round
there will appear a man to rule those who dwell upon earth,
over all men who are of your race and your blood.'
What I say is true. I shall not mislead you,
His fame now will be greatest of all under heaven;
he will be over all mankind, and noble his gift."
Those were his words, and her knees and heart sank.
She was unable to look at him straight, nor could she think,
but sat down in silence, bending her heart to his will....
"Friend---since indeed it is right that I answer you
back---
Why me? what is this that God the almighty commands? I am shamefast,
Unbroken: a man has not brought me under his yoke.
But what can I do? God brings all things to completion
however he wants. For he is the strongest of all.
Let your word be as you say." [ll.206-12,
223-42, 247-52; pp.91-92]
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"They feasted throughout the halls and they listened to
the bard."
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[On the wedding at Cana, after Jesus had turned water into
wine:]
They feasted throughout the halls and they listened to the
bard,
all the while eating and drinking, for they had a constant supply....
A great throng stood around the beautiful dance floor
and were enjoying themselves; in their midst a divine minstrel
sang
strumming his harp. Two tumblers in the crowd
took up the dance-song, and whirled into the center.
Then bachelors and dowered maidens
began to dance, locked together hand in hand.
The girls wore fine linen, the boys were dressed
in finely-woven attire, their bodies gleaming with oil. [ll.
573-74, 578-85; p.107, pp.67-68]
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"...while the mob was shouting behind him."
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[On the crucifixion of Jesus, with lines reminding the
reader/listener of Hector, of Patroclus, and of Odysseus tied
to the mast:]
And when the sun had come 'round to mid-heaven
they took him, stood apart and stretched him out
with stake after stake, now here, now there, incessant,
and naked, since his clothes lay in the palace,
straight up at the foot of the mast-beam, then fastened cables
around him
very high up in the air, while the mob was shouting behind him.
[ll.1872-77; p.70]
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[In an article that preceded his book length study (above),
Usher gives useful background information on Eudocia and on the
period (some not given in the 1998 book) and translates in prose
some of Eudocia's verse prologue. (See
the issue's table of contents online.):]
Usher, M.D. Prolegomenon to the Homeric Centos. American
Journal of Philology, 118 (1997) 305-321.
LC#: P1 .A5; ISSN: 0002-9475
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"What he left out I reinscribed... and conferred a holy
harmony."
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[Patricius, a bishop, had begun a cento earlier
in the 400s. Until recently, Eudocia's modest disclaimer has
been taken literally; current research has shown that two-thirds
of her cento is in fact new:]
But when I saw the glorious work of Patricius half-finished,
I took holy pages in hand and drew out en masse from his
clever book all the verses that were not in order; what he left
out I reinscribed on his pages and conferred a holy harmony on
the verses. [Prologue, ll.9-14;
p.310]
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On the spa at Hammat-Gadar
[Among her translations in this anthology Josephine Balmer
includes her translation of the 17-line fragment at the spa in
Israel:]
Classical women poets / translated & introduced by Josephine
Balmer. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Bloodaxe, 1996. (158 p.)
LC#: PA3625 .C57 1996; ISBN:1852243422
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"...physician, parent...."
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...So let
me name you for a fiery ocean, newly turning---
physician, parent, the provider of such sweet streams.
From you is born this never-ending swell, rushing here
and then there, now white-hot, now wintry, now warm to touch,
your beauty pours forth as one from fountains, four fold four.
[ll. 3-8; p.117]
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Secondary sources
[This collection includes Peter Van Duen's essay, "The
Poetical Writings of the Empress Eudocia: An Evaluation,"
which discusses Eudocia's work and reviews earlier criticism.
(See
the book's table of contents online.):]
Early Christian poetry: a collection of essays / edited by
J. den Boeft and A. Hilhorst (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae,
0902-623X; v. 22). Leiden; New York: E.J. Brill, 1993. (xi, 318
p.)
LC#: PN1077 .E27 1993; ISBN: 9004099395
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
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[The emphasis of this study by Kenneth G. Holum is on Pulcheria,
the elder sister of Theodosius II, but it also deals with Eudocia
(as an empress, not as a writer), weighing and usually rejecting
the traditional stories about her. Use the index to follow Holum's
treatment of Eudocia. (See
the book's table of contents online.):]
Holum, Kenneth G. Theodosian empresses: women and imperial
dominion in late antiquity (The Transformation of the classical
heritage; 3). Berkeley: University of California Press, c1982
(xiv, 258 p.: ill.)
LC#: DG322 .H64 1982; ISBN: 0520041623
Bibliography: p. 229-244. Includes index
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[This collection contains an essay, "The Empress and
the Poet: Paganism and Politics at the Court of Theodosius II,"
by Alan Cameron, who reviews the legends about Eudocia; his conclusions
frequently differ from those of Holum. The "poet" of
the essay's title is Eudocia's contemporary and friend Cyrus,
not the empress herself; like Holum's, Cameron's interest is
in the history, not the poetry, but the information is useful:]
Later Greek literature / edited for the Department of Classics
by John J. Winkler and Gordon Williams (Yale classical studies;
v.27). Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]; New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1982. ( ix, 344 p.)
LC#: PA25 .Y3 vol. 27; ISBN: 0521239478
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[Jean Demos has translated a Greek biography of Eudocia
by Ioanna Tsatsos. It is a fictionalized and romantic version
of the traditional story, but it gives the historical background
of life at the court of Theodosius II. The notes are minimally
helpful:]
Tsatsos, Ioanna. Empress Athenais-Eudocia, a fifth century
Byzantine humanist (Women of Byzantium). Brookline, Mass.: Holy
Cross Orthodox Press, c1977. (141 p.)
LC#: DF562.6 T713; ISBN: 0916586073
Translation of Athenais. Includes index
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Updated 03-29-08
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