[B-Greek] THIASARCHS
George F Somsel
gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Thu Dec 27 05:58:11 EST 2007
After looking at Elizabeth's reply I checked your citation of the Martyrdom of Polycarp and found that it was not in MPol but rather in Renan's History of Antoninus Pius. It is important to distinguish primary sources from secondary sources. It appears that Elizabeth is absolutely correct that, while it is doubtful that Lucian was the only one to ever use the word, his is the only extant use of the word we have.
george
gfsomsel
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learn truth, love truth, speak the truth, hold the truth,
defend the truth till death.
- Jan Hus
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----- Original Message ----
From: Anita Clerke <clerke at humanperformance.cc>
To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 2:54:04 AM
Subject: [B-Greek] THIASARCHS
Lucian of Samosata's work "The Passing of Peregrinus" has the
following statement on pages 12-13 (paragraph 11), as found in The
Loeb Classical Library, Lucian with an English Translation by AM
Harmon Volume V, 1972:
"...in a trice he made them all look like children; for he was
prophet, cult-leader, head of the synagogue, and everything, all by
himself."
The Greek on the facing page has cult-leader as θιασἀρχης
THIASARCHS.
According to Van Voorst R Jesus Outside the New Testament. Eerdmans:
Grand Rapids 2000, THIASARCHS does not appear in the GNT.
Can someone please indicate if the word is used by any of the early
christian writers, say before AD 390?
I searched Justin's apology in Greek at http://
patrologia.ct.aegean.gr/PG_Migne/Iustinus_PG%2006/Apologia.pdfand
didn't find it there.
Using the search engine within the Christian Classics Ethereal
Library I did find "thiasarch" in the MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARPUS.
CHAPTER XXIII., p 249. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/renan/
hadrian_pius.xxv.html?highlight=thiasarch#highlight However here it
was simply referring to Lucian's account: "About that time there
lived a certain Peregrinus, a cynic philosopher of Parium, upon the
Hellespont, who called himself Protéus, and in regard to whom people
boasted of the facility with which he could assume any character, and
undertake any adventure. Among these adventures was that of posing as
a bishop and a martyr. Having begun life by committing the most
frightful crimes, parricide even, he became a Christian, then a
priest, a scribe, a prophet, a thiasarch, and chief of the synagogue."
Jonathan Clerke
clerke at humanperformance.cc
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