[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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----- 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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