Study Questions for The Life of St. Antony by Athanasius

Please come to class prepared to discuss in detail your responses to the following questions, or your interpretations of various events and symbols in the work.

 

1. "...there were monasteries in the mountains and the desert was made a city by monks, who left their own people and registered themselves for the citizenship in the heavens." Athanasius, The Life of Antony.

Why did the desert have such a powerful attraction to early Christians? In what ways can one interpret the "desert" as an experience?

2. "[Antony] remained truly the Father of all monks ... St. Antony's life, then, for the medieval monks is not simply an historical text, a source of information about a definitely dead past. It is a living text, a means of formation of monastic life." Jean Leclerq, The Love of Learning and the Desire for God.

Please comment on this quotation, and attempt to explain through references to the text why Antony was a model for all later monks. What monastic ideals does he exemplify?

3. In what ways does the life of Antony resemble the lives of Biblical figures such as Christ?

4. When was the hagiography written? What were the major events which occurred during this era, and how does Athanasius's Life of Antony reflect preoccupation with those events?

5. What does The Life of Antony reveal about the social significance of the Holy Man in late antiquity? In what ways does Antony serve as a mediator for important debates?

6. What forms do demons take in the Life of Antony and, ultimately, what are the demons? Given Antony's many conflicts with demons, can it be said that the desert really is a desert? What do the many conflicts with demons suggest about the essence of monastic life? What values do the passages on demons and, in fact, the whole text express about the body and its relationship to the soul? Can you think of a word or words which express the constant vigilance against demons undergone by Antony?

7. Make a list of the animals that appear in the text and when they appear. What do the animals symbolize and what is their function in the overall narrative?

8. The Life of Antony is in some sense, a travelogue. Make a list of the places to which Antony goes and of the expressions used to describe his movements. In what ways is place a symbol of Antony's spiritual journey, and how does his relationship to the place he is in symbolize his spiritual state?

9. Make a list of the adjectives that are used to describe Antony, and then try to determine what ideals of monastic life they express.