Resume

• 2008

  Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

  Religious Studies - History of Christianity and Mysticism

  Gnosticism

  and Esotericism

  Rice University

• 2006

  MA

  Comparative Religion

• 2000

  BA

  Psychology and Asian Studies

• Higher Education

  University Teaching

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  Foreign Languages

  Old English

  Academic Writing

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  Teaching English as a Second Language

  Ancient Greek

  The Translation

  Transformation

  and Transportation of Demons in the Life of St. Antony

  (Abbreviated abstract; to be delivered at \"Religion and the Trans...\" conference

  Northwestern)\nThe Life of St. Antony has undergone several translations and transportations since its creation... Beset by demons on all sides

  Antony triumphs over his diabolical adversaries and in so doing is established as an exemplum of the monastic life. Evagrius’ Latin translation (completed prior to the summer of 374) further ensured the continuation of Antony’s Life into the Latin West and Christendom at large

  the topoi contained therein resurfacing throughout Saints’ Lives literature

  most notably in Felix’s Life of St. Guthlac.\n\n....\n\nFinally

  I will suggest that current scholarship’s lack of distinction between the two lives represents larger issues of translation and inherited interpretation

  issues which modern scholarship would do well to consider when dealing with texts from the late antique and medieval periods.\n\nThe intersection of this paper with the topic “Religion and the Trans…” is three-fold. Of course

  as a Latin prefix “trans-“ indicates movement

  either across

  beyond

  or through. This paper will address the translation

  transformation

  and transportation of the Life. Yet

  these common

  everyday words disguise a subtle dialogue of their own which must be recognized to move from antiquity through the Middle Ages to our own time period. For Evagrius

  translating (trans + latus from fero – to bear) was a “carrying over” of truth from one document to the next

  rather than an adherence to grammatical forms. Since Evagrius’ truth differed so markedly from Athanasius

  Evagrius’ translation transformed the nature of demons without his conscious knowledge. Evagrius’ version of the Life was then transported into the heart of the Latin West

  in terms of the thought world as well as geography

  such that it influenced art

  literature

  and demonology for centuries to come.

  Sympathetic Suffering: Alleviating Suffering through the Life of St. Margaret

  (2012 Meeting; International Congress on Medieval Studies

  Kalamazoo)\n\tSt. Margaret is a classic prototype of noble suffering. However

  through her suffering as a martyr her Life becomes associated with easing the suffering of her adherents

  including most famously pregnant women. In both Latin and vernacular versions of the Life of Margaret

  before she is martyred

  Margaret utters a prayer to God for the benefit of those who pray in her name

  a prayer whose benefits are echoed (and in some cases expanded upon) by a dove. These prayers and responses differ greatly in the various versions of Margaret’s Lives

  differences which suggest the needs (medical and otherwise) of the community for which each version of the Lives was written. \nThis presentation will address Margaret’s prayers in several Lives which are classified as “Version 1” variations of Margaret’s Life or related to them. These include two early Latin versions

  the Mombritius version and the Paris version (BHL 5303 and 5305 respectively); the two Old English versions in Cotton Tiberius A.iii and Corpus Christi College 303; and the Legenda Aurea version. Given time

  I may look at versions outside this cluster

  including those in Old French. I am particularly interested in the way that certain texts suggest economic disparities between audience members; for example when the Mombritius version addresses “whoever builds a basilica in my name or from his labor furnishes a manuscript of my passion

  ” it suggests that the audience will be both wealthy and literate. On the other hand

  in the Old English version in Corpus Christi 303

  the dove’s reply is directed at those who “for love of you prays to me and brings alms or comes with a light

  ” suggesting a more lowly parishioner. By looking at the wording of these prayers

  and through them at the types of communities to which Margaret’s Lives were addressed

  it becomes possible to see what Margaret’s suffering meant to those she promised to heal and protect.

  In the Belly of the Beast

  Proposed to MAP 2013 session \"Heroes and Monsters\"\nWhile Margaret of Antioch accomplishes many heroic feats in her Life – including the subjugation of a demon and resisting extreme forms of torture – the heroic act for which she is best know is the slaying of the dragon that appears in her prison cell. Although the scene is relatively short

  its word count belies its importance to the story. With respect to her adherents

  Margaret’s most famous offering (safe birth) is intimately related to her bursting from the dragon

  while artistic renderings of the scene are some of the most frequent depictions of Margaret. The scene also attracted considerable attention from a subset of Margaret’s hagiographers

  such as Jacobus de Voragine and the author of the South English Legendary

  who tend to dismiss the dragon swallowing Margaret as “apocryphal.” Scholars have primarily argued that such authors deny Margaret’s physical contact with the dragon due to the degree of corporeality such contact would require for the demonic figure. Counter to this claim

  I will argue that the Margaret tradition is instead drawing upon the older life of St. Anthony

  creating a parallel between Margaret’s encounter with the dragon and Anthony’s struggle with demonically induced lust. As such

  medieval readers would have viewed the draconic encounter as distinctly sexual: by defeating the dragon

  Margaret is transformed from the fearful young girl who is overcome by the “fear of death” into a heroic virgin martyr “whose name is blessed through the ages.” Paradoxically

  it is Margaret’s close encounter with the overly sexualized dragon that secures her transformation into a holy virgin. I am primarily interested in the way in which comparing Margaret’s Life to Antony’s may help us understand the greater Margaret tradition

  particularly the aforementioned authors’ rejections of the draconic encounter and the way in which this crucial scene was understood by Margaret’s adherents.

  Racial and Religious Alterity as Monstrosity in the Life of St. Margaret

  To be presented to the Georgia Medieval Group on October 20th

  The Devil in the Details: Demonic Corporeality in the Greek and Latin Lives of Antony

  (Accepted into the SBL 2012 Annual Meeting

  Christianity in Egypt: Scripture

  Tradition

  and Reception.)\nWritten by Athanasius of Alexandria in Greek and translated soon thereafter into Latin by Evagrius Ponticus

  the Life of St. Antony represents one of the most important texts for understanding monasticism in the antique period. Recent research by authors

  such as David Brakke

  has highlighted the importance of the demonic in works such as the Life for determining monastic identity: by defining their opposition

  the monks define aspects of themselves. \nContrary to present research on the Life

  I will argue that there are two distinct types of demonic corporeality present in the Greek and Latin Lives: pneumatic and somatic

  respectively. The Greek Life presents demons as beings capable of influencing thoughts

  creating illusions

  and even causing others to feel psychosomatic pain

  but also as entities incapable of affecting and influencing their environment on the same physical level as human beings. Contrary to the Greek Life

  the Latin Life offers an entirely different and more frightening portrayal of demons: creatures capable of shattering doors

  beating opponents nearly to death

  and struggling with monks on the tops of mountains. \nThese differences are important for two reasons. First

  the differences between the two texts suggest that the Life of St. Antony embodies not one perspective of demons in Egyptian monasticism but two. Thus

  two conflicting views of monastic identity which I will describe. Finally

  as suggested by the propagation of the Latin Life over the Greek

  it is Evagrius’ conception of the demonic

  not Athanasius’

  which continues to inform the Latin West through the end of the Middle Ages

  and thus to influence not only the identities of Saints and eremites but popular literature and art for several hundred years.

  Heyes

  Michael

  Heyes

  Rice University

  University of South Florida

  University of Washington

  NOVA Group of Japan

  University of South Florida

  Visiting Instructor

  Teaching Assistant

  University of Washington

  ESL Teacher

  NOVA Group of Japan

  Graduate Student

  Rice University

  Rice Gnosticism

  Mysticism and Esotericism Organization

  President and Founding Member