Oldal 74 [74]
FILIP DOROSZEWSKI
of John Malalas (c.491-578). In Chronographia 12.3.20-29, the historian
speaks of the Maiuma festival held in Antioch in honour of Dionysus and
Aphrodite, as well as of the nocturnal cult of Dionysus mentioned by Virgil.
JEWISH AND HERETICAL WORSHIP
Some authors from the period in question use the term öpyıa with polemical
intentions to describe the Judaic cult and/or religious practices of certain
Christian sects. Of seven such instances in total, four are found in Theodoret
of Cyrus, who applies the word to Manicheans (classified as heretics by
the author), the followers of Simon the Magician, and heretics in general, and
the licentious customs of Jews (with relation to Hosea 4.14).4 Another two
occurrences are found in Nonnus’ Paraphrasis, in which they refer to Jewish
worship.” The last author to be mentioned here is Procopius of Gaza (465-c.
528). While discussing Ezekiel 8:14, a passage in which Jewish women bewail
the pagan deity Tammuz in the Temple of Jerusalem, he calls these practices
öpyıa.*
METAPHOR FOR SECRET KNOWLEDGE
The 27 occurrences that fall under this category can be grouped into two
subcategories: 1) secrets in general and 2) the Christian faith and its teachings.
SECRETS IN GENERAL
The first occurrence of the 19 assigned to this subcategory is found in Synesius
of Cyrene, who uses the term twice in his letters in reference to the secrets
of Neoplatonist philosophy.** Another 13 instances occur in Nonnus of
Panopolis. In the Dionysiaca, dpyia is a metaphor for the art of writing,
poetic inspiration, laws, astronomy, medicine, viticulture, female private
41 Haer. PG 83.337, 380, 384; Os—Mal. PG 81.1573.
2 Par. 2.113, 4.107; see Filip Doroszewski, Judaic Orgies and Christ’s Bacchic Deeds: Dionysiac
Terminology in Nonnus’ Paraphrase of St. John’s Gospel, in: Konstantinos Spanoudakis
(ed.), Nonnus of Panopolis in Context. Poetry and Cultural Milieu in Late Antiquity, Berlin,
Walter de Gruyter 2014, 294-300.
43 Is. PG 87.2140.
4 Ep. 137.9, 143.33 (34); see Antonio Garzya, Synésios de Cyréne, Tome II-III, Correspondance,
Paris, Les Belles Lettres 2000, 398n7.
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