The Greek Martyrdom of *Pistis, Elpis and Agape, daughters of Sophia (martyrs of Rome, S00554) tells the story of three young women who undergo torture and martyrdom by the sword because of their Christian faith; their mother Sophia dies a wished for and peaceful death, three days after their execution. Possibly written in Constantinople, perhaps in the 4th century.
E06900
Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom
Martyrdom of Pistis, Elpis and Agape, daughters of Sophia (BHG 1637x, 1637y, 1637z)
Summary
§ 1: Sophia ('Wisdom'), a Christian woman of noble descent, was living in Rome along with her three daughters, to whom she taught the Christian doctrine.
§§ 2-4: One day, the governor Antiochos visits the Roman emperor Hadrian to complain about these four women who have been instigating other women of the city to adopt Christian beliefs and customs. The emperor immediately summons the four women to appear before him in the palace and is impressed by their beauty. At this point, Hadrian begins with the interrogation of Sophia, who confesses her Christian faith without a second thought. The pagan emperor then orders that Sophia and her daughters be detained until their trial is completed. During their detention, Sophia encourages the young girls to remain steadfast in their Christian faith so that they will also confer a great honour on her, who brought them into the world.
§§ 5-6: After hearing the words of their mother, the daughters feel confident in their strength and promise her that they will do so successfully with the help of Christ. Indeed, three days later, the emperor summons them to appear before the court and endeavours to persuade them to convert to paganism not only by extending compliments and promises but also by threatening them with violent punishment. However, the three girls refuse to compromise and make it clear that they will not change their minds, which enrages the emperor who immediately turns to their mother and asks her for their names and ages: the oldest daughter is called Pistis ('Faith') and is twelve years old, the second one is called Elpis ('Hope') and is ten years old, and the youngest is called Agape ('Love'/'Charity') and is nine years old. Hadrian begins by interrogating Pistis and calls on her to offer sacrifice to the goddess Artemis.
§§ 7-9: Pistis refuses to obey the imperial order, and Hadrian commands that the Christian girl be stripped and whipped. However, Pistis emerges from this torment unscathed, and the emperor orders that the breasts of the martyr be cut off. At the violent removal of her breasts, not blood but streams of milk flow out (ἀντὶ αἵματος κρονοὶ γάλακτος ἀπέρρεον, ch. 7 [BHG 1637z; similar to BHG 1637x and y]). The bystanders are amazed at this miracle and begin praising the Christian God. The heroine withstands additional tortures inflicted upon her body, and Hadrian finally decides to execute her by the sword. Pistis encourages her younger sisters to follow her example and, just before she is decapitated, addresses last words to her mother and a final prayer to God, thanking Him for allowing her to become a martyr, and asking Him to remember (μνήσθητι) His male and female, rich and poor servants [in the Kingdom of Heaven], as well as her mother and sisters, and herself who suffered martyrdom steadfastly. She asks God to welcome her spirit, and to not show any mercy to the wicked emperor.
§§ 10-11: The completion of the martyrdom of Pistis is followed by the trial and ordeal of Elpis. One of the tortures imposed on Elpis is the fiery furnace. While the fire burns many of the bystanders, the heroine's body remains untouched. Like her sister Pistis, Elpis is decapitated after encouraging her younger sister Agape and addressing a final prayer to God, asking Him to support her and to receive her soul. Sophia exhorts Agape to emulate her sisters' pious accomplishments.
§§ 12-14: Agape undergoes tortures, similar to those of her sisters. But this time the fire of the furnace harms not only the audience but also the emperor himself. Finally, Agape is also killed by the sword.
Sophia collects the bodies of her three daughters and buries them at an elevated point situated 'eight miles from the city of Rome' (ch. 14 [BHG 1637z and x]; cf. 'eighteen miles': ch. 14 [BHG 1637y] – according to this version, Sophia also builds a church devoted to her daughters). Three days later, Sophia, along with other women of the city, visits the tomb of her daughters and expresses her wish to die too so that she can meet her daughters again. Her wish is immediately fulfilled, and the women who are present place her body in the tomb of her daughters.
Thereupon, Hadrian dies through the total deformation and destruction of his body, which comes as punishment for his actions against the four female martyrs.
This martyrdom took place on September 17 (ch. 14 [BHG 1637z and x]; cf. October 29: ch. 14 [BHG 1637y]).
Text: Halkin 1973: 185-228.
Summary: C. Papavarnavas.
Cult building - independent (church)
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
MiraclesMiracle at martyrdom and death
Miracle after death
Changing abilities and properties of the body
Punishing miracle
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesWomen
Children
Source
For the manuscript tradition, see:http://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/notices/oeuvre/17806/
http://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/notices/oeuvre/17807/
http://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/notices/oeuvre/18085/
For a thorough commentary on the manuscript tradition of this text, see Papavarnavas 2014: 46-49.
For the edition, see Bibliography.
Discussion
M. van Esbroeck (1981) argues that this martyrdom account (BHG 1637x, y and z) was probably written in Constantinople in the 4th century – not in Rome between the 7th and the 8th century, as Halkin (1973: 180, 184-185) proposed.It is transmitted not only in Greek, but also in a Latin translation (BHL 2966–2973; see E03257) made by the end of the 8th century at the latest, in Syriac (BHO 1082-1084) and in Armenian (BHO 1085).
Although the four female martyrs cannot be considered historical persons, they enjoyed considerable cult both in the East and West, which is confirmed by the existence and spread of their names in Greek and Latin (cf. Amore 1968b: 1278–1279; Halkin 1973: 7-8, 179-180). The cult of these saints seems to have been particularly popular both in Constantinople (where the text was probably composed) and in Rome (where the story is set).
Latin sources mention three different roads outside Rome as the burial site of the four martyrs: the via Aurelia, the via Appia and the via Latina (Halkin 1973: 179), though their principal shrine was certainly on the via Aurelia, as evidenced by three different sources in our database (see E00689, E06788, E07896). The reason for their burial sites proliferating is perhaps because some dedicatory inscriptions mentioning the virtues of wisdom, faith, hope and charity were mistaken for epitaphs of the martyrs (cf. Delehaye 1912: 327; Halkin 1973: 179).
Bibliography
Text:Halkin, F. (ed.), Légendes grecques de 'martyres romaines' (Subsidia Hagiographica 55; Brussels, 1973), 185-196 and 204-213 (BHG 1637x); 185-204 (BHG 1637y); 213–228 (BHG 1637z).
Further reading:
Amore, A., "Sofia, Pistis, Elpis, Agape (Sapienza, Fede, Speranza, Carità), sante, martiri (?)," Bibliotheca Sanctorum 11 (1968), 1277–1279.
Constantinou, S., Female Corporeal Performances: Reading the Body in Byzantine Passions and Lives of Holy Women (Uppsala, 2005), 28-29 and 30-58 (passim).
Delehaye, H., Les origines du culte des martyrs (Subsidia Hagiographica, 20; Brussels, 1912).
Lequeux, X., "Latin Hagiographical Literature Translated into Greek," in: S. Efthymiadis (ed.), The Ashgate Research Companion to Byzantine Hagiography, vol. 1: Periods and Places (Farnham/Burlington VT, 2011), 385-399.
Papavarnavas, C., "The Role of the Audience in the Pre-Metaphrastic Passions," Analecta Bollandiana 134/1 (2016), 66-82.
Papavarnavas, C., Die Rolle des Publikums in den vormetaphrastischen Gruppen- und Einzelmartyrien (Universität Wien, 2014), 18-28, 46-49 and 79 (including a table of manuscripts). URL: http://othes.univie.ac.at/34303/1/2014-08-26_1249304.pdf
Papavarnavas, C., Gefängnis als Schwellenraum in der byzantinischen Hagiographie: Eine Untersuchung früh- und mittelbyzantinischer Märtyrerakten (Millennium Studies, 90; Berlin, Boston, 2021), passim (with literary analysis of relevant passages, see esp. Chapter 4).
van Esbroeck, M., "Le saint comme symbole," in: S. Hackel (ed.), The Byzantine Saint (London, 1981), 128-140.
Christodoulos Papavarnavas
15/10/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00554 | Sophia/Sapientia, and her three daughters, martyrs of Rome, buried on the via Aurelia | Σοφία, Πίστις, Ἐλπίς, Ἀγάπη | Certain |
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