A'ANASIO - Enciclopedia Cattolica, Vol. II, p. 179

Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.

A'ANASIUS - ATHANASIUS OF ANAZARBUS

von der Goltz in Texte und Untersuchungen of 1905), certainly written after 362. It is a true spiritual manual for the use of the Christian virgin, full of good sense and discretion. The same qualities are found in three letters or treatises on the same subject, recently published, two in Syriac (by J. Lebon, in Muséon, 40 [1927], pp. 205-48; 41 [1928], pp. 169-216) and another in Coptic (by C. Th. Lefort, ibid., 42 [1929], pp. 179-274, with French translation). The latter was cited by Ephrem of Antioch (Photius, Bibliotheca, cod. 229: PG 103, 993) and used by Shenoute (v.) and especially by St. Ambrose in his De Virginibus, II (cf. Lefort, in Muséon, 48 [1935], pp. 55-73). It is incomplete, but contains a magnificent encomium of virginity. Thus we possess the four treatises on virginity mentioned in a Coptic fragment of the Chronicle of the Patriarchs of Alexandria at the beginning of the catalogue of St. A.’s works.

A fine spiritual treatise is also the Letter of St. A. on fraternal charity and temperance, published in Coptic with French translation by A. Van Lantschoot, in Muséon, 40 (1927), pp. 265-92. These discoveries reveal the importance of St. A. as an ascetical doctor and master of the spiritual life; it is highly probable that his ascetical works were written in Greek and Coptic.

4. Dubious or Apocryphal Works

From early times attempts were made to attribute to A. writings of Apollinarius or his disciples, while his authentic works were falsified, especially by the moderate group of the Apollinarian sect. Thus it happened with the Letter to Epictetus.

Works of Apollinarius are: 1° De Incarnatione Verbi Dei (PG 28, 25-30, 89-96); 2° Quod unus sit Christus (ibid. 121-32); 3° perhaps the fourth discourse against the Arians (PG 26, 467-526).

Works not belonging to A.: 1° the two books against Apollinarius (PG 26, 1093-1166); 2° the Quaestiones ad Antiochum (PG 28, 1-137, 597-700); 3° the Quicumque Creed, which is of Latin origin (v. ATANASIANO [PSEUDO] SIMBOLO).

BIBL.: The sources for the life of St. A. are first of all his works and his numerous personal apologetic writings; two important and almost official documents deposited in the archives of Alexandria after his death are the Historia Athanasii acephala, preserved in Latin translation, and the Index of the Festal Letters derived from a Syriac translation: both in PG 26, 1351-1450. See the panegyric of the Saint by St. Gregory Nazianzen, Oratio 21: PG 35, 1081-1128, and the Fragments of an encomium in Coptic probably dating from the 5th century, published by O. V. Lemm, Koptische Fragmente zur Patriarchengeschichte Alexandriens, in Mémoires de l'Académie impériale de Saint-Pétersbourg, 7th series, 36 (1888), no. 11. The Historia Francorum of St. Hilary of Poitiers and the histories of Sozomen, Rufinus, Theodoret, and Philostorgius should also be consulted. Among the numerous modern lives of St. A. the following may be noted: G. Hermant, La vie de saint Athanase, patriarche d'Alexandrie, 2 vols., Paris 1671-79; B. de Montfaucon, Vita Athanasii, ibid. 1698, and Animadversiones in vitam et scripta s. Athanasii, in Collectio Nova Patrum, II, ibid. 1706 (these two works are reprinted in PG 25, pp. LIX-CLXXXV); J. A. Möhler, Athanasius der Grosse und die Kirche seiner Zeit, besonders im Kampfe mit dem Arianismus, Mainz 1827, French trans. by J. Cohen, Paris 1840; E. Fialon, Saint Athanase, étude littéraire, ibid. 1877; E. Schwartz, Zur Geschichte des Athanasius, in Nachrichten von der kkgl. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 1904, pp. 333-401, 518-477, 1905, pp. 164-87, 257-99; 1908, pp. 305-74; 1911, pp. 367-426, 460-522, a series of chronological and documentary studies of the highest importance, though some of its conclusions have been contested. For a more extensive biography see G. Bardy, s.V. in DHG, IV, cols. 1313-15, 1339-40. Cf. also ARIANESIMO.

The most complete collection of works is in PG 25-28 (ed. by the Maurists J. Lepin and B. de Montfaucon with some later additions). The critical edition by H. G. Opitz (Berlin Corpus) is still in its early fascicles (or appeared in the years 1934-41 and contemporary and personal apologetic writings). For particular editions of certain works and special studies made on them, see O. Bardenhewer, Geschichte der altkirchlichen Literatur, III, Freiburg in Br. 1923, pp. 44-79. Among the numerous monographs on St. A. the following may be noted: H. Voigt, Die Lehre des hl. Athanasius von Alexandrien, Bremen 1861; L. Atzberger, Die Logoslehre des hl. Athanasius, ihre Gegenwart und ihre unmittelbaren Vorläufer, Munich 1880; G. A. Pell, Die Lehre des hl. Athanasius von der Sünde und Erlösung, Passau 1888; Fr. Lauchert, Die Lehre des hl. Athanasius des Grossen, Leipzig 1895; G. Voisin, La doctrine christologique de saint Athanase, in Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique, 1 (1900), pp. 226-48; F. Weigel, Untersuchungen zur Christologie des hl. Athanasius, Paderborn 1914; A. Gaudel, La théorie du Logos chez saint Athanase, in Revue des sciences religieuses, 19 (1929), pp. 524-39; 21 (1931), pp. 1-26; J. Berchem, L'incarnation dans la plan divin d'après saint Athanase, in Echos d'Orient, 33 (1934), pp. 316-30; id., Le Christ Sanctificateur d'après saint Athanase, in Angelicum, 15 (1938), pp. 201-32, 515-58; J. Lebon, Saint Athanase a-t-il employé l'expression "quidquid" d'Anglais, in Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique, 31 (1935), pp. 307-29; Ch. Hauret, Comment le défenseur de Nicée a-t-il compris le dogme de Nicée, Bruges 1936.

Martino Juqic

III. IN ART

In view of the importance which A. has in Church history, his representations in art are few. The earliest, a fresco of the 8th century in S. Maria Antiqua in Rome, shows him standing, in humble aspect, with a scroll, similar to many other Eastern saints aligned beside Christ. Apart from some relatively late frescoes in the monasteries of Mount Athos, Byzantine musicians represented A. together with the other Doctors of the Eastern Church, clad in rich pontifical vestments, in S. Mark’s, Venice, and in the cathedrals of Palermo and Monreale. In Western medieval painting his effigy is not found; he was later painted by Fra Angelico in the Chapel of Nicholas V (Vatican) and by Signorelli in a panel in the Uffizi. In the Baroque period A. was depicted by Domenichino (Abbey of Grottaferrata) and by Bernini, who, at the suggestion of Urban VIII, placed him among the four Doctors of the Universal Church supporting the Chair of St. Peter.

BIBL.: K. Künstle, Ikonographie der Heiligen, Freiburg in Br. 1926, pp. 104-105; J. Braun, Tracht und Attribute der Heiligen in der deutschen Kunst, Stuttgart 1941. Kurt Rathe