Damaris (Damaride, ΔΆΜΑΡΙΣ, var. ΔΆΜΑΛΙΣ)

DAMARIS (DAMARIDE, Δάμαρις, var. Δάμαλις). - A woman converted by the preaching of St. Paul in Athens (Acts 17:34).

Δάμαρις, as a woman's name, is not found outside the New Testament; it is found, however, in Latin inscriptions, Damalis (Thesaurus Linguae Latinae, Onomasticon, III, Leipzig 1918, p. 23), which corresponds to Δάμαλις. This, as a common noun, means "heifer." The presence of D. at the meeting of the Areopagus has led some to think that she was a woman of dubious conduct, since Athenian custom, unlike Macedonian custom, excluded honorable women from such public assemblies. But the severity of this rule had been considerably mitigated under the influence of Hellenistic culture.

On the other hand, taking the text of Acts strictly, it is not stated that D. was converted as a result of Paul's speech at the Areopagus. If, as seems likely, Acts 17:34 refers to the entire Athenian stay (Acts 17:16-34), in order to give the result of Paul's preaching in Athens, D. could also have belonged to the "God-fearers" encountered by the Apostle in the synagogue (17:17), or, in any case, have heard Paul somewhere other than at the Areopagus. There is no basis for saying that she was the wife of Dionysius, as Chrysostom thought (De sacerdotio, IV, 7: PG 48, 660). The form used by Acts does not suggest any relationship between the two.

The Greeks commemorate her on October 4.

Teodorico da Castel San Pietro