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The Life of Antony

Instrumental in the conversion of many, including Augustine, The Life of Antony provided the model for subsequent saints' life and constituted, in the words of patristics scholar Johannes Quasten, `the most important document of early monasticism'. Here in one volume are translations of the Greek text written by Athanasius (from the new critical edition of G.J.M. Bartelink) and of the Coptic text, translated back into the language Antony himself spoke. By having both together, readers become sensitive to some of the Hellenized shadings provided by the exiled archbishop of Alexandria. Two short contemporary texts further manifest the powerful influence of the `the father of monks'.

Tim Vivian, an Episcopal priest and independent scholar, specializes in early Christian monasticism. Among his previous publications are Paphnutius: Histories of the Monks of Upper Egypt and the Life of Onnophrius, and The Life of the Jura Fathers.

Apostolos N. Athanassakis, holder of the Argyropoulos Chair in Hellenic Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has previously translated Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns.

Benedicta Ward SLG is Reader in the History of Christian Spirituality, University of Oxford. Among her published works are The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, The Harlots of the Desert, and High King of Heaven.

Rowan Williams, formerly Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at Christ Church Oxford, Bishop of Monmouth, and Archbishop of Wales, is now Archbishop of Canterbury.

Cistercian Publications
ISBN 0879079029 (Softbound)
290 pages

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