John Chrysostom died ignominiously as an exiled and condemned heretic. Yet, early biographers worked to reverse his reputation and transformed John into a symbol of Christian orthodoxy. In this essay, I examine how one such biographer, Ps.-Martyrius, managed this task through the language of proper diagnosis. In his Funerary Speech for John Chrysostom, Ps.-Martyrius differentiates the symptoms of the disease of heresy from the symptoms of righteous suffering. To make his case, Ps.-Martyrius compares John’s symptoms, through reference to the lesioned bodies of the Constantinopolitan leper community, to the fecund and cursed body of the Empress Eudoxia. Ps.-Martyrius’s diagnosis concludes that John’s suffering through conspicuous exile conveyed honor and orthodoxy, while Eudoxia’s embedded and hidden maladies reflected her culpability as the bearer of lies.
%0 Journal Article
%1 Barry_Diagnosing_2016
%A Barry, Jennifer
%D 2016
%J Journal of Early Christian Studies
%K Chrysostomus,Häresie,Ps.-Martyrius Johannes
%P 395–418
%R 10.1353/earl.2016.0033
%T Diagnosing Heresy: Ps.-Martyrius’s Funerary Speech
for John Chrysostom
%V 24
%X John Chrysostom died ignominiously as an exiled and condemned heretic. Yet, early biographers worked to reverse his reputation and transformed John into a symbol of Christian orthodoxy. In this essay, I examine how one such biographer, Ps.-Martyrius, managed this task through the language of proper diagnosis. In his Funerary Speech for John Chrysostom, Ps.-Martyrius differentiates the symptoms of the disease of heresy from the symptoms of righteous suffering. To make his case, Ps.-Martyrius compares John’s symptoms, through reference to the lesioned bodies of the Constantinopolitan leper community, to the fecund and cursed body of the Empress Eudoxia. Ps.-Martyrius’s diagnosis concludes that John’s suffering through conspicuous exile conveyed honor and orthodoxy, while Eudoxia’s embedded and hidden maladies reflected her culpability as the bearer of lies.
@article{Barry_Diagnosing_2016,
abstract = {John Chrysostom died ignominiously as an exiled and condemned heretic. Yet, early biographers worked to reverse his reputation and transformed John into a symbol of Christian orthodoxy. In this essay, I examine how one such biographer, Ps.-Martyrius, managed this task through the language of proper diagnosis. In his Funerary Speech for John Chrysostom, Ps.-Martyrius differentiates the symptoms of the disease of heresy from the symptoms of righteous suffering. To make his case, Ps.-Martyrius compares John’s symptoms, through reference to the lesioned bodies of the Constantinopolitan leper community, to the fecund and cursed body of the Empress Eudoxia. Ps.-Martyrius’s diagnosis concludes that John’s suffering through conspicuous exile conveyed honor and orthodoxy, while Eudoxia’s embedded and hidden maladies reflected her culpability as the bearer of lies.},
added-at = {2017-03-29T15:04:26.000+0200},
author = {Barry, Jennifer},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/250b8759b3e06a44bdde4605998d72c21/avs},
doi = {10.1353/earl.2016.0033},
file = {:Barry_Diagnosing_2016.pdf:PDF},
interhash = {f1b654b406a6e6be3faa889808ea9121},
intrahash = {50b8759b3e06a44bdde4605998d72c21},
journal = {Journal of Early Christian Studies},
keywords = {Chrysostomus,Häresie,Ps.-Martyrius Johannes},
pages = {395–418},
timestamp = {2017-03-29T15:05:25.000+0200},
title = {Diagnosing Heresy: Ps.-Martyrius’s Funerary Speech
for John Chrysostom},
volume = 24,
year = 2016
}