Methodius of Olympus
Methodius of Olympus, Latin Methodius († probably 311 or 312) was a Greek Christian writer, according to some sources, bishop and martyr. He is a saint of the Catholic Church, his feast is celebrated on September 18.
Life
The news about the life of Methodius are sparse. Epiphanius of Salamis mentioned him in his Panarion as Methodius, also known under the name Euboulios. St. Jerome calls him in several places episcopus et martyr, bishop and martyr. In De viris illustribus he writes that Methodius bishop of Olympus in Lycia and was later of Tyre. Towards the end of the last persecution he had suffered martyrdom in Chalcis in Greece. With the "last persecution " is probably the meant by Maximinus Daia, which means that Methodios 311 or 312 died. The alternative statement of Jerome ( or, as others say, of Decius and Valerian ) would put his death around 251 and is considered a very credible. Even the office of bishop in Tyros is more than doubtful, as it is unclear what is meant by the variety called Chalcis.
The symposium
His most famous work is the feast ( symposium ), not just the title of Plato's work of the same borrowed: the dialogue form as well as numerous phrases and phrases are taken directly from Plato. However Methodius does not describe a drinking session, in which discussed the Eros, but a gathering of ten holy virgins in a paradise garden, praising chastity.
Methodius was familiar with the philosophy of Plato, however, the contemporary Neoplatonists such as Porphyry fought. To be in the Christology he seems a follower of subordinationism been (his relevant statements are sometimes obscure and difficult to understand ); during the Christological disputes between Arians and Orthodox in the 4th century it was recognized by both sides.
Other works
The symposium is the only work that is fully preserved in the original Greek. Further works are only fragmentary, preserved in quotations or in translations in Slavic languages:
- About free will ( De autexusio )
- On the Resurrection ( De resurrectione )
- Against Porphyry ( Adversus Porphyrium )
- About the creatures ( De creaturis )
- Revelationes divinae. Michael Furter, Basle II 14 1500 ( digitized )