Asceticism

Albrecht Diem

doi:10.4324/9780415791182-rmeo192-1

Asceticism

Albrecht Diem

Department of History

Research output: Chapter in Book/Entry/Poem › Chapter

Abstract

This contribution points to the problem that the term ‘asceticism’ has no proper definition and that it, if used uncritically, glosses over the diversity of radical religious practices in the late antique world and beyond. Asceticus is not a classical or medieval Latin term but the product of early modern attempts to provide monastic life with a convenient past. I provide a short history of the term ‘asceticism’ and a case study: the rendition of the Greek term askesis in the two Latin translations of Athanasius of Alexandria’s Life of Antony.

Original language	English (US)
Title of host publication	Routledge Resources Online - Medieval Studies
Number of pages	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.4324/9780415791182-rmeo192-1
State	Published - May 30 2022

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Asceticism

Abstract

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