Damaris (biblical figure)

Detail of Raphael's St Paul Preaching in Athens depicting Damaris.[1]

Damaris (Greek: Δάμαρις) is the name of a woman mentioned in a single verse in Acts of the Apostles (17:34) as one of those present when Paul of Tarsus preached in Athens in front of the Athenian Areopagus in c. AD 55.

Biblical narrative[edit]

Together with Dionysius the Areopagite Damaris embraced the Christian faith following Paul's Areopagus sermon. The verse reads:

"Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them." (KJV)

As usually women were not present in Areopagus meetings, Damaris has traditionally been assumed to have been a hetaera (courtesan, high-status prostitute);[2] modern commentators have alternatively suggested she might also have been a follower of the Stoics (who welcomed women among their ranks)[3] or a foreigner visiting Athens.[4] The Georgian text of Acts makes Damaris the wife of Dionysius.[5]

Veneration[edit]

She is a saint of the Greek Orthodox Church, remembered on 3 October together with Dionysius the Areopagite and two other disciples of Dionysius, who also became martyrs.[6] 3 October in the Julian calendar, which is used by the Old Calendarists, currently coincides with 16 October in the Gregorian calendar.

Etymology[edit]

The etymology of the name is uncertain. Proposals include derivation from damar δάμαρ "wife, spouse", a contraction of the classical Greek name Damarete Δαμαρέτη (attested as the name of a daughter of Theron of Acragas and wife of Gelo), or derivation from damalis δάμαλις "heifer"; a Coptic derivation has also been considered.[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Finnan, Vincent. "Paul Preaching at Athens". Italian Renaissance Art. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  2. ^ e.g. Clare K. Rothschild, Paul in Athens: The Popular Religious Context of Acts 17 (2014), p. 97; Josef Hainz, "Personenlexikon zum Neuen Testament. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft", Darmstadt 2004.
  3. ^ Craig S. Keener, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary : Volume 3: 15:1-23:35 (2014).
  4. ^ Acts (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) Darrell L. Bock - 2007 "The reference to Damaris continues Luke's focus on the response of women (Acts 16:15; 17:4, 12). "She may be a foreigner, since women of Athens would not likely have been present (Witherington 1998: 533)..."
  5. ^ Mark W. Hamilton, Thomas H. Olbricht, Jeffrey Peterson (eds.), Renewing Tradition: Studies in Texts and Contexts in Honor of James W. Thompson (2006), p. 217.
  6. ^ Church of Greece
  7. ^ Mark W. Hamilton, Thomas H. Olbricht, Jeffrey Peterson (eds.), Renewing Tradition: Studies in Texts and Contexts in Honor of James W. Thompson (2006), p. 210ff.