The Monastic Diet in the Light of Medical Science. Theodoret of Cyrus and Medics on Dates and Figs

Maciej Kokoszko; Krzysztof Jagusiak; Jolanta Dybała

doi:10.18778/2084-140X.10.06

Autor

Maciej Kokoszko University of Lodz, Faculty of Philosophy and History, Institute of History, Department of Byzantine Studies https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9563-2902
Krzysztof Jagusiak Waldemar Ceran Research Centre for the History and Culture of the Mediterranean Area and South-East Europe https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3751-7882
Jolanta Dybała Waldemar Ceran Research Centre for the History and Culture of the Mediterranean Area and South-East Europe https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5635-5834

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2084-140X.10.06

Słowa kluczowe:

Theodoret of Cyrus, Syrian ascetics, diet, dates, figs, Greek and Roman medicine

Abstrakt

The aim of this article is to present the menu of early Christian monks in the context of the findings of Greek and Roman medicine in the field of dietetics. It draws from the passages of Historia religiosa by Theodoret of Cyrus about the consumption of dates and figs by Syrian ascetics.

Both species of fruit did not comprise the basis of the monks’ limited diet. Figs and dates were treated as additional food by them, which they ate rarely and in small quantities. According to Theodoret, they did so especially when their bodies were weakened, during long and exhausting fasts.

According to modern dietetics, this was justified as both figs and dates are calorie- and nutrientrich foods, which consumed even in small amounts can significantly supplement an adult’s daily balance in this regard.

The authors of ancient and medical texts stemming from the tradition of Antiquity (Galen, Oribasius, Antimus, Aëtius of Amida, Paul of Aegina and others) also drew attention to the nutritious quality of dates and figs, in addition to numerous others health-promoting properties (especially in the context of the latter species). However, they further noted that excessive consumption of both fruits could lead to some health problems.

In the context of these findings, occasional consumption of dates and figs by Syrian ascetics appears justified, as they could provide their weakened bodies with food of high energy value and nutritious content, whose small amount – and, therefore, fitting in the ideal of mortification – would suffice to improve their health condition.

Pobrania

Brak dostępnych danych do wyświetlenia.

Bibliografia

Aetii Amideni Libri medicinales I–VIII, ed. A. Olivieri, Lipsiae–Berolini 1935–1950 [= Corpus Medicorum Graecorum, 8].
Google Scholar

Anthimus, On the Observance of Foods. De observatione ciborum, ed. M. Grant, Totnes–Blackawton 2007.
Google Scholar

Apicius, A Critical Edition with an Introduction and an English Translation of the Latin Recipe Text Apicius, ed. C. Grocock, S. Grainger, Blackawton–Totnes 2006.
Google Scholar

Athenaei Naucratitae Dipnosophistarum libri XV, vol. I–III, rec. G. Kaibel, Lipsiae–Berolini 1887–1890.
Google Scholar

Galenus, De alimentorum facultatibus libri III, [in:] Claudii Galeni Opera omnia, vol. VI, ed. C.G. Kühn, Lipsiae 1823.
Google Scholar

Galenus, De naturalibus facultatibus, [in:] Claudii Galeni Opera omnia, vol. II, ed. D.C.G. Kühn, Lipsiae 1821.
Google Scholar

Galenus, De usu partium, [in:] Claudii Galeni Opera omnia, vol. III–IV, ed. D.C.G. Kühn, Lipsiae 1822.
Google Scholar

Geoponica sive Cassiani Bassi Scholastici de re rustica eclogae, rec. H. Beckh, Lipsiae 1895.
Google Scholar

Gregorius Turonensis, Historiae – Gregorii episcopi Turonensis libri historiarum X, ed. B. Krusch, W. Levison, Hannover 1951.
Google Scholar

Herodoti Historiae, vol. I–II, ed. N.G. Wilson, Oxford 2015 [= Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis / Oxford Classical Texts].
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oseo/instance.00271221

Oribasii Collectionum medicarum reliquiae, vol. I–IV, ed. I. Raeder, Lipsiae–Berolini 1928–1933 [= Corpus Medicorum Graecorum, 6.1–4].
Google Scholar

Palladii Rutilii Tauri Aemiliani viri inlustris opus agriculturae. De veterinaria medicina. De insitione, ed. R.H. Rodgers, Leipzig 1975 [= Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana], https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110966206
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110966206

Paulus Aegineta, vol. I–II, ed. I.L. Heiberg, Lipsiae–Berolini 1921–1924 [= Corpus Medicorum Graecorum, 9.1].
Google Scholar

Pedanii Dioscuridis Anazarbei De materia medica libri quinque, vol. I–III, ed. M. Wellmann, Berlin 1907–1914.
Google Scholar

Pliny, Natural History, vol. I–X, trans. H. Rackham, W.H.S. Jones, D.E. Eichholz, Cambridge Mass. 1938–1963 [= Loeb Classical Library].
Google Scholar

Théodoret de Cyr, L’histoire des moines de Syrie, vol. I–II, ed. P. Canivet, A. Leroy-Molinghen, Paris 1977–1979 [= Sources chrétiennes, 234, 257].
Google Scholar

Theodoret of Cyrrhus, A History of the Monks of Syria, trans. et comm. R.M. Price, Kalamazoo 1985 [= Cistercian Studies Series, 88].
Google Scholar

Theodoretus, Oratio de divina et sancta charitate, [in:] Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeca, vol. LXXXIII, ed. J.-P. Migne, Paris 1864, col. 1497–1544.
Google Scholar

Xenophon, Anabasis, [in:] Xenophontis opera omnia, vol. III, ed. E.C. Marchant, Oxford 1904.
Google Scholar

Alcock J.P., Food in the Ancient World, Westport–London 2006.
Google Scholar

Al-Farsi M.A., Lee C.Y., The Functional Values of Dates, [in:] Dates. Production, Processing, Food, and Medicinal Values, ed. A. Manickavasagan, M. Mohamed Essa, E. Sukumar, Boca Raton 2012, p. 351–358.
Google Scholar

Al-Shahib W., Marshall R.J., The Fruit of the Date Palm: its Possible Use as the Best Food for the Future?, “International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition” 54.4, 2003, p. 247–259, https://doi.org/10.1080/09637480120091982
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09637480120091982

Altaner B., Stuiber A., Patrologia. Życie, pisma i nauka Ojców Kościoła, trans. P. Pachciarek, Warszawa 1990.
Google Scholar

Arbesmann R., Fasting and Prophecy in Pagan and Christian Antiquity, “Traditio: Studies in Ancient and Medieval Thought, History, and Religion” 7, 1951, p. 1–71, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0362152900015117
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0362152900015117

Augustyniak K., Wstęp. Historia mnichów syryjskich, [in:] Teodoret biskup Cyru, Dzieje miłości Bożej. Historia mnichów syryjskich, trans. K. Augustyniak, praef. E. Wipszycka, K. Augustyniak, Kraków 2011, p. 37–50.
Google Scholar

Bralewski S., Praktykowanie postu w świetle historiografii kościelnej V wieku, “Vox Patrum. Antyk Chrześcijański” 33, 2013, p. 359–378.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.31743/vp.4048

Brewer D.J., Redford D.B., Redford S., Domestic Plants and Animals. The Egyptians Origins, Warminster 1995.
Google Scholar

Canivet P., Introduction. Première partie, [in:] Théodoret de Cyr, L’histoire des moines de Syrie, vol. I, ed. P. Canivet, A. Leroy-Molinghen, Paris 1977 [= Sources chrétiennes, 234], p. 9–55.
Google Scholar

Canivet P., Le monachisme syrien selon Théodoret de Cyr, Paris 1977, https://doi.org/10.14375/NP.9782701000763
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.14375/NP.9782701000763

Clayton P.B., The Christology of Theodoret of Cyrus. Antiochene Christology from the Council of Ephesus (431) to the Council of Chalcedon (451), Oxford 2007 [= Oxford Early Christian Studies].
Google Scholar

Dalby A., Flavours of Byzantium, Totnes 2003.
Google Scholar

Dalby A., Food in the Ancient World from A to Z, London–New York 2003.
Google Scholar

Dembińska M., Diet: A Comparison of Food Consumption between Some Eastern and Western Monasteries in the 4th–12th Centuries, “Byzantion. Revue internationale des études byzantines” 55, 1985, p. 431–462.
Google Scholar

Dugan K.M., Fasting for Life. The Place of Fasting in the Christian Tradition, “Journal of the American Academy of Religion” 63.3, 1995, p. 539–548, https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/LXIII.3.539
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/LXIII.3.539

Edelstein L., The Dietetics of Antiquity, [in:] L. Edelstein, Ancient Medicine. Selected Papers of Ludwig Edelstein, ed. O. Temkin, C.L. Temkin, trans. C.L. Temkin, Baltimore 1967, p. 303–316.
Google Scholar

Escolan P., Monachisme et église. Le monachisme syrien du IVe au VIIe siècle. Un monachisme charismatique, Paris 1999 [= Théologie historique, 109], https://doi.org/10.14375/NP.9782701013879
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.14375/NP.9782701013879

Foxhall L., Fig, [in:] The Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. S. Hornblower, A. Spawforth, E. Eidinow, Oxford 2012, p. 575.
Google Scholar

Grant M., Roman Cookery. Ancient Recipes for Modern Kitchens, London 2002.
Google Scholar

Gregoricka L.A., Sheridan S.G., Ascetic or Affluent? Byzantine Diet at the Monastic Community of St. Stephen’s, Jerusalem from Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes, “Journal of Anthropological Archaeology” 32.1, 2013, p. 63–73, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2012.10.002
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2012.10.002

Grimm V., From Feasting to Fasting. The Evolution of a Sin. Attitudes to Food in Late Antiquity, London 1996.
Google Scholar

Harlow M., Smith W., Between Fasting and Feasting. The Literary and Archaeobotanical Evidence for Monastic Diet in Late Antique Egypt, “Antiquity. A Quarterly Review of World Archaeology” 75, 2001, p. 758–768, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00089262
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00089262

Hirschfeld Y., The Importance of Bread in the Diet of Monks in the Judean Desert, “Byzantion. Revue internationale des études byzantines” 66, 1996, p. 143–155.
Google Scholar

Jotischky A., A Hermit’s Cookbook. Monks, Food and Fasting in the Middle Ages, London–New York 2011, https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350047624
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350047624

Jurewicz O., Historia literatury bizantyńskiej. Zarys, Wrocław 1984.
Google Scholar

Karas M., Apologetyka Teodoreta z Cyru wobec filozofii Platona, “Vox Patrum. Antyk Chrześcijański” 21, 2001, p. 317–335.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.31743/vp.7987

Kieling M., Kościół jako wspólnota miłości w świetle Komentarza do 1 Listu św. Pawła do Koryntian Teodoreta z Cyru, “Kaliskie Studia Teologiczne” 5, 2006, p. 191–206.
Google Scholar

Kislinger E., Christians of the East. Rules and Realities of the Byzantine Diet, [in:] Food. A Culinary History from Antiquity to the Present, ed. J.-L. Flandrin, M. Montanari, Eng. ed. A. Sonnenfeld, New York–Chichester 1999, p. 194–206.
Google Scholar

Kokoszko M., Ryby i ich znaczenie w życiu codziennym ludzi późnego antyku i wczesnego Bizancjum (III–VII w.), Łódź 2005 [= Byzantina Lodziensia, 9].
Google Scholar

Kokoszko M., Smaki Konstantynopola, [in:] Konstantynopol – Nowy Rzym. Miasto i ludzie w okresie wczesnobizantyńskim, ed. M.J. Leszka, T. Wolińska, Warszawa 2011, p. 471–575.
Google Scholar

Kokoszko M., Gibel K., Dieta mnichów syryjskich. Komentarz do terminu autofya lachana (αὐτοφυᾶ λάχανα) w Historia religiosa Teodoreta z Cyru, [in:] Omnia tempus habent. Miscellanea theologica Vincentio Myszor quadragesimum annum laboris scientifici celebranti ab amicis, sodalibus discipulisque oblata, ed. A. Reginek, G. Strzelczyk, A. Żądło, Katowice 2009, p. 145–156.
Google Scholar

Kokoszko M., Rzeźnicka Z., Dietetyka w De re coquinaria, “Przegląd Nauk Historycznych” 10.2, 2011, p. 5–25.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.18778/2084-140X.02.13

Kokoszko M., Dybała J., Jagusiak K., Rzeźnicka Z., Dieta mnichów syryjskich. Komentarz do terminu artos kachrydias (ἄρτος καχρυδίας) w Historia religiosa Teodoreta z Cyru, “Biblica et Patristica Thoruniensia” 8.3, 2015, p. 123–156, https://doi.org/10.12775/BPTh.2015.022
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.12775/BPTh.2015.022

Kokoszko M., Dybała J., Jagusiak K., Rzeźnicka Z., Dieta mnichów syryjskich. Komentarz do terminu ospria (ὄσπρια) w Historia religiosa Teodoreta z Cyru, “Biblica et Patristica Thoruniensia” 7.1, 2014, p. 115–143, https://doi.org/10.12775/BPTh.2014.006
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.12775/BPTh.2014.006

Kokoszko M., Dybała J., Jagusiak K., Rzeźnicka Z., Dieta monastyczna w świetle nauki medycznej. Teodoret z Cyru i medycy o soczewicy, “Vox Patrum. Antyk Chrześcijański” 34, 2014, p. 297–329.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.31743/vp.3588

Leach E., Levi-Strauss, trans. P. Niklewicz, Warszawa 1973.
Google Scholar

Leroy-Molinghen A., Introduction. Deuxième partie, [in:] Théodoret de Cyr, L’histoire des moines de Syrie, vol. I, ed. P. Canivet, A. Leroy-Molinghen, Paris 1977 [= Sources chrétiennes, 234], p. 57–113.
Google Scholar

Lévi-Strauss C., Surowe i gotowane, trans. M. Falski, Warszawa 2010.
Google Scholar

Lévi-Strauss C., Trójkąt kulinarny, trans. S. Ciechowicz, “Twórczość” 2, 1972, p. 71–80.
Google Scholar

Longosz S., Szkoła antiocheńska, [in:] Literatura Grecji starożytnej, vol. II, Proza historyczna, krasomówstwo, filozofia i nauka, literatura chrześcijańska, ed. H. Podbielski, Lublin 2005, p. 1061–1067.
Google Scholar

Mahmoudi S., Khali M., Benkhaled A., Boucetta I., Dahmani Y., Attallah Z., Belbraouet S., Fresh Figs (Ficus carica L.): Pomological Characteristics, Nutritional Value, and Phytochemical Properties, “European Journal of Horticultural Science” 83.2, 2018, p. 104–113, https://doi.org/10.17660/eJHS.2018/83.2.6
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.17660/eJHS.2018/83.2.6

Mazzini I., Diet and Medicine in the Ancient World, [in:] Food. A Culinary History from Antiquity to the Present, ed. J.-L. Flandrin, M. Montanari, Eng. ed. A. Sonnenfeld, New York–Chichester 1999, p. 141–152.
Google Scholar

Misiarczyk L., Antyczny monastycyzm syryjski, “Studia Płockie” 40, 2012, p. 83–96.
Google Scholar

Montanari M., Food Is Culture, trans. A. Sonnenfeld, New York–Chichester 2006.
Google Scholar

Musurillo H., The Problem of Ascetical Fasting in the Greek Patristic Writers, “Traditio: Studies in Ancient and Medieval Thought, History, and Religion” 12, 1956, p. 1–64, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0362152900007662
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0362152900007662

Nasrallah N., Dates. A Global History, London 2011.
Google Scholar

Nutton V., Ancient Medicine, New York–London 2004, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203490914
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203490914

Pasztori-Kupan I., Theodoret of Cyrus, London–New York 2006, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203088555
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203088555

Price R.M., Introduction, [in:] Theodoret of Cyrrhus, A History of the Monks of Syria, trans. et comm. R.M. Price, Kalamazoo 1985 [= Cistercian Studies Series, 88], p. IX–XXXVII.
Google Scholar

Rautman M., Daily Life in the Byzantine Empire, Westport–Oxford 2006.
Google Scholar

Schor A.M., Theodoret’s People. Social Networks and Religious Conflict in Late Roman Syria, Berkeley–London 2011 [= Transformation of the Classical Heritage, 48], https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520948617
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520948617

Segal C., The Raw and the Cooked in Greek Literature. Structure, Values, Metaphor, “Classical Journal” 69, 1974, p. 289–308.
Google Scholar

Shaw T.M., The Burden of the Flesh. Fasting and Sexuality in Early Christianity, Minneapolis 1998.
Google Scholar

Soni N., Mehta S., Satpathy G., Gupta R.K., Estimation of Nutritional, Phytochemical, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activity of Dried Fig (Ficus carica), “Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry” 3.2, 2014, p. 158–165.
Google Scholar

Steier A., Phoinix (1), [in:] Paulys Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, vol. XX.1, Stuttgart 1941, col. 386–403.
Google Scholar

Stover E., Aradhya M., Ferguson L., Crisosto C.H., The Fig: Overview of an Ancient Fruit, “Horticultural Science” 42.5, 2007, p. 1083–1087, https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI.42.5.1083
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI.42.5.1083

Talbot A.-M., An Introduction to Byzantine Monasticism, “Illinois Classical Studies” 12.2, 1987, p. 229–241.
Google Scholar

Talbot A.-M., Mealtime in Monasteries. The Culture of the Byzantine Refectory, [in:] Eat, Drink, and Be Merry (Luke 12:19). Food and Wine in Byzantium. Papers of the 37th Annual Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, in Honour of Professor A.A.M. Bryer, ed. L. Brubaker, K. Linardou, Aldershot 2007, p. 109–125.
Google Scholar

Toussaint-Samat M., Historia naturalna i moralna jedzenia, trans. A.B. Matusiak, M. Ochab, Warszawa 2008.
Google Scholar

Urbainczyk T., Theodoret of Cyrrhus. The Bishop and the Holy Man, Ann Arbor 2002, https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.17075
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.17075

Vööbus A., History of Asceticism in the Syrian Orient. A Contribution to the History of Culture in the Near East, vol. II–III, Early Monasticism in Mesopotamia and Syria, Louvain 1960–1988 [= Corpus scriptorum christianorum orientalium, 197, 500].
Google Scholar

Ware K., The Way of the Ascetics. Negative or Affirmative?, [in:] Asceticism, ed. V.L. Wimbush, R. Valantasis, New York–Oxford 1995, p. 3–15.
Google Scholar

Wipszycka E., Wstęp. Charakter i formy ascetyzmu syryjskiego, [in:] Teodoret biskup Cyru, Dzieje miłości Bożej. Historia mnichów syryjskich, trans. K. Augustyniak, praef. E. Wipszycka, K. Augustyniak, Kraków 2011, p. 9–36.
Google Scholar

Zohary D., Hopf M., Domestication of Plants in the Old World, Oxford 1993.
Google Scholar