DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49369#0177
SUPPLEMENT TO THE ACTS OF PHILIP
159
envy refused to do so. In this passage, their jealousy is material-
ised and takes the form of the serpent. The second portion of
text which the Baroccian MS. contains is an account of the trans-
lation of Philip’s body; it follows continuously upon the Martyr-
dom. It does not seem to come from the author of the Acts, for,
to take one crucial point, it distinguishes between the towns of
Ophiorymus (so, not Ophioryme) and Hierapolis, which, in the
Acts, are identical. But it has points of interest of its own.
First, like the Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena, it shows a
knowledge of more than one Gnostic romance. In c. ii, there is a
reference to a visit paid by S. John to Hierapolis on his way to
Laodicea. This journey to Laodicea appears to have been recorded
in the Leucian Acta Joannis (Zahn, Act. Jo. p. 225). Again in
c. iv, the various countries mentioned by the demons who are
flying from Hierapolis point to a knowledge of these same apocry-
phal romances: Borne, Apamea, Galilee, Achaia, India, Persia
occur first; and of these, Rome, Achaia and India at once recall
the names of Peter, Andrew and Thomas: while Persia may point
to Bartholomew’s labours, or to those of Simon and Jude. We
naturally find that the author of the supplement is familiar with
the complete Acts of Philip. The following countries and cities
are mentioned in the passage just referred to as having been
visited by that apostle—Greece, Ophiorymus, Gaza, Azotus,
Samaria, and the land of the Candacenes; and, while it is true
that the canonical Acts are the ultimate source whence most of
these names were drawn, it is far more likely that our author had
in his mind the Acts of Philip, which give detailed accounts of
Philip’s journeys and miracles in these regions1. The ten Athe-
nian philosophers, who figure in the narrative here printed, are
personages borrowed from that section of the Philip romance
which is printed by Tischendorf under the name of Acta Philippi
in Hellade.
In the second place, this short story contains an interesting
illustration of an episode in the famous Gospel of Peter. In that
document we have the fantastic image of a cross which follows
the risen Saviour and gives utterance to a mysterious word. Here
1 See the newly-discovered portions of these Acts, edited by P. Batiffol in
Analecta Bollandiana, vol. ix.
159
envy refused to do so. In this passage, their jealousy is material-
ised and takes the form of the serpent. The second portion of
text which the Baroccian MS. contains is an account of the trans-
lation of Philip’s body; it follows continuously upon the Martyr-
dom. It does not seem to come from the author of the Acts, for,
to take one crucial point, it distinguishes between the towns of
Ophiorymus (so, not Ophioryme) and Hierapolis, which, in the
Acts, are identical. But it has points of interest of its own.
First, like the Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena, it shows a
knowledge of more than one Gnostic romance. In c. ii, there is a
reference to a visit paid by S. John to Hierapolis on his way to
Laodicea. This journey to Laodicea appears to have been recorded
in the Leucian Acta Joannis (Zahn, Act. Jo. p. 225). Again in
c. iv, the various countries mentioned by the demons who are
flying from Hierapolis point to a knowledge of these same apocry-
phal romances: Borne, Apamea, Galilee, Achaia, India, Persia
occur first; and of these, Rome, Achaia and India at once recall
the names of Peter, Andrew and Thomas: while Persia may point
to Bartholomew’s labours, or to those of Simon and Jude. We
naturally find that the author of the supplement is familiar with
the complete Acts of Philip. The following countries and cities
are mentioned in the passage just referred to as having been
visited by that apostle—Greece, Ophiorymus, Gaza, Azotus,
Samaria, and the land of the Candacenes; and, while it is true
that the canonical Acts are the ultimate source whence most of
these names were drawn, it is far more likely that our author had
in his mind the Acts of Philip, which give detailed accounts of
Philip’s journeys and miracles in these regions1. The ten Athe-
nian philosophers, who figure in the narrative here printed, are
personages borrowed from that section of the Philip romance
which is printed by Tischendorf under the name of Acta Philippi
in Hellade.
In the second place, this short story contains an interesting
illustration of an episode in the famous Gospel of Peter. In that
document we have the fantastic image of a cross which follows
the risen Saviour and gives utterance to a mysterious word. Here
1 See the newly-discovered portions of these Acts, edited by P. Batiffol in
Analecta Bollandiana, vol. ix.