Thaïs (saint)
Encyclopedia
St. Thaïs of Roman
Alexandria
and of the Egyptian desert was a repentant courtesan
.
s in the Greek church. Two biographical sketches exist: one in Greek perhaps of the fifth century (it was translated into Latin as the Vita Thaisis by Dionysius Exiguus
(Dennis the Little) during the sixth or seventh century); the other sketch comes to us in medieval Latin by Marbod of Rennes
(d. 1123). She also appears in Greek martyrologies by Maurolychus and Greven, though not in Latin martyrologies. The lives of the desert saints and hermits of Egypt, including St. Thaïs, were collected in the Vitae Patrum. St. Thaïs apparently remains on the Calendar of the Church, with her feast day being celebrated October 8.
Thaïs is first briefly described as a wealthy and beautiful courtesan
living in the prestigious city of Alexandria
, in the eyes of the church a public sinner. Eventually, however, she inquires about Christianity
and then converts. In her Vita a monk in disguise pays for entry into her chambers in order to challenge her and convert her, yet he finds that she already believes in God, from whom nothing is hidden. The identity of this person who instructs and offers Thaïs the opportunity of spiritual transformation is unclear, three names being mentioned: St. Paphnutius
(Egyptian Bishop in Upper Thebaïd
), St. Bessarion (disciple of St. Anthony
in the Egyptian desert), and St. Serapion (Bishop in the Nile Delta
). Following her acceptance
into the Church, she is shown a convent
cell where she is provisioned for three years, during which time she performs penance
for her sin
s. When she later emerges, it is said, she lives among the nuns of the Egyptian desert only for a brief period of fifteen days, then she dies.
in Egypt of the mummified remains of Thaïs and Sérapion, which were exhibited at the Musée Guimet in Paris. Shortly thereafter he qualified his identification, leaving open the possibility of the remains not
being those of the two saints.
widespread popularity was reported for the story of St. Thaïs.
Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim (935-1002), a Benedictine
Canoness of Saxony
(modern Germany), wrote in Latin the play Pafnutius
in which St. Thaïs appears. Here is St. Pafnutius addressing the abbess
of the desert convent, concerning care for Thaïs:
Traditional pictures of Thaïs show her in two different scenes:
(1821–1880) in his La tentation de Saint Antoine (1849, 1874), there eventually followed, in a decidedly more skeptical, historic-religious vein, the novel Thaïs (1890), which inspired the opera Thaïs (1894), later the play Thais (1911), and the statue Thaïs (1920s).
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
and of the Egyptian desert was a repentant courtesan
Courtesan
A courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
.
Accounts of her Life
St. Thaïs reportedly lived during the fourth century in Roman Egypt. She is included in literature on the lives of the saintSaint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
s in the Greek church. Two biographical sketches exist: one in Greek perhaps of the fifth century (it was translated into Latin as the Vita Thaisis by Dionysius Exiguus
Dionysius Exiguus
Dionysius Exiguus was a 6th-century monk born in Scythia Minor, modern Dobruja shared by Romania and Bulgaria. He was a member of the Scythian monks community concentrated in Tomis, the major city of Scythia Minor...
(Dennis the Little) during the sixth or seventh century); the other sketch comes to us in medieval Latin by Marbod of Rennes
Marbodius of Rennes
Marbodus was archdeacon and schoolmaster at Angers, France, then Bishop of Rennes in Brittany. He was a respected poet, hagiographer, and hymnologist.-Biography:...
(d. 1123). She also appears in Greek martyrologies by Maurolychus and Greven, though not in Latin martyrologies. The lives of the desert saints and hermits of Egypt, including St. Thaïs, were collected in the Vitae Patrum. St. Thaïs apparently remains on the Calendar of the Church, with her feast day being celebrated October 8.
Thaïs is first briefly described as a wealthy and beautiful courtesan
Courtesan
A courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
living in the prestigious city of Alexandria
History of Alexandria
The history of Alexandria dates back to the city's founding, by Alexander the Great, in 332 BC. It was the seat of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt, and quickly became one of the greatest cities of the Hellenistic world — second only to Rome in size and wealth. It fell to the Arabs in 641 AD,...
, in the eyes of the church a public sinner. Eventually, however, she inquires about Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and then converts. In her Vita a monk in disguise pays for entry into her chambers in order to challenge her and convert her, yet he finds that she already believes in God, from whom nothing is hidden. The identity of this person who instructs and offers Thaïs the opportunity of spiritual transformation is unclear, three names being mentioned: St. Paphnutius
Paphnutius of Thebes
Paphnutius of Thebes, also known as Paphnutius the Confessor, was bishop of a city in the Upper Thebaid in the early fourth century, and one of the most interesting possible members of the First Council of Nicaea in 325...
(Egyptian Bishop in Upper Thebaïd
Thebaid
The Thebaid or Thebais is the region of ancient Egypt containing the thirteen southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos to Aswan. It acquired its name from its proximity to the ancient Egyptian capital of Thebes....
), St. Bessarion (disciple of St. Anthony
Anthony the Great
Anthony the Great or Antony the Great , , also known as Saint Anthony, Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of Egypt, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite, Abba Antonius , and Father of All Monks, was a Christian saint from Egypt, a prominent leader among the Desert Fathers...
in the Egyptian desert), and St. Serapion (Bishop in the Nile Delta
Nile Delta
The Nile Delta is the delta formed in Northern Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east, it covers some 240 km of Mediterranean coastline—and is a rich...
). Following her acceptance
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
into the Church, she is shown a convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
cell where she is provisioned for three years, during which time she performs penance
Penance
Penance is repentance of sins as well as the proper name of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Anglican Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession. It also plays a part in non-sacramental confession among Lutherans and other Protestants...
for her sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
s. When she later emerges, it is said, she lives among the nuns of the Egyptian desert only for a brief period of fifteen days, then she dies.
Claimed discovery of her body
In 1901 the Egyptologist Albert Gayet (1856–1916) announced the discovery near AntinoëAntinopolis
Antinopolis was a city founded at an older Egyptian village by the Roman emperor Hadrian to commemorate his deified young beloved, Antinous, on the east bank of the Nile, not far from the site in Upper Egypt where Antinous drowned in 130 AD...
in Egypt of the mummified remains of Thaïs and Sérapion, which were exhibited at the Musée Guimet in Paris. Shortly thereafter he qualified his identification, leaving open the possibility of the remains not
being those of the two saints.
In Cultural history
During the European Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
widespread popularity was reported for the story of St. Thaïs.
Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim (935-1002), a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
Canoness of Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
(modern Germany), wrote in Latin the play Pafnutius
Paphnutius (play)
Paphnutius or The Conversion of the Harlot Thaïs is a play by Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim about the relationship between Saint Thaïs and Paphnutius the Ascetic, the hermit who converted her to Christianity....
in which St. Thaïs appears. Here is St. Pafnutius addressing the abbess
Abbess
An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
of the desert convent, concerning care for Thaïs:
- "I have brought you a half-dead little she-goat, recently snatched from the teeth of wolves. I hope that by your compassion [her] shelter will be insured, and that by your care, [she] will be cured, and that having cast aside the rough pelt of a goat she will be clothed with the soft wool of the lamb."
Traditional pictures of Thaïs show her in two different scenes:
- Burning her treasures and ornaments.
- Praying in a convent cell, with a scroll on which is written "Thou who didst create me have mercy on me."
Representations in modern culture
After the distinctive artistic lead of Gustave FlaubertGustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert was a French writer who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary , and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style.-Early life and education:Flaubert was born on December 12, 1821, in Rouen,...
(1821–1880) in his La tentation de Saint Antoine (1849, 1874), there eventually followed, in a decidedly more skeptical, historic-religious vein, the novel Thaïs (1890), which inspired the opera Thaïs (1894), later the play Thais (1911), and the statue Thaïs (1920s).
- ThaïsThaïs (novel)Thaïs is a novel by Anatole France published in 1890. It is based on events in the life of Saint Thaïs of Egypt, a legendary convert to Christianity who is said to have lived in the 4th century...
is an historical novel by Anatole FranceAnatole FranceAnatole France , born François-Anatole Thibault, , was a French poet, journalist, and novelist. He was born in Paris, and died in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire. He was a successful novelist, with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters...
(1844–1924) published at Paris in 1890. Paphnuce, an ascetic hermit of the Egyptian desert, journeys to Alexandria to find Thais, the libertine beauty whom he knew as a youth. Masquerading as a dandy, he is able to speak with her about eternity; surprisingly he succeeds in converting her to Christianity. Yet on their return to the desert he becomes fascinated with her former life. She enters a convent to repent of her sins. He cannot forget the pull of her famous beauty, and becomes confused about the values of life. Later, as she is dying and can only see heaven opening before her, he comes to her side and tells her that her faith is an illusion, and that he loves her.
- ThaïsThaïs (opera)Thaïs is an opera in three acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Gallet based on the novel Thaïs by Anatole France. It was first performed at the Opéra Garnier in Paris on 16 March 1894, starring the American soprano Sybil Sanderson, for whom Massenet had written the title role...
is an opera with music by Jules MassenetJules MassenetJules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
(1842–1912), first performed at the Opéra in Paris on March 16, 1894. The librettoLibrettoA libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
written by Louis GalletLouis GalletLouis Gallet was an inexhaustible French writer of operatic libretti, plays, romances, memoirs, pamphlets, and innumerable articles, who is remembered above all for his adaptations of fiction—and Scripture— to provide librettos of cantatas and opera, notably by composers Georges...
(1835–1898) drew upon the novel of Anatole France. The opera omits the skeptical chapter on the vanity of philosophy. The hermit's name was changed to Athanaël, who is presented with greater sympathy than in the novel. The first duet between Athanaël and Thaïs contrasts his stern accents and her raillery. The last scene's duet shows a reversal of rôles, in which the pious and touching phrases of Thaïs transcend the despairing ardour of Athanaël; desolate chanting, and later, return of the beautiful violin from an earlier symphonic méditation (first played during the intermezzoIntermezzoIn music, an intermezzo , in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work...
when Thaïs had converted) complete the effect.
- Thais is a play written by Paul Wilstach, performed at the Criterion TheatreCriterion TheatreThe Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has an official capacity of 588.-Building the theatre:...
in London, March 14 through April, 1911 (31 performances), with Constance CollierConstance CollierConstance Collier was an English film actress and acting coach.-Life and career:Born Laura Constance Hardie, in Windsor, Berkshire, Collier made her stage debut at the age of 3, when she played Fairy Peasblossom in A Midsummer's Night Dream...
(1878–1955) playing the title role and Tyrone Power, Sr.Tyrone Power, Sr.Frederick Tyrone Edmond Power was an English-born American stage and screen actor, who acted under the name Tyrone Power.-Early life:Power was born in London in 1869, the son of Harold Littledale Power and Ethel Lavenu...
(1869–1931) as the hermit.
- Thaïs is a bronze and ivory statue of a dancing figure, crafted in France (with a limited production run) during the Art DecoArt DecoArt deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
era by the Rumanian Demetre ChiparusDemetre ChiparusDemetre Haralamb Chiparus was a Romanian Art Deco era sculptor who lived and worked in Paris.- Life :...
(1886–1947).