Una adaptación de un mito gnóstico con intención formativa en la antigüedad tardía: los demonios del capítulo 65 de la Vita Antonii de Atanasio de Alejandría

Abstract

The aim of this work is to deepen into Late Antique Christian demonology, and to analyze an ambiguous passage in the Vita Antonii by Athanasius of Alexandria that describes the ascension of Antonius’ soul to heavens and its encounter with such terrible “beings”. The author departs from J. Daniélou’s works on air powers and its role in some variants of the Gnostic myth about the ascent of the soul through the different heavens. Thereupon, he delves into the passage providing different textual parallels. He finishes joining D. Brakkes’ perspectives on Athanasius ascetic theories to defend that these “beings” might be identified with the Gnostic Archons, term silenced by the bishop due to its heretical links in his efforts to inculcate the believers with the idea of that the only requirement to achieve salvation was a virtuous moral behavior.