(CE:64b-65a)AGATHON, SAINT, fourth-fifth century anchorite. The different

collections of the APOPHTHEGMATA PATRUM include aboutfifty items in which an Abba Agathon appears, but it is justifiable todoubt whether they all concern the same person, for in a collectionpreserved in Ethiopic he is designated "Agathon the Great"(Collectio Monastica 13, 98; 14, 45) and "the one from early times"(Collectio Monastica 13, 93). It is not certain if he is the one,relatively young at the time of POEMEN (Cotelier, 1864, Poemen61), who was not considered worthy of being compared with thegreat men of olden times (Cotelier, 1864, Elias 2). The AlexandrianSynaxarion mentions, without details, Agathon the Hermit for the 8Babah. But his early maturity had soon won him the title abba andmany disciples, among others Alexander and Zoïlus, who later livedwith ARSENIUS OF SCETIS AND TURAH. Out of the thirtyapothegms in the chapter devoted to Agathon in the alphabeticalcollection, at least ten come from the Ascetikon of Isaiah, who hadreceived them orally from Abraham, Agathon's disciple. The wholeforms a fine sketch of the spiritual aspect of the old man, with asober and moving account of his last moments.

Agathon, hostile to offhandedness and flippancy, had a mostsensitive conscience; he gave proof of constant vigilance andfaithfulness in the smallest things. Diligent in his manual work, heabandoned it as soon as it was the hour for prayer, declaring that thiswas the monk's greatest work. Detached from earthly things, he wasalways ready to give away what he had. Such was his charity that hewould willingly have exchanged his body for that of a leper. Asdeath drew near, he recognized that he had always done his utmostto keep God's commandments, but added humbly that he did not relyon himself and his works. The narrator concludes, "So it was that heended his life in joy, departing as a man who bids his friendsfarewell." Dorotheus of Gaza twice quotes the final words of AbbaAgathon in his exhortations to his monks.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arras, V., ed. Collectio Monastica, 13, 93-94, 98-99; 14, 45; pp.107-108, 121. CSCO 238. Louvain, 1963.

Cotelier, J. B., ed. Apophthegmata Patrum. PG 65, pp. 108-118.Paris, 1864.

Dorotheus of Gaza, Saint. Oeuvres spirituelles, ed. L. Regnault andJ. de Préville. Sources chrétiennes 92. Paris, 1963.

Draguet, R. Les Cinq recensions de l'Asceticon syriaque d'abbaIsaie, Logos VI 5. CSCO 289, pp. 40-49; 293, pp. 47-73.Louvain, 1968.

LUCIEN REGNAULT