Ecclesial Memory and Secular History in

Alexandria: An Apology for the Saint

Mario Baghos
Associate Lecturer
St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College
& PhD Candidate, University of Sydney

There is an ancient Indian saying that something lives only as long

as the last person who remembers it. My people have come to trust

history serves only those who seek to control it, those who would douse

Albert Hosteen, The X-Files 1

Abstract: Drawing on Enlightenment depictions of Cyril of

Alexandria as an unscrupulous thug, contemporary historiography
has perpetuated a representation of the saint that has impacted
popular culture. But there exists another depiction of the saint,
reflected in a series of Byzantine historians who are usually
overlooked, all of whom drew upon the ecclesial memory. This article
revisits these witnesses and other traditional sources, engaging
with the concepts of ‘history’ and ‘memory’ in order to show that, in
contrast to secular portrayals, the latter have a privileged access to
the truth in the case of St Cyril.

T
I dedicate this article to two Christian scholars who have inspired in me a deep
appreciation for St Cyril of Alexandria; to my spiritual father Doru Costache, and
to Fr John Anthony McGuckin.

PHRONEMA, VOL. 29(2), 2014, 87-125

Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

The X-Files

traditio

2
History and Memory

88
Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014
4

Agora Azazeel

Agora Azazeel
4

A Latin Dictionary

παράδοσις
παράδοσις A Patristic Greek Lexicon

Agora

Azazeel
Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

From Secular Historiography to Popular Culture

The Ancient Historiographical Sources

Comparative Literature
8

The Menaion The Month of June

Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014

Ecclesiastical History

Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy: Its

History, Theology, and Texts

Phronema
The Early Byzantine Historians

The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret,

The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus

Socrates, Sozomenus: Church Histories
Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

History

Early Christian Historiography: Narratives of Retribu-

tion
Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy
Philostorgius: Church History

Philostorgius: Church History

Byzantine Theology:
Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes
Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014

History

Suda,

22

The Early
Byzantine Historians

Philosophical History Cyril of Alexandria and

the Nestorian Controversy: the Making of a Saint and of a Heretic

Suidae Lexicon
Philostorgius: Church History.

hypsilon Ὑπατία

Philostorgius: Church History

of the Suda

Philostorgius Kirchengeschichte

The Ecclesiastical History of

Socrates Scholasticus

Suda
Agora
22
History Bibliotheca
Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

Suda
Philosophical History

24

per se

Agora

Suda
Philostorgius: Church History
see Philostorgius Kirchengeschichte

Suda

Suda

Suda

Cyril of Alexandria and the Nestorian Controversy

24

The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus

Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014

28

Modern (Secular) Historiography

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

28
Dictionairre Philosophique

Hypatia of Alexandria,

Hypatia of Alexandria

Hypatia of Alexandria
Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

Le pyrrhonisme de l’histoire XV
History of the Byzantine
Empire

History of the
Byzantine State

The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity

AD 395-600 The Byzantines

History of the Byzantine State

History of the Byzantine

Empire,

Cappadocian Legacy: A Critical Appraisal

Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014

traditional

“ The Fontana
History of the Human Sciences,

Phenomenology and Eschatology: Not Yet in the Now

Socrates to Sartre and

Beyond: A History of Philosophy

What is History?
Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

42

44

The Monarch History of the Church

Hypatia

Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological

Controversy
The
Theology of Cyril of Alexandria: A Critical Appreciation

42
The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian
Controversy 318-381
Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in
the Constantinian Empire

44

Phronema

Byzantium: The Early Centuries

A History of the Later Roman Empire, AD 284-641

A Public Faith: From Constantine to the Medieval World,

AD 312-600
Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014
48

so

Agora

48
Hypatia of Alexandria

Hypatia of Alexandria

Church History: Studies

in Christianity and Culture

Christian Antioch: A Study of Christian Thought in the East

The Theology of Cyril of Alexandria

Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

Agora

Cosmos: A Personal Journey

Agora

Hypatia, or New Foes with an Old

Face

Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: A Personal Voyage

Christianity and Classical Culture: The Metamorphosis of Natural

Theology in the Christian Encounter with Hellenism

Cyril of Alexandria

Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: A Personal

Voyage
Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014

parabalanoi

Cyril of Alexandria and the Nestorian

Controversy Agora

The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus

The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus

The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus

Agora
Suda
Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

Suda

Suda
History

Suda

Suda

Chronicle

Agora

The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu

The Greek Orthodox

Theological Review
The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu

The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus

Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014

Agora’s

parabalani

Agora

parabalanoi

Cyril of Alexandria and the Nestorian Controversy

Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

History

per se

Agora

Agora

Agora

The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus

The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus

Agora
The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus
Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014

82

Agora

84

88
the

82

84
Origins of Anti-Semitism: Attitudes toward Judaism in Pagan
and Christian Antiquity

Studies of Religion and Politics in the Early Christian Centuries

88
Cyril of Alexandria
Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

Agora

Agora

Agora

The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scho-

lasticus
Agora

Azazeel
Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014

Agora

The Library of Alexandria: Centre of

Learning in the Ancient World

Agora

The Suda
Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

Azazeel

Agora’s Azazeel
Azazeel

Apocalypse of Abraham Book of Enoch I

Agora

The Faith of the Early Fathers

Azazeel
Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014

Azazeel
Azazeel
Azazeel

Azazeel

Azazeel

Azazeel

Azazeel
Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

Azazeel
The Second Letter of Nestorius to Celestinus of Rome,

Thalia

Azazeel

Azazeel

Azazeel

ousia
Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014

hypostasis

per se Byzantine Theology

Nestorius’ Reply to Cyril’s Second

Letter 7 Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy

The Second Letter of Nestorius to Celestinus of Rome

Nestorius’ Reply to Cyril’s Second Letter

Nestorius’ Reply to Cyril’s Second Letter

Heb.13.8; Mal.3.6

The Third Letter of Cyril to

Nestorius Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy
Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

Cyril of
Alexandria
Azazeel

Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils: Nicaea I- Lateran V

Saint Cyril of Alexandria and

the Christological Controversy

Ἀπόφασις ἐξενεχθεῖσα κατὰ Νεστορίου ἡ καθαιροῦσα αὐτόν, see

Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils
Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014

Azazeel Agora

Azazeel

Azazeel

Azazeel
Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

The Byzantine Historians, St Cyril’s Correspondence with Nestorius,

and the Ecclesial Memory

History and Memory

History and Memory

Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014

History and Memory

History and Memory

Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

ὁ τῆς ἀοιδίμου μνήμης ἐπίσκοπος τῆς Ἀλεξανδρέων

ἀοίδιμος

The Early Byzantine Historians

The Ecclesiastical His-
tory of Socrates Scholasticus
Thesaurus Linguae Grecae
Historia Ecclesiastica

The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus

A History of Byzantine Music and Hymnography

Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014

τοῦ μακαρίου Κυρίλλου

sanctae memoriae
μέγας
Κυρίλλου τοῦ θεσπεσίου

X-Files

Decrees of the Ecu-

menical Councils

Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils

Historia Ecclesiastica Κεφάλαια τοῦ πρώτου τόμου …  γ᾽

γ᾽
Historia Ecclesiastica θεσπεσίου
The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus
θεσπέσιος ‘θεσπέσιος’
A Patristic Greek Lexicon

The X Files: The Complete Third Season

Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

Ecclesiastical History

θεῖος
ὁ δὲ ἐν ἁγίοις Κύριλλος

The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor: Church and War in Late

Antiquity

The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius

Scholasticus

The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu

Agora
Thesaurus Linguae Grecae
Chronographia
θεῖος
‘θεῖος’ A Patristic Greek Lexicon

Chronographia
Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014

Azazeel

The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor: Byzantine and Near Eastern History

AD 284-813

Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the

Christological Controversy
Azazeel

A Public Faith: From Constantine

to the Medieval World
Azazeel
Letter St Cyril of Alexandria: Letters 1-150
Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

Letter
Cyril’s Letter to the Monks of Egypt Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the
Christological Controversy
The Second Letter of Cyril to Nestorius Saint Cyril of Alexandria and
the Christological Controversy
Letter
The Second Letter of Cyril to Nestorius
Letter

Letter St Cyril of Alexandria: Letters 1-150

Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014

μνήμη

Third Letter of Cyril to Nestorius Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the

Christological Controversy
Historia Ecclesiastica

τοῦ μακαρίου Κυρίλλου

Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils

Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils

History and Memory
Μηναίον του Ιουνίου Αθήναι: Αποστολική Διακονία της Ελλάδος,
Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

τοῦ Κυρίου μου φίλον

ἁγίαις πρεσβείαις

Ὀρθοδοξίας ὁδηγέ, εὐσεβείας

διδάσκαλε καὶ σεμνότητος λύρα τοῦ Πνεύματος

Μνημονεύετε τῶν ἡγουμένων ὑμῶν

The Menaion The Month of January

The Menaion The Month of January

Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014

αρτοκλασία

Conclusion
X-Files

The Greek New Testament

Σῶσον, ὁ Θεός, τὸν λαόν σου… Ἱερατικόν αι Θείαι
Λειτουργίαι Ιοάννου του Χρυσοστόμου, Βασιλείου του Μεγάλου και των Προηγιασμένων
κτλ. (Αθήναι: Αποστολική Διακονία της Ελλάδος, 1977)
Δέσποτα πολυέλεε, Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ ὁ Θεὸς
ἡμῶν… Ἱερατικόν
Ecclesial Memory and Secular History

per se

Azazeel
Agora
Phronema Volume 29(2), 2014