Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/1080

Rh 1066 METHODIUS, puintiog, Le Beau {Hist, du Das Em]}ire, vol. xiv. p. 362) calls liim the most eminent painter of his time. It is, however, well known that his con- temporaries, Modalulph in France, Tutilo in Ger- man}', and Lazarus in Constantinople, enjoj^ed also a first-rate reputation as painters. (Fabric. BiOl, (Irace. vol. vii. p. 272 ; Cedren. p. 489, &c. ; Si- meon Metaphr. Annul, p. 412, &c. ; Zonar. vol. ii. p. 135, &c, in the Paris edition ; Bolland, Vitae Cyrilli et Methodii ; J. G. Stredowsky, Vita Me- tJiod. in Sacra Moravian Hist. Sulzbach, 1710, 4to. ; Chr. Sara. Schmidt, Ward das Ckristenthum in Jiohmen von Methud {Methodius)., ^c. eingefuhrt ? Leipzig, 1789, 8vo.) 2. Confessor, patriarch of Constantinople, was called '0^oA.o76To, or Confessor^ on account of his firm adherence to the worship of images. He was a native of Syracuse, where he was born towards the close of the eighth century of our era, but went to Constantinople and took holy orders, after giving his property to the church and the poor. For some time he lived in a convent in the island of Chios. The severe measures of the emperor Leo Armenus induced him to take refuge among the orthodox in Rome, but he returned to Greece after the death of Leo, in 820. Shortly afterwards he Avas sent by Nicephorus, patriarch of Constanti- nople, as ambassador to pope Pashalis, who en- trusted him with a letter to Michael, in order to persuade the emperor to behave less harshly against the orthodox. For this service poor Methodius paid very dearly. Michael, offended by the pope's letter, ordered seven hundred lashes to be inflicted upon the back of Methodius, who, half dead, was thrown into an awful dungeon in one of the islands of the Propontis, where he would have perished from want of food had not a poor fisherman accidentally discovered him, and kept him alive by occasional supplies of bread and fish. He remained there several years ; but being a man of great talents and acknowledged skill in admi- nistrative affairs, he was recalled by Theophilus, son and successor of Michael, who gave him suitable apartments in his own palace. In a short time Methodius obtained great influence at the court; but his orthodox principle caused him a second flogging and a second imprisonment in his former dungeon. Again released, he returned to Constantinople and was compelled to accompany Theophilus in his cam- paigns against the Arabs, the emperor being in Avaiit of his talents, although he did not trust him sufficiently to leave him in the capital. His life, however, was far from being agreeable, several plots having been made to ruin him : among other charges brought forth against him was that of having committed fornication with a reputed courtisati, who declared she was pregnant by the pious bishop ; but Methodius cleared himself of this imputed misdemeanour. Theophilus died in 842. He was succeeded by his widow, Theodora, who reigned for her infant son, Michael III.; and being a professed friend of images, she bestowed her powerful protection upon Methodius, and caused him to be chosen patriarch of Constantinople in the very year of his accession (842). This high office Methodius held till his death, on the 14th of June, 846, displaying constantly the greatest activity in suppressing the iconoclasts, and restoring the wor- ship of images. Methodius was a very learned man, and wrote a considerable number of work's on divinity, of which several have come down to us, METHODIUS, and have been found well worthy of publication. The most important are : — 1. Encomium S. DionysU, Areopagitae. flditions : the Greek text, Florence, 1516, 8vo. ; Paris, 1562, 8vo. ; Graece et Latine, in the second volume of " Opera S. Dionysii Areop.," Antwerp, 1634, fol. The question whether, in composing this work, Methodius was guilty of plagiarism by stealing from the monk Hil- duinus, who wrote on the same subject, caused a literary feud, which is largely discussed in Fabri- cius, to Avhom we refer the reader. 2. Oratio in COS qui dicunt : Quid profuit Filius Dei Crudfiocusl Graece et Latine, by Gretserus, in the second vo- lume of his work, De CrMce. 3. Dc Oecursu Si- meonis et Annae in Temple, et de Deipara ; and 4. In Ramos Palmarum., two orations, Graece et La- tine, in Comb6fis's edition of the works of Metho- dius Patarensis, Paris, 1644, fol. 5. Ericomium S. Agatlme Virginis et Martyris, a Latin version in Combefis's Bibl. Patr. ; the text, incomplete, with a Latin version, in Leo Allatius, Diatriba de Me- thodiis. 6. Canones Poenitentiales, &c., published with a Latin version by Gentianus Herretus. 7. Constitutio de iis qui diverso Modo, ^c, ad fidem. Christianam revertantur, Graece et Latine, with notes, by Jac. Goar in Eucholog. Graecor. 8. Tres versus lamhici ad Tlieodorum et Tlieophanem graptos, tribus illis quos ad ipsum miserant lie- spoTisorii, in Lambecii Commentarii ; also ad Calcem Const. Manassae in the Paris edition. (Leo Allatius, Diatriba de Methodiis ; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. vii. p. 273 ; Cave, Hist. Lit. p. 451, &c., ed. Geneva ; Baronius, Annal. ad annum 842 ; Theophan. Contin. ii. 8, iii. 24, iv. 3, 6, 10 ; Simeon Metaphrasta, TlieophU. c. 23, Mi- cliael et Theodora^ c. 3 ; Georg. Monach. Michael et Theodora., c. 1.) 3. Patriarch of Constantinople in 1240, is probably the author of De Rcvelatione, which some attribute to Methodius Patarensis. [See No. 6.] The Greek text, with a Latin version, is contained in the first volume of the Graecia Orihodoau, as well as in some of the Biblioth. Patr. He also wrote Ae7iigmata, in iambic tristichons, extant in MS. (Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. vii. p. 275 ; Cave, p. 662, ed. Geneva.) 4. EuBULius or Eubulus. [No. 6.] 5. MoNACHUS, lived in Constantinople during the middle and latter part of the thirteenth century. About this time the Byzantine capital was much disturbed by the coincident election of Josephus and Arsenius to the patriarchal see of Constanti- nople, each of them being proclaimed by his parti- sans as the sole legitimate patriarch. On this occasion Methodius wrote a valuable treatise, en- titled 'S.vWoyT) avvoiTTiK-n, Sjjlloga Comjmidiosd, showing that orthodox people ought not to secede from their spiritual leaders even in case their pre- decessor had been illegally deposed. It was pub- lished by Leo Allatius in his Diatriba de Methodiis, with a Latin translation. (Fabric. Bibl. Gnuc. vol. vii. p. 275 ; Cave, Hist. Lit. p. 642, ed. Geneva.) 6. Surnamed Patarensis, and sometinM Eubulus or Eubulius, lived in the third, and died in the beginning of the fourth century of our era. He held successively the sees of Olympus and Patara in Lycia (whence Patarensis) and Tyrus in Phoenicia. He was a Christian ; and Suidas says that he died the death of a martyr, at Clialcis 'AmToAifs (one of the two Chalcis in