A house full of darkness: Shenoute and the pagans (and a translation into Spanish of "Not Because a Fox Barks")

Abstract

Shenoute of Atripe was one the most important agents of the emergence of monasticism in Egypt in late antiquity. This article examines two aspects of that agency as it emerges in his sermons. In his role as abbot of a large congregation, he insisted on punishing disobedience or evil behaviour within the monastery. Beyond the walls of the monastery, Shenoute presents himself as a representative of god and Christ in the local community. With recent imperial antipagan legislation in hand, he felt authorized in his attacks against those he presents as pagans or paganizing, including local imperial administrators, who were (or at least represented themselves as) Christian. In an appendix we include the translation of Not because a fox barks, a text in which these latter aspects of Shenoute’s agency emerge clearly.