Methodius of Olympus

Methodius was a Christian teacher and writer in Asia Minor at the end of the third century, an admirer of Plato and a critic of some of Origen's teachings, especially on the resurrection body. His Symposium, a dialogue in praise of virginity, is his only work that survives complete in Greek. He is said to have died a martyr about 311.

Dates

d. ca. 311 (approximate)

See or city

Olympus (Lycia)

Region

Lycia (Asia Minor)

Also known as

Methodius; Methodius of Patara; Eubulius

Notes

Almost nothing certain is known of his life. Jerome (Lives of Illustrious Men 83) calls him bishop of Olympus in Lycia and later of Tyre, martyred at the end of the last persecution; later tradition connects him with Patara or Philippi. Many of his works survive only in Old Slavonic translation.

Works

• Symposium (The Banquet of the Ten Virgins)Symposium sive Convivium decem virginum · late 3rd century · CPG 1810 (unverified) · translation in progress