Alexander of Abonoteichus

Alexander of Abonoteichus (c.105 AD) was an oracle who built a following in parts of the Roman Empire. He is commonly known as "Alexander the False Prophet" through a deeply hostile satire by Lucian of Samosata in which this second century AD writer describes him as having swindled many people and engaged, through his followers, in various forms of thuggery. ["Alexander the False Prophet," translated with annotation by A. M. Harmon, Loeb Classical Library, 1936. [http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm] ] The strength of Lucian's venom against Alexander is attributed to Alexander's hate of the Epicurians. Lucian admired the works of Epicurus, a eulogy of which concludes the piece, and whether he was the master of fraud and deceit as portrayed by Lucian, he may not have been too different from other oracles of the age, when a great deal of dishonest exploitation occurred in some shrines.Nuttall Costa, Charles Desmond, "Lucian: Selected Dialogues", p. 129, Oxford University Press (2005), 0-199-25867-8]

Biography

Alexander established himself in the Greek town of Abonoteichus ("femin".: Ἀβωνότειχος), on the Euxine, where he gained riches and great prestige by professing to heal the sick and reveal the future. [Masson, John, "Lucretius, Epicurean and Poet", pp. 339-340, John Murray (1907).] He found believers from Pontus to Rome through pretended arts of soothsaying and magic and was revered and consulted as a prophet by many notable individuals of his age. [Neander, Johann August W, "General history of the Christian religion and Church" (1850), p. 41.]

By cleverly devising oracles he prepared souls for a new birth and exhibited a huge serpent as the embodiment of his new divinity. His fame spread, and about 150 he built in his native city of Paphlagonia a temple to Aesculapius, that was soon visited by many from all parts of Greece and Italy.Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913] His oracles were given through the mouth of a pet snake wound around his neck. [ Frankfurther, David, "Ritual Expertise in Roman Egytp and the Problem of the Category of Macician", in Schäfer, Peter and Kippenberg, Hans Gerhard, "Envisioning Magic: A Princeton Seminar and Symposium", p. 115, BRILL (1997), ISBN 9-004-05432-4]

The numerous questions asked of the new oracle were answered by Alexander in metrical predictions. In his most prosperous year he is said to have delivered nearly 80,000 replies, concerning bodily, mental, and social afflictions, for each of which he received a drachma and two oboli.

Alexander did more than combine healing instructions with the oracle, which was not uncommon at the time, but also instituted mysteries. His main opponents were Epicureans and Christians. [Fergurson, Everett, "Backgrounds of Early Christianity", p. 218, (2003), Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, ISBN 0-802-82221-5] Lucian's account of Alexander represents the Christians—along with the Epicureans—as the special enemies and as the principal objects of his hate: Epicureans had too little religion or superstition, to give in to a religious pretender; and the Christian faith was too deep-rooted to dream of any communion with Alexander. [ Rainy, Robert D. D., "The Ancient Catholic Church: From the Accession of Trajan to the Fourth General Council, (A.D. 98-451)", p. 32, Charles Scribner's Sons (1902).]

Modern Scholarship

Scholars have described Alexander as an oracle who perpetrated a hoax to deceive gullible citizens, [Hume, David, "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding: A Critical Edition", p. 175, Oxford University Press (2000), ISBN 0198250606] [Meyer, Marmin W., "The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook", p. 43, University of Pennsylvania Press (1999), ISBN 081221692X] or as a false prophet and charlatan that played on the hopes of simple people, who "made predictions, discovered fugitive slaves, detected thieves and robbers, caused treasures to be dug up, healed the sick, and in some cases actually raised the dead". [Lucian, "Alexander the False Prophet", ch. 24] Sociologist Stephen A. Kent, in a study of the text, compares Lucian's Alexander to the "malignant narcissist" in modern psychiatric theory, and suggests that the "behaviors" described by Lucian "have parallels with several modern cult leaders." [Stephen A. Kent. "Narcissistic Fraud in the Ancient World: Lucian's Account of Alexander of Abonuteichus and the Cult of Glycon," "Ancient Narrative" (University of Groningen), Vol. 6.] Ian Freckelton has noted at least a surface similarity between Alexander and David Berg, the leader of a contemporary religious group, the Children of God. [Ian Freckelton. "'Cults' Calamities and Psychological Consequences," "Psychiatry, Psychology and Law", 5(1), pp. 1-46.]

References

Further reading

* Gillespie, Thomas W. "A Pattern of Prophetic Speech in First Corinthians", Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 97, No. 1 (Mar., 1978), pp. 74-95.
* "Ancient Scientific Basis of the" Great Serpent" from Historical Evidence", RB Stothers - Isis, 2004.
* Martin, Dale B., "Tongues of Angels and Other Status Indicators", Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 59, No. 3 (Autumn, 1991), pp. 547-89.