The Alphabet of the Heart: Illiteracy as a Monastic Ideal

Despite being an extremely sophisticated society, the Byzantine Empire cherished a peculiar ideal regarding learning and education. Many monks, bishops, and members of the high-ranking clergy were literate and educated, but there were also uneducated and even illiterate ascetics who established themselves as respected teachers and spiritual advisors. The figure of a wise but uneducated monk became an influential cultural reference both in Byzantium and beyond. Ascetic traditions recognize many occasions in which illiteracy plays an important part. For example, Athanasius of Athos pretends to be illiterate when he arrives at Athos. Why? My paper traces the ideal of an uneducated monk back to Antony the Great. I also argue that Evagrius of Pontus is one of the creators of this topos. Certain Latin authors provide a useful point of reference, as Jerome describes Paul of Thebes as "highly educated in Greek and Egyptian letters," and John Cassian (Conf. 10) illustrates the oratio pura in terms of learning the alphabet. The ideal of illiteracy is later praised by Romanos Melodos and continues to be an influential ideal even in modern-day Athos. To understand this phenomenon, we need to delve into the monastic culture of books and reading and distinguish between several degrees of literacy among Byzantine ascetic traditions.