Elias

• Elijah, a prophet of the Jews: form Elias, Lact. 4, 11, 6; form Elia, Prud. Cath. 7, 27.

(Ἠλίας). This name, which is of Hebrew origin, belongs to several Greek writers, chiefly ecclesiastics, of the Byzantine empire. There were several prelates of the name in the Oriental patriarchates and bishoprics, and several writers, chiefly ecclesiastics, in the Oriental tongues, for whom see Assemanni, Bibliotheca Orientalis, and Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. ix. p. 257, xi. p. 614. We give only those belonging to Greek biography. In Latin the name is frequently written Helias.

Elias. There were three patriarchs of Jerusalem of this name.

1. Elias I. was patriarch from A. D. 494 or 495 till his deposition by a council held at Sidon, whose decree was enforced, A. D. 513, by the emperor Anastasius I. He died in exile A. D. 518.

2. Elias II. held the patriarchate from A. D. 760, or earlier, to 797, with the exception of an interval, when he was expelled by an intrusive patriarch Theodorus. He was represented at the second general council of Nicaea, A. D. 787, by Joannes, a presbyter, and Thomas, principal of the convent of St. Arsenius near Babylon in Egypt: these ecclesiastics were also representatives of the patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch.

3. Elias III. was patriarch at least as early as 881, when he sent a letter to Charles le Gros and the prelates, princes, and nobles of Gaul.

Elias died about A. D. 907. Works Letter to Charlemagne Editions

A Latin version of the letter of Elias to Charlemagne (for it is scarcely probable that the original was in that language) was published in the Spicilegium of D'Achéry. Further Information

Papebroche, Tractatus preliminaris de Episcolpis et Patriarchis Sanctae Hierosolymnitanae Ecclesiae in the Acta Sanctorum : Maii, vol. iii. with the Appendix in vol. vii. p. 696, &c.; Labbe, Concilia, vol. vii.; D'Achéry, Spicileg. vol. iii. p. 363, ed. Paris, 1723.

4. Elias of Charax. Works On Versification

A Manuscript in the library of St. Mark at Venice contains a citation, printed by Villoison, from a Greek treatise on versification by " Helias, a monk of Charax." Villoison states that the passage cited by him is, in several MSS. of the King's Library at Paris, improperly ascribed to Plutarch. Harless incorrectly represents Villoison as speaking of two works of Helias on versification, and without, or rather against authority, connects the name of Elias of Crete with them. Editions

Part of this work is printed by Hermann in an Appendix to his edition of Dracon of Stratoniceia. [Dracon.] Further Information

Villoison, Anecd. Graec. vol. ii. pp. 85, 86; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. vi. p. 338.

5. Elias of Crete. There are several works extant ascribed to Elias Cretensis, whom Rader, Cave, Fabricius, and others, suppose to have been Elias, bishop (or rather metropolitan) of Crete, who took part in the second general council of Nicaea, A. D. 787. (Labbe, Concilia, vol. vii.) Leunclavius considers that the author was a different person from the prelate, and places the former in the sixth century or thereabout (Prooemiam in Sti Gragorii Nazianzeni Opera) Oudin, who has examined the subject most carefully, agrees with Leunclavius in distinguishing the writer from the prelate, and deduces from the internal evidence of his works that the writer lived about A. D. 1120 or 1130. Works

He wrote:-- 1. Commentaries on several of the Orations of Gregory Nazianzen.

There are several MSS. extant of these commentaries in the original Greek, but we believe they have never been printed. A Latin version of them, partly new, partly selected from former translations, was published by Billius with his Latin version of Gregory's works, and has been repeatedly reprinted. 2. A Commentary on the Κλίμαξ, Climax, Scala Paradisi, or Ladder of Paraddise of Joannes or John surnanmed Scholasticus or Climacus.

This commentary, which has never been published, but is extant in MS., is described by Rader in his edition of the Climax, as very bulky. Some extracts are embodied in the Scholia of a later commentator given by Rader. 3. An Answer respecting virgins espoused before the age of puberty.

This is extant in MS. in the King's Library at Paris, in the catalogue of which the author is described as the metropolitan of Crete. 4. Answers to Dionysius the Monk on his seven different questions Editions

given by Binefidius (Juris Orient. Libri, iii. p. 185) and Leunclavius (Jus Gr. Rom. i. p. 335). Other Works

It is not known that any other works of his are extant. Nicolaus Commenus in his Praenotiones Mystagogicae cites other works, but they tire probably lust. One was On the Morals of the Heathens, and the others were Answers to the Monks of Corinth, To the Monks of Asea, and To the Solitary Monks. Harless incorrectly ascribes to Elias of Crete the work of Elias or Helias of Charax [see No. 4] on versification. Further Information

Cave, Hist. Lit. vol. i. p. 641; Rader, Isgoge ad Scalam St. Joannis Climaci, prefixed to his edition of that work; Oudin, Commentarii de Scriptor. et Scriptis Ecclesiasticis, vol. ii. col. 1066, &c.; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. viii. p. 430, ix. p. 525, xi. p615; Catalogus Librorum Manuscriptorum Bibliothecae Regiae, Paris, 1740.

6. Elias, called, from the, ecclesiastical office which he held, Ecdicus (Ἔκδικος), or "the Defender," was the author of a Greek work on the Ascetic life, extant in MS. in the Imperial Library at Vienna, and in the King's Library at Paris. The work is said to be entitled Πηγὴ ναίουσα. A Latin version of a part is given in the Bibliotheca Patrum, vol. xxii. p. 756, &c. ed. Lyons, 1677. In the catalogue of the King's Library at Paris is a Greek MS. containing, among other things, a Florilegium, or selection, said to be by "Helias, Presbyter et Defensor." (Montfaucon, Bibliotheca Bibliothecarum, p. 548; Catal. Codd. MStorum Biblioth. Regiae, vol. ii. NOS. Ccclxil. 6, Dccclviii. 21, Paris, 1740; Cave, Hist. Lit. vol. ii. Dissert. i. p. 7; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. xi. p. 615.)

7. Elias, called "the Monk." Leo Allatius in his De Symeconum Scriptis Diatriba (p. 101 ) mentions a discourse προεόρτιον, on the Nativity, by Elias the Monk. (Cave, Hist. Lit. vol. ii. Diss. i. p 7, ed. Oxford, 1740-43.)

8. Elias, called "the Philosopher." Works Prolegomena to the Εἰσαγωγὴ of Porphyry

There are in the Medicean Library at Florence Prolegomena to the Εἰσαγωγὴ of Porphyry taken from the writings of " Elias the Philosopher," and there are some extracts from the same Elias in a MS. in the Library of St. Mark at Venice. But nothing appears to be known of the writer beyond his name. Further Information

Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. xi. p. 616.

9. Elias Syncellus. Works Hymns or poems addressed to the Virgin

Leo Allatius has mentioned some hymns or poems addressed to the Virgin Mary, remarkable for their beauty, piety, and elegance: he promised to publish them, but did not fulfil his intention. Among the writers of them he names Elias Syncellus. (Allatius, Notes to his edition of Eustathius of Antioch, p. 284.) Requies in Clementinas

Montfaucon mentions a black-letter MS. apparently in Latin, belonging at that time to the monastery of Cauines in Languedoc, entitled Requies in Clementinas, by Elias or Helias. But who this Elias was, is not stated, nor whether the work was a version from the Greek, which the name of the writer would lead us to suppose. Theorica et Practica

A MS. entitled Theorica et Practica, by "Helias Salomon," is also mentioned by Montfacon, but we know nothing of the writer. Further Information

Montfaucon, Biliotheca Bibliothecarum, pp. 515, 1241. [J.C.M]