Apollo of Hermopolis

d. c. AD 395 · Abbot of Bawit · Hermopolis / Bawit, Thebaid

The Nicene Age

Who Apollo of Hermopolis was

Father of a community said to number five hundred monks near Hermopolis in the Thebaid, whose cheerfulness and daily communion the visiting party of the Historia Monachorum in Aegypto set down with wonder. Palladius knew of him too; his monastery at Bawit became one of the great houses of Coptic Egypt.

Common questions

When did Apollo die?

Apollo of Hermopolis is dated d. c. AD 395 in the archive, which places Apollo in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.

Which early sources mention Apollo?

Apollo of Hermopolis is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Historia Monachorum and Sozomen. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Where was Apollo from?

The archive associates Apollo of Hermopolis with Hermopolis / Bawit, Thebaid. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.

Who were Apollo’s contemporaries?

The archive links Apollo of Hermopolis to 1 other figure, including John of Lycopolis. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.

Primary-source mentions (2)

Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Historia Monachorum in Aegypto 8 (the travel account of the visiting party of 394, c. AD 400; original Greek, working translation)

c. AD 400

[Eyewitness account.] We saw also in the Thebaid, in the borders of Hermopolis, a father named Apollo, who had five hundred monks under him at the foot of the mountain. None among them was gloomy — he taught that the brethren must give thanks at all times — and he received us with joy, and the brethren communicated daily.

Historia Monachorum · source text