Χώρα: Christian Aspects of a Platonic Concept
Abstract
An investigation in the early Church Fathers’ writings shows that the notion of the term χώρα in the epithets ἡ χώρα τῶν ζώντων and ἡ χώρα τοῦ ἀχωρήτου, appearing as inscriptions on wall mosaics for the first time in the church of the Chora monastery in Constantinople, on images of Christ and the Virgin Mary respectively, originate in Plato’s Timaeus. The first one denotes a utopia in the afterlife, where the faithful will enjoy eternal peace. The second derives from a confusion of the platonic χώρα with the platonic ὑποδοχὴ and denotes a utopia where what is wrong in this world could be restored.
Article Details
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TANOULAS, T. (2013). Χώρα: Christian Aspects of a Platonic Concept. Deltion of the Christian Archaeological Society, 34, 405–416. https://doi.org/10.12681/dchae.1736
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