Anthony the Great

ancestor earth Christian single tradition · 1

Anthony the Great was a Christian monk from Egypt who lived from approximately 251 to 356 CE and is revered as a saint since his death. He is known as the Father of All Monks for his importance among the Desert Fathers and to all later Christian monasticism. He was among the first known ascetics to go into the wilderness around 270 CE and endured supernatural temptation during his sojourn in the Eastern Desert of Egypt.

When

First attested
251 CE
Attested period
251 – 356
Historical notes
Lived c. 251-356 CE; went into the wilderness around 270 CE; biography written by Athanasius of Alexandria spread concept of Christian monasticism.

Relationships

teacher of
Macarius the Great
allied with
Paul of Thebes

Expand to full subgraph →

Sources

wikipedia (1)

Source passages

“Anthony was not the first ascetic or hermit, but he may properly be called the "Father of Monasticism" in Christianity, as he organized his disciples into a community”

#1521 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5