Achillas (Saint)
4th/5th Centuries
Coptic Church
Egypt
Achillas was a monk at Scetis in the golden age of monasticism (fourth-fifth centuries). Saint Achillas was outstanding among all the great ascetics. Abbot THEODORUS OF PHERME said of him, "He was like a lion at Scetis, considered formidable in his own day." The APOPHTHEGMATA PATRUM gives some examples not only of his austerity but also of his wisdom and the sensitivity of his charity. It was indeed in spite of himself that fame had come to him. He said, "Be like an animal so that you do not in any way let yourself become known." Later hagiography has liked to compare the ascetic achievements of this rough uncultured anchorite with the warlike exploits of his namesake, the hero of The Iliad.
Lucien Regnault
Note: The DACB uses the transliteration system of the Encyclopedia of Islam (2nd ed.), dropping the diacritical marks on the kha, dtaa, saad, and daad.
Bibliography:
Arras, V., ed. Collectio Monastica, 13, 65, p. 100.
CSCO 238. Louvain, 1963.
Cotelier, J. B., ed. Apophthegmata Patrum. In PG 65, pp. 124-25. Paris, 1864.
Leloir, L. Paterica Armeniaca, 11,25, CSCO 371, p. 127. Louvain, 1976.
Rosweyde, H., ed. Paschase, 25. PL 72, p. 1049B.
Paris, 1849.
