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Lions In The Desert: The Significance And Symbolism Of Lions In Early Egyptian Monastic Literature, Kyler Williamsen

Kyler Williamsen

Early monastic literature is filled with symbolism and employs allegory to instruct future generations of faithful ascetics. Animals are regularly used in these writings to demonstrate the spiritual power and prowess of the monk. While works such as Waddell’s Beasts and Saints or O’Malley’s The Animals of St. Gregory present a wonderful summary of animals in monastic literature, an analysis of the possible symbolic nature of these animals’ behavior in monastic literature is sorely lacking. My paper, entitled Lions in the Desert, explores the symbolic roles which played charting a monk’s progress in the ascetic life. The interactions the desert …