Parallels Between the Legend of the Seven Youths of Ephesus and Gothic Literature

As I was reading some things about the Seven Youths of Ephesus yesterday for their feast, I was noticing some parallels between the story and Gothic literature that I am familiar with, especially when stripped of the hagiographical elements. And as I wondered what a movie or book would look like if the story of these Seven Sleepers was transformed into a Gothic story, I decided to do some research on the internet. Google then provided me with a rough draft of these parallels I noticed through their AI generator, which I thought was worth sharing. Below are three entries on the subject generated by AI, with the last of the three specifically concentrating on the parallels between the story of the Seven Sleepers and Edgar Allan Poe stories.

Saint Joseph the Hesychast and the Confession of Demons

Elders Joseph the Hesychast and Ephraim of Arizona

By Elder Ephraim of Arizona

Even the demons know quite well who Elder Joseph was. When exorcisms were being read over a possessed woman in Thessalonica, she began shouting: “That Joseph! He went to Philotheou. He’s protecting Philotheou Monastery, and I can’t do anything to them!” Everyone who heard this wondered how she knew about Elder Joseph and that his skull was at Philotheou. She herself, of course, didn’t know this, but the demon inside her did.

In 1982 Father Stephanos Anagnostopoulos in Athens was reading the exorcism prayers for a different possessed woman. He described what happened as follows:

The Confession of a Demon During an Exorcism Regarding Saint Kallinikos of Edessa

St. Kallinikos of Edessa

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

What I will describe next is authentic, because it is revealed by a serious and central figure of this event.

The late Kallinikos greatly loved Archimandrite Iakovos Pachis, preacher of the Metropolis of Arta. He knew him and appreciated him, when Metropolitan Ignatios of Arta was the locum-tenens of the Holy Metropolis of Aitolia and Acarnania. Many times he tried to get Fr. Iakovos elected as Metropolitan. But his desire was not fulfilled as long as he lived. Eventually, Fr. Iakovos became Metropolitan of Argolis one year after the repose of Kallinikos (in 1984). He himself did not seek such a thing, so he did not know who helped him to be elected.

An important incident is narrated in writing by Protopresbyter Demetrios Kostopoulos, priest of the Church of Saint Basil in Argos, who was an eyewitness:

"On the Sunday of Pentecost in 1986, after the Divine Liturgy, I was with our late Metropolitan Iakovos at the Holy Monastery of Saint Marina, which is on the hill Larissa (Castle) of Argos.

The purpose - at the request of their family - was for the Metropolitan to 'read' exorcism prayers over their two daughters, who were 17 and 18 years old, who had been tortured by demons for years.

During the 'reading' the demons were vicious against the Metropolitan, and at one point said to him: 'Twice I tried to kill you, but you were saved by your Lady (the Panagia) and that toothless elder of yours (Fr. Athanasios Hamakiotis)!'

After a little while, suddenly, the two demons began to scream in terror: 'Go away, Kallinikos, you're burning us, you're twisting us, leave us alone, go away...!'

Surprised, I asked the Metropolitan: 'Which Kallinikos are they seeing, Your Eminence, that is burning them?'

'Of Edessa,' he replied.

'And how did he get here, Your Eminence?' I asked.

'I invoked him mentally,' he answered.

The Metropolitan then asked the demons: 'Do you know Kallinikos?'

'Yes,' said one of them, 'he had removed me years ago from a young man in Agrinio.'

'Ahh,' whispered the Metropolitan, 'that explains the matter.'

'What matter, Your Eminence?' I asked him.

'I'll tell you as soon as we're done,' he replied.

When the exorcism was completed, our late Metropolitan narrated how the late Metropolitan Kallinikos of Edessa, when he was a preacher of the Holy Metropolis of Aitolia and Acarnania, had mentioned in one of their discussions that two clergymen in Agrinio (he did not reveal their names), were called to pray for a young demon possessed man. After reading the exorcisms, one of them left. The other, sympathizing with the tortured young man, stayed with him almost all night praying and finally the demon left!

The two young demon possessed girls - as our late Metropolitan had told us a few months later - were released from the demons at the tomb of Fr. Athanasios Hamakiotis, where they had gone to venerate at the suggestion of the Metropolitan." (Argos, April 25, 2013.)

Metr. Iakovos of Argolis

Metropolitan Iakovos of Argolis many times told me about this incident. In fact, he told me when many people accompanied me on a visit to Nafplio. In addition to what Fr. Demetrios writes, Iakovos had told me that the demon, among other things, said:

"You're burning me. But it's not your fault, it's the fault of the one who made you a Metropolitan." Immediately Iakovos asked: "Who made me a Metropolitan?" The demon replied: "Kallinikos (it should be noted that the young woman did not know Kallinikos, who had died a few years prior). He loved you, he wanted to make you a Metropolitan, but he made you one now when he is in heaven. He had removed me some years ago from a man (indeed he had healed a demon possessed man) and I fought him all his life. I managed to eat his flesh (with sickness), but he shines in heaven. His empty wallet sanctified him. He protects you. If I see you without him, I will hurt you."

Metropolitan Iakovos himself said many times that this scene was shocking and creepy.

From the book Καλλίνικος Μητροπολίτης Ἐδέσσης. Μιά "ὁσία μορφή". Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

The Miraculous Holy Spring of Saint Myron and the Dragon

Holy Spring of St. Myron

From August 7th through the 8th every year thousands of pilgrims from all over Crete descend on the town of Agiou Myrona to celebrate the memory of their patron saint, Saint Myron the Wonderworker, who was Bishop of Crete in the fourth century. There they enter the church dedicated in his honor, they light a candle, venerate his recently discovered relics, and kiss his holy icon. Besides these things, they also go to the spring of St. Myron, located beneath his tomb, to drink from its miraculous waters.