American Academy of Religion

Foucault, The Fathers, and Sex Author(s): Elizabeth A. Clark Reviewed work(s): Source: Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 56, No. 4 (Winter, 1988), pp. 619641 Published by: Oxford University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1464456 . Accessed: 13/02/2012 04:50
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LVI/4 Academy Religion. of Journal theAmerican of

Foucault,
Elizabeth A. Clark

The

Fathers,

and

Sex

AFTER MICHEL WROTEthe firstvolume of his History FOUCAULT ofSexuality,he discoveredthat he could not adequatelytreatsexualityin modem history without first returning to antiquity. This discovery necessitated a change in approach and so slowed his progress that volumes two and three did not appear for another eight years (Lloyd: 25). The differencein tone between volumes one and two is evident to even the casual reader: the sweeping generalizationsand scanty documentationof volume one have been supersededby a respectfulapproach to texts.' Indeed, so carefullydoes Foucaulttiptoe from text to text in the subsequentvolumes that admirersof his previouswork may find his style plodding. More important,they will find that Foucault'searlier interest in developing an "archaeological" theoryof discoursehas been modified by attentionto the social practicesthat link power, drastically 56, knowledge, and the body (Dreyfusand Rabinow:xxiv-xxv, 98, 102105, 112, 175). Foucaultwas impelled to undertakehis antiquarian journey by his desire to challenge the prevalent contemporary theory that sexual repressionoriginatedin the seventeenth century as an accompaniment to the rise of capitalism,and that from this repressionwe have allegedly freed ourselves.2 Against just now, and with much self-congratulation, this conventionalassessment,Foucaultarguesthat the earlymodem and modem eras saw not increasedrepression,but increasedincitementsto sexual discourse. In this period, for example, the "problem"of population was discovered; children's masturbationwas for the first time regarded as dangerous and in need of control; homosexuality was invented as a permanentpersonalitystate;the medical and the psychiatric examinationthat requiredpatients to talk about sex was developed (1980a:12-13, 23-30, 38, 42-45, 63). In all these areas, speech and
ElizabethA. Clarkis John Carlisle Kilgo Professorof Religion at Duke University,P.O. Box 4735 Duke Station, Durham,NC 27706. 1So noted also by Halperin(277). 2Foucault warns his unwary readers that "saying yes" to sex does not mean (as is popularly thought) that we have "said no" to power (1980a:157)..

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writing about sex greatly expanded. Moreover,Foucault argued,these "discoveries" and techniques were not first employed repressively against the lower classes as a means of control, as Marxist analysis would posit; rather,they were developedby the bourgeoisieand applied to themselvesas a means of enhancingtheir own life, vigor,and progeny (1980a:120-138).3 Foucaultdescribed his projectfor the History Sexuality various in of He said, for example, that he aimed to explore how the underways. standing of the self as a subject of desire had unfolded. Ratherthan focus exclusively on mechanisms of power and their relation to language, as he had in some of his earlierbooks, he wished to constructa "hermeneuticsof the self " (1985a:5-6) in which he would explore the ever-changingexperienceof the self as a sexual being throughoutWestem history (1981:5). How, he asked, had modem people come to believe that the deepest truthaboutthemselveslay "in the regionof their sex?" (1980b:214). So keen was Foucault'sinterestto examine how our understandingof sexualitywas related to our quest for "truth"that he originallyplanned to name his series Sex and Truth,not TheHistoryof (1980b:209). His project,however,had a furtheraim. For not Sexuality is there a truthabout the self thatwe believe relatesto sex; we also only believe that this sexual truthmust be talked about. How, Foucaultasks, did sexual practices become transmuted into discourse about sex (1980b:210), most fully realized in psychoanalysis?4To answer his question, he turned back to seventeenth-century pastoral manuals, to and to nineteenth-century eighteenth-century pedagogical treatises, medical handbooks for assistance--but, as his knowledge of Christian antiquitygrew, he came to place the origin of the pastoral,pedagogical, and medical techniques in the monastic practice of confession (1980b:211; 1980a:19-20, 63, 159).5 To understandFreud,he believed, we must understandearly Christianascetic theory. Denying that Freud representeda cataclysmicbreak with all past thinking and writing on sexuality,Foucaultasked his readersto examine with him "the machinery of confession, within which in fact psychoanalysisand Freudfigure as episodes" (1980b:211-212). The word "confession" he began to
3Foucaultemphasizes that if this phenomenon representsanything about "class struggle,"it concerns the bourgeoisie'sattemptto usurp prerogatives the nobility (1980a:128-129). of 4The question reveals that Foucault had by no means abandoned his interest in power, for he claims that it is discourse itself that links power and knowledge (1980a:100); cf. Foucault'scomment in an interview(1980b:187) that "the whole point of the projectlies in a re-elaboration the of theory of power." 5Cf. Dreyfusand Rabinow:173-178.

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apply to "all those proceduresby which the subjectis incited to produce a discourseof truthabout his own sexualitywhich is capable of having effects upon the subject himself" (1980b:215-216). By returning to Christian antiquity and beyond, Foucault thought that he could both overturn the so-called "repressive hypothesis" and explain how the human experience of sex had shifted its locus of intensity from sexual acts to "sex in the head" (1981:5). Afterhis retreatto study ancient texts, Foucault'ssecond volume of TheHistory was published, translatedinto English as TheUse ofSexuality Pleasure. Its subject matterwas classical Greece. Foucaultprojected of that in the four volumes to follow he would bring the readerto the early twentieth century and examine the continuities and discontinuities between Plato's Athens and Freud'sVienna. Unfortunately, project the will neverbe realized,for Foucaultdied in 1984. By then, threevolumes had been published, and materialsfor a fourthvolume on early Christianitywere being assembled. Whetherthese will be publishedunder the title projected,TheConfessions the Flesh,still is unclear. Nonetheless, of from the published volumes and from essays written and interviews given shortly before Foucault died, we glean some impression of the figures on whom he intended to dwell: Clement of Alexandria,Tertullian, Augustine,John Cassian. What would have been Foucault's major theme in the projected fourth volume? In a review of volume three (which concerns Rome), historianJohn Boswell predicts the thesis of the next volume: thispreoccupation thewell-being self thatFoucault detailed with of had the Romans thevolumeBoswell becomes basis the [in reviewed] among fora Christian ethicsin whichthe salvation the individual is the of soul fulcrum moralactivity thought; of and Roman advice abouthowto optimizehealthandhappiness transformed absolute is into rulesabouthow to behaveto attainsalvation.(1987:31) Foucaulthimself gives more explicit hints: In the Christian book-I meanthe book aboutChristianity!-I to try show thatall this ethics[of the Greeks the Romans] changed. and has Because telos has changed:the telos is immortality, the and purity, so on. The asceticism changed, has becausenow self-examination takes the formof self-deciphering. mode assujettissement divine d' The is now law. And I thinkthateventhe ethicalsubstance changed, has because it is notaphrodisia, desire,concupiscence, but flesh,andso on. (1983b:
242)

In the Christian of the was morality sexualbehavior, ethicalsubstance to be defined, by the aphrodisia, by a domainof desiresthatlie not but

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hiddenamongthe mysteries the heart,and by a set of actsthatare of as was carefully specified to theirformandtheirconditions.Subjection to takethe formnot of a savoir-faire, of a recognition the lawand but of an obedience pastoral to Hencethe ethicalsubject to be was authority. not characterized so muchby the perfect ruleof the self by the self in the exerciseof a viriletype of activity, by self-renunciation a as and whosemodelwas to be soughtin virginity.(1985a:92) purity To be sure, Foucault also wished to note the continuitiesbetween pagan and Christiansexual understanding.The very organizationof his project suggested his interest in the continuities. In each volume, he proposed,he would look at four themes: the life of the body, the institution of marriage,relationshipsbetween men, and the understandingof wisdom (1985a:21). As he announced in TheUse of Pleasure,he would in explore transmutations these themes as he progressedfromvolume to volume. He would ask, "How, given the continuity,transfer,or modification of codes, the forms of self-relationship(and the practicesof the self that were associatedwith them) were defined, modified, recast,and diversified"(1985a:31-32, cf. 1981:5). In subsequentvolumes, Foucault envisioned that he would trace such transmutations,such unitiesin-diversities, from the Golden Age of Athens to the Golden Age of psychoanalysis. My argument will be that despite the obvious discontinuities between pagan and Christiansexual understandings,6 there are continuities of theme even beyond those Foucaulthimself had recognized. To note that the Romanmaritalethic-as characterized Foucault-bears by many resemblances to its Christian counterpartconstitutes no new scholarlyobservation. Morestriking,perhaps,are the ways in which the goals Foucault ascribed to the Greeks' sexual self-cultivation(e.g., "a stylizationof attitudesand an aestheticsof existence" [1985a:92])reappear, transmuted,in early Christianasceticism. BeforeexploringChristian themes, however,we must returnto Foucault'sGreeksand Romans. II According to Foucault's reading of the Greeks, their desideratum was the creationof a beautifullife-a desideratum, that is, for males of a certainclass (1985a:2;cf. 82). The free male of the upper class (for it is he of whom Foucaultwrites) governedhimself throughan "aestheticsof
6That Foucaultmakes no provisionfor the influence of Jewish sexual ethics on early Christianity will strike students of the period as an odd omission.

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existence"(1985a:12, 89; 1983b:231). He attemptedto create"a way of life whose moralvalue did not depend eitheron one's being in conformity with a code of behavior,or on an effort of purification"-both distinctively Christiancontributionsto the development of sexual ethics, Foucault claims-"but on certain formal principles in the use of pleasures, in the way one distributedthem, in the limits one observed, in the hierarchyone respected"(1985a:89). To enhance one's position as a free male (1985a:79, 97), a position from which one could dominate otherswithin both the household and the largersociety, the regulation of sexual acts ("the use of pleasures,"in Foucault'sphrase) was necessary (1985a:53). This "use of pleasures" did not concern itself with distinguishing forbidden from permitted sexual acts, but rather with the prudent calculation of "more and less" (1985a:116, 53-54). Considerationshould be taken of one's need, the correcttiming of the act, one's statusin relationto the partner(1985a:54). Quantityand circumstances were the decisive factors, not sexual practices per se of (1985a:114). A prudentself-regulation the free male's sexual life was in accordwith other types of self-regulation practiced,such as that of he food and drink (1985a:50-5; cf. 99-108; 1983b, 229).7 This sexual ethic, Foucaultargues,was not universalizable, was nor it meant to be; it was not for hoi polloi, but for those elite males who wished to shape for themselves more brilliant lives than those of their fellow men (1985a:62). In accordance with such an ethic, sexual concerned only two areas: "excess" (as just noted) and "immorality" leads Foucaultto a (1985a:44-47). The theme of "passivity" "passivity" discussion of Greek homosexual practices, specifically, of pederasty. Foucaultnotes how many Greektexts that discuss sexual acts, the creation of the self, and the search for truth revolve around the theme of pederasty,no doubt because it was in pedagogicalpracticethat sex and "truth"were linked (1980a:61). Accordingto the ancient Greek ethic, so long as a man were the active sexual partner,it matterednot whether the other were a male or a female;a "passive"partnerof either sex was consonant with his "moral mastery"of the self (1985a:84-5; cf. 188, 192). The problem of pederastylay elsewhere: namely, how could a free boy, destined to be a citizen who governedthe polis, allow himself to have been earlierthe objectof pleasure, to have been dominatedand penetratedby another with whom he did not share (according to the

7Halperin:282-283.

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received wisdom) a common pleasure?'(1985a:220-221, 223).8 The problem thus lay not with the act per se (as it later would in Christian sexual ethics), but with possible obstacles to the boy's self-realization. Ancient Greek marriages likewise manifested a dissymmetry of power, but of a differentsort. Whereas the wife, always under the husband's control, must restricther sexual activityto the maritalbed, the sexual regulationof the husband restedon quite anotherprinciple: if he chose to restrainhis sexual pleasures,it was out of no obligationto his wife, but because only thus could he exhibit his self-mastery (1983a:151,165).9 His obligationwas to himself alone, to his self-cultivation, to the enhancementof his own prestige(1985a:82-83). Foucault convincingly argues that there was thus for elites in ancient Athens a certain isomorphism between sexual and social relations: whether in the household or in thepolis, therewas alwaysone who penetrates,who demands, who dominates, and one who is penetrated, who is commanded, and who complies (1985a:215; cf. 1986:29, 31-32). The foretaste of the future-a future of "indefinite abstention"for the sake of truth-comes only with Plato, and as Foucaultnotes, Plato'sencouragement to long-termabstention "could not easily be accommodatedin an ethics organized around a search for the right use of pleasure" (1985a:245-246).'0 Accordingto Foucault,the breakdownof the polls in the Hellenistic and Romaneras occasionedsocial changes that recastthe formulationof sexual ethics (1986:84), although he makes much less of the changed historical circumstances than we might expect." (For example, the break in the isomorphism of public and private life is mentioned only briefly[1986:81-97 passim]). The modificationsthat occurredin Roman sexual ethics were several. For one, there was much less concern than in Greek writings to center the "problem"of sexual discourse around the topic of boys (1985a:189-190). Foucaultnotes that even when pederasty is discussed in the Roman texts, the descriptiveterms are taken from the model of the marriagerelation (1986:225),12now accordeda centralityit never held in classical Athens (1986:192, 204). In texts
8Cf. 1985a: 212: can the boy achieve self-masteryin not yielding to others? See also 1983b:232233. 91985a:184: "The wife's virtue constitutedthe correlativeand the proof of submissive behavior; the man's austeritywas part of an ethics of self-delimitingdomination." 10That Foucault underestimatedascetic trends in ancient Greek philosophy seems clear. For example, he nowhere deals extensivelywith the ethical theoryof the Old Stoics. See note 13 below. 11As noted by critics, e.g., Lloyd:28. 12DiscussingPseudo-Lucian's Affairs the Heart. of

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datingfrom the second centuryB.C.E.to the second centuryC.E. (especially those by Plutarchand the later Stoics), the personalrelationshipof the marriedcouple receives major attention (1986:148). The "Greek" model of male dominance and female submission is here replaced by one of mutuality. There is to be a sharedpleasurebetween husband and wife; the husband owes respect to the wife, not just to himself (1986:148-149). Accordingto Roman writers, both husband and wife will restrict their sexual relation (in theory at least) to the spouse (1986:173, 167). A man's intense erotic relationshipis to be enjoyed with his wife, not with boys (1986:180). In addition to procreation, companionshipand mutual care are stressedby Hellenistic and Roman writers as central to the marital relation (1986:151 [MusoniusRufus]; 182). Moreover, claims Foucault, these new marital patterns were meant not only for elites who wished to createbeautifullives, but were universalizable:all humans can follow the promptingsof reason and "nature,"whatevertheir social status (1986:67), and these promptings suggest a more egalitarianmodel of marriage. With the Roman relocationof pleasure in the marriagepartnership went a greatersexual austerity,a strongertendency to asceticism, than of Foucaultbelieves was characteristic the classical Greeks (1986:177Medicaltexts now detail the dangersof sexual activity: the sex180).13 ual act is compared to disease (e.g., epilepsy), and abnormal sexual states (e.g., satyriasis)ratherthan regimensfor healthy sexual functioning are stressed (1986:109-111, 113-117). Another sign of growing ascetic trends, accordingto Foucault,lies in the themes of the Hellenistic Romances: the virginityof the lovers is broughtto the fore. The hero and heroine'sabstentionremindsus of what was shortlyto come, Christian asceticism. Indeed, Foucaultcharacterizesthe abstention of these couples in the same words with which he describesChristianasceticism: it "is modeled much more on virginalintegritythan on the political and virile dominationof desires" (1986:228), the model of restraintthat he assigns to Athenian males. Foucault'streatmentof Christianmaterialsrequiresa more energetic "leap of faith" than the historianwould desire, for only scatteredreferences to specific Christianwritersand their theories can be found in his work published to date (1980b:211). Yet Foucault'scomments in his
Foucaultoverlooksascetic tendencies in Greekphilosophy that influenced later Roman 13Because philosophers as well as the church fathers, he is led to posit a largergap between Greek sexual ethics and later Romanand Christianones than seems warranted. Both Zeno and Chrysippus,for example, called for the eradicationof the passions: SVF I, 205-215; III, 443, 448.

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three volumes of TheHistoryof Sexuality,in interviews, and in essays, enable the commentatorto attempt at least a modest reconstructionof his proposed argument. In a variety of ways, Foucault isolates the changes in sexual ethics broughtby Christianteaching. Let me review them briefly. First, he states, the "aestheticsof the self," so central to classical Greek ethics, is replaced by an ethic of self-renunciation; accordingto Christianwriters,the "truth"of the self can be known only by giving it up (1983b:245, 248). Moreover,the problematiccenter of discussion shifts from the realm of sexual acts and the pleasurederivedfrom them to desire itself. For early Christians, even a married couple's sexual acts-the only permitted ones-should be "neutral," that is, not prompted by desire. Ideally, pleasure should be completely excluded from consideration. Yet, Foucault notes, although desire was to be excluded in practice,it gained a theoretical importancein earlyChristianas the seat of the "problem" of sex (1983b:238, 242-243; ity 1985a:254). He writes: Classical of which were a meansto self-mastery techniques austerity weretransformed techniques into whosepurpose thepurification of was desireandthe elimination pleasure, thatausterity of so becamean end in itself. (1983b:255) In their fear of "pollution,"Christiansemphasize purity,not mere selfregulation (1981:5; 1983b:242). Unwilled sexual desires and their accompanyingbodily movements are understoodto be inflicted upon a passive subject: the virile and activesexual ideal of the Greeks,Foucault of posits, has given way to a passive and "feminine"understanding sex. and intactness, a "female" paradigm, replace the Physical integrity "male" ideal of domination of self (1985a:82, 92; 1986:29; 1983b:247; 1981:5)-and penetrationof others, we might add. of Ultimately,the thematization sexual issues by Christianwritersno concerns acts with anotherperson, but the problem of one's solilonger tude. Now, for the firsttime, masturbation and "wayward thoughts"are held as centralmoral problems (1986:140; 1981:5; 1985b:18-22). And, Foucaultposits, as the experienceof sex shifts awayfrom acts with other desire of the individual,an essential people and towardthe privately-felt new task is defined: self-examination,the raising up of one's sexual thoughtsfor analysis and "discrimination."In a monastic setting, such analysis often involved the advice of an elder monk to a younger one (1983b:242; 1981:5; 1985b:23). Such deciphermentand elucidationof thoughts were deemed essential by the monks for ascetic purification

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(1985a:70)-and by Foucault, for later practices involving discourse about sex. Last, accordingto Foucault,Christianscodified the sexual acts that were deemed necessaryto submit to ecclesiasticalauthority(1985a:92), an importantstep in the developmentof the confessional(describedas a procedure "for the extortion of truth" [1980b:217]).'4 He sees such as developmentsin Christianity pivotal between Greekand Roman sexual theorizing,on the one hand, and the insights of the psychoanalyst's couch, on the other. EarlyChristianasceticism, in Foucault'sscheme, thus providesthe locus for an essential stage in the developmentof sexual discourse.
III

As a student of early Christianasceticism, I propose severalmodifications to Foucault'sapproach. Ratherthan canvas the vast corpus of I earlyChristianascetic literature, focus my discussion on materialsperto the desertfathersof Egypt. My firstqualificationof Foucault's taining argumentis modest: even with the desert monks, we have not entirely left the realm of sexual activityfor "sex in the head." The textual evidence rathersuggests that this upward displacementof the sexual was not always fully achieved. Manywomen inhabitedthe desert and many others came on pilgrimagesto see the holy men living there. The desert fathersworrywhetherto meet these female admirers"5and whether they should visit female relativesliving in nearbyconvents.16 They tell stories of ascetics who were accused (falsely) of impregnating village girls,17 of of monks who receivedproposals of marriage,'8 monks who did "fall" sexually.19They wonderedat Amoun, who lived in celibacyfor eighteen years with the wife he had been forced to marryin his youth.20 On a practical level, they questioned whether a woman's body could be touched,21 and on a theoreticalone, whether a monk could lie with a

14Cf.Payer, 1985:313-317 on confessionals. in seniorum Vitae (= I, monachorum Aegypto 4; 7-8 (SubsHag53, 10, 11); Verba patrumV) 15Historia 2, 7 (PL 73, 858-859). 16VitaPachomii27 (Bohairic) (CSCO 89=Scriptores Coptici 7, p. 26; Latin translation,CSCO 107=Scriptores Coptici 11, pp. 18-19). 17Apophthegmata patrum,Macariusof Egypt 1 (PG 65, 257, 260). and 18Questions the Brethren Answers the Fathers27 (Martinyana) of of (Budge, II:1026-1027). 19Palladius TheSecondBookof the Histories the Fathers24 (Stephana), (Budge, 1:400-403). (?), of Lausiaca8 (Butler,11:26-28). Historia 20Palladius, 21Verba seniorum Vitae Lausiaca (Butler,II, 68 (= patrumV) 4, 68 (PL 73, 873); Palladius,Historia 163-164).

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naked virgin and have his heart remain peaceful (the experiment was not recommended).22For the monks in Egypt, sex was not something that had to do onlywith oneself in one's solitude-although, to be sure, Foucaultis correctin his assertion that the majorityof texts center on control of one's mind and desire, not on sexual acts with another. This point may seem carping, however, since the ascetic literature that most interested Foucaultwas not so much the sayings of and the stories about the desert fathers,such as those mentioned above, but the monks' "theoretical"discussions of sexual desire.23 Thus one of Foucault's central subjectswas to be John Cassian,who lived in the Egyptian desert for at least seven years and later reportedthe advicegiven by the elders to him and his companion Germanus (Chadwick:13-19). Among the ascetic masters whose teaching informed Cassian's theory was EvagriusPonticus,and althoughFoucaultdoes not discuss Evagrius in his now-published works, he surely would have treatedhim in volume four since Evagriuswas the leading "ascetic theorist" of early monastic Christianity(Chadwick:92-94).24Foucaultcould have drawn much support from Evagriusand Cassian for his argumentthat in the monasteries of late antiquity,sexual activitybecame transformedinto sexual discourse. Evagrius'own words would give him a key: "The demons strive againstmen of the world chiefly throughtheir deeds, but in the case of monks, for the most part by means of thoughts.1"25 Yet both Evagrius' and Cassian'sdiscussions, I would argue,contain themes that call into question too easy a passage from the Egyptiandesert to Freud'sVienna. Central to Evagrius'ascetic theology is the monk's cultivation of apatheia,passionlessness or "lackof feeling."26It is feeling that leads to desire and desire that leads to pleasure,27 the downfallof the monk. The human memory,with its "thoughts,"poses constantproblems for these inhabitantsof the desert.28In addition, demons attackthe monks with phantasmsto spur their lust, and they hum suggestivemelodies in their
22JohnCassian, Conlationes 10 (SC 54, 220). 15, 23Whethersuch concentrationon the sexual theme was characteristicof the Coptic-speaking monks or only of the Greek-educatedmonastic theorists remains a grave historical problem. I thank Coptic scholar David Johnson for remindingme of the discrepancyin the sources (private correspondenceof 10/1/87). 24ForArmandVeilleux's assessmentof Evagrius' importance,see his essay, "The Originsof Egyptian Monasticism,"in Skudlarek:48. 48 Ponticus,Practicos (SC 171, 608). 25Evagrius Ponticus,Practicos 33: 87 (SC 171, 498, 574, 678). 2; 26Evagrius 4 Ponticus,Practicos (SC 171, 502). 27Evagrius 28EvagriusPonticus, Practicos34 (SC 171, 578); idem, De oratione46 (PG 79, 1176); idem,

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From these mental or demonic suggestions, monks must withhold assent.30 If monks stay on guardwhile they are awake, there is a better chance that their minds and bodies will stay pure while they

in Evagrius'writings. Evagrius' advice on self-examination, however, leads to some emphases different from Foucault's. For example, Evagriusdoes not supportthe notion that examining one's thoughts and desires necessarily leads to discussion about them (except, of course, insofar as Evagrius himself wrote down his insights). To the contrary,dwelling on one's "thoughts"can be outrightlydangerous,for they impel the ascetic to a state of lust.32 Although Evagriusadvises the monk to note when these "thoughts"arise and subside and with what associationsthey come to mind, he does not suggest that the monk talk about them. He advises instead that the monk submit these matters to Christ and await an explanationfrom him.33 John Cassian, too, recognizedthis problem. Althoughhe explicitly counsels young monks to confess to their elders,34 who will teach the he the juniors remedies,35 also is aware of how counterproductive process can be: when an ascetic recollects his own sins or ponders the "falls"of another,he may feel a delight and an assent that run contrary to his struggleagainst sin.36 Indeed, discussing such subjects with an elder or even hearingScriptural verses abouthuman generationcan constitute temptation and lead a monk astray.37Thus Evagriusand Casin 4; Admonitio Syriac:126-127;French:158);Expositio parabolaset in paraenetica 5 (Muyldermans, Proverbia Solamonis (Muyldermans, 6 Syriac: 134; French: 163). Ponticus,Practicos 54; 71 (SC 171, 510, 512, 624, 658). 8; 29Evagrius 30EvagriusPonticus, Practicos75 (SC 171, 662). The withholding of assent was an important epistemologicalissue as early as Zeno (SVFI, 61) and Chrysippus(SVFIII, 177), became wellknown throughthe Sceptic teachingon epochi, and, from there, influenced the ScepticalAcademy. That the topic was of concern to some intellectual Christians is shown in Augustine's Contra Academicos. Ponticus,Practicos 56; 64 (SC 171, 628, 630, 632, 648); idem, Colloquium 55; 31Evagrius magistri cum discipulo eius (Muyldermans, Syriac:123-124;French:156). 23 Ponticus,Practicos (SC 171, 554). 32Evagrius 50 Ponticus,Practicos (SC 171, 614). Accordingto Athanasius,Antony recommended 33Evagrius that the hermit note down his thoughts and the "movementsof his soul": VitaAntonii55 (PG 26, 924-925). Foucaultdiscusses this passage in 1983a:3-23. 16, 34John Cassian, Conlationes 11; 18, 3; 22, 6 (SC 54, 231; SC 64, 13, 121-122); idem, De institutis coenobiorum 17; 4, 9 (SC 109, 444, 132). 11, 35JohnCassian, De institutis coenobiorum, 17 (SC 109, 144). 11, 20, 36JohnCassian, Conlationes 9 (SC 64, 68-70). 12, 37John Cassian, Conlationes 7; 19, 16 (SC 54, 132; SC 64, 54) (the elders omitted reading verses about women when the junior monks were present). Scriptural

for wouldhavefoundsupport his thesis sleep.3' In thismuch,Foucault

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sian's advice provides somewhat less firm a way-stationon the road of "incitementsto sexual discourse"than we might have expected on the basis of Foucault'scomments.38 Moreover,although knowledge of the self may be a goal both for differs drastically: monasticism and for psychoanalysis,the motivation for Cassian,the functionof confession is to promotehumilityby subjecting oneself to another'swill. The exercise is a cultivationin humility, not an uncovering of the sub-conscious.39 Not to confess, Cassian claims, means that a monk relies on his ownjudgment ratherthan on that of someone older and wiser40-and self-relianceis a main mechanism by which the Devil is given opportunityfor attack.41Since mortification of the will is necessarybefore lust can be bridled,42 obedience to the elder that is achieved through confession is imperative for the monk's religious cultivation. And yet-still another problem-the desire for perfect obedience carries its own dangers, for it tempts the monk to pride, a worse sin than simple lust ever was.43 Cassianaffords clear proof that Freud has no monopoly on the exploration of the psyche's deviousness. In addition,Foucaultis awarethat some transformations Western of sexual ethics took place withinthe frameworkof early Christianity:the was not simply betweenthe Greeksand the Romans, on transformation the one hand, and the Christians,on the other. Thus in writingof John Cassian, Foucaultrecognizesthat Cassian's concerns were not those of Clement of Alexandria,who lived two hundredyears earlier. Foucault notes-but only in passing-that Cassian is no longer interested, as Clement had been, in the two majorelements of ancient sexual theory, and namely, "the sexual union of two individuals(sunousia) the pleasure of the act (aphrodisia) (1985b: 20). In his published work, however, Foucault does not reflect on the meaningof this difference between Clement and Cassian. If he had, he might have modified his model of
38Yetif the junior monks were not taughtto discuss their sexual thoughts,they themselveswould not in later life be well-equippedto advise newcomersto monastic life. The problem, as Terrence Tilley has suggested to me, is structurally parallel to the one Foucaultspots in Greek pederasty: how can a boy who is the "passive" partner emerge into an "active"adult, both sexually and politically? coenobiorum 39 (SC 109, 180). 18, 4, 39JohnCassian,Conlationes 3 (SC 64, 13); idem, De institutis 2, 40JohnCassian, Conlationes 11; 16, 23 (SC 42, 121-123; SC 54, 242-243); idem, De institutis 4, coenobiorum 9 (SC 109, 132). Foucaultcould have explored the workingsof power in this relationship to good advantage. 18, 41JohnCassian, Conlationes 3 (SC 64, 13). coenobiorum 8 (SC 109, 130, 132). 4, 42JohnCassian,De institutis coenobiorum 1; 12, 3 (SC 109, 450, 452, 454). 12, 43JohnCassian,De institutis

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differencebetween Greek and Roman sexual ethics, on one hand, and the Christian,on the other. A more nuanced model of early Christian sexual ethics could even borrow from Foucault'sown descriptionof the Greeksand the Romans: one line of developmentcould be posited from Foucault's "Romans"to married Christians;a second, quite different, line of developmentfrom Foucault's"Athenians"to Christianascetics. This seemingly enigmatic differentiation requiresexplication. The advice and prescriptionsgiven by the church fathersto married Christiansfollow quite closely Foucault's"Roman"model. Thus when Foucault states that Clement's discussion of marital sexual ethics in II, Paedagogus 10 "drawson a set of principles and precepts borrowed from pagan philosophy" (1985a: 15), he notes a theme disdirectly cussed by scholars before him.44 For example, Clement's views that exemplarymarriedpersons should perform sexual intercoursewithout passion, and that sexual faithfulnessis incumbentupon the husband as well as upon the wife,45are not so differentfrom the sober advice of MusoniusRufus.46 In prescriptionssuch as these, we can see an intensification,ratherthan an abandonment,of the ideals Foucaulthas labelled "Roman." When Foucault broaches Christian ascetic literature,however, he providesno explanationfor the differencein themes discussedby Clement and those discussed by Cassian. His "non-discussion"is no surline prise, however,for there is no straightforward of developmentfrom of the one to the other. Rather,some characteristics Greek(not Roman) sexual experience,as Foucaultdescribesit, reappearin transmutedform in the monastic literatureof the late fourth and fifth centuries. Recall Foucault'scharacterization these Greek sexual values: a free male of practices self-dominationor self-masteryin order to create a life more brilliantthan that of his fellow humans, and his elitist ethic is accompanied by a quest for self-knowledge,for "truth." The values that Foucault assigned to elite Greek males re-emerge, transformed,in the theorizing of the desert monks. For the monks, combat againstthe self is the primarytask. Self-mastery been transhas formed into a holy war. Thus, thoughts of sex must be resolutelycomrecollections of kin warred against48(not to speak of actual batted;47
44E.g., Broudehoux,and especially Veyne (1978:35-63); now see Veyne (1985: esp. 47-59). 45Clementof Alexandria,Stromateis 7, 58; 11, 71; 12, 79 (GCS 15, 222-223, 228, 231); idem, III, II, Paedagogus 10, 83; 95; 98; 102 (GCS 12, 208, 214, 215-216, 218). 4Musonius Rufus XII, XIIIAand B; XIV (Lutz:86,88, 90-96). Lausiaca29; 38 (Butler,II, 47Athanasius,VitaAntonii5; 19 (PG 26, 848, 872); Palladius,Historia 20 85, 121); Historiamonachorum (SubsHag53, 118-119).

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battles must be waged against the desire for possessions,50 relatives);49 for food,51for sleep.52 As the issue was succinctly put by the desert father Antony, although the solitary has freed himself from hearing, speaking, and seeing, "yet against one thing shall he continuallybattle, that is, his own heart."53The "solo contest"(1985a:68) Foucaultattributes to the Greekmale pursuingan ethic of "virileself-mastery" well fits in the new arena of monastic combat. Relativelyfew texts, in comparison, bear out Foucault'sclaim that the monks manifest a "feminine" desire for "intactness." Self-dominationwas perhapseven more important for them than for the Greek males to whom Foucaultappeals. Whether through this combat a state of total self-masterycould be achieved was debated by Christian ascetics themselves. Some desert fathersthoughtthat it was impossiblenot to be plaguedby "thoughts";54 accordingto them, if a monk did not fight against sin in his mind, he was likely to sin in the flesh instead.55 Others, such as EvagriusPonticus, thought that a state of perfect self-masterycould be achieved in which the monk would no longer struggleagainst disturbingimpulses, for he would have none.56 There were, however, distressingly few himself is said to have sufexemplarsof this passionless state: Evagrius fered from lust,57 and the one desert father who was reputed to have conquereddesire, Serenus,had achieved his passionless state when an angel removedthe "fieryflesh" from his groin, thus extirpatinghis sexual desire.58Since not many could expect to be rendered"apathetic" (in the original meaning of the word) by such supernatural the operations, strugglefor self-masterypersisted. The arenas of desire and bodily movement that a Christianmonk
48Athanasius,VitaAntonii5; 36 (PG 26, 845, 848, 896); John Cassian,De institutis coenobiorum 4, 36; 5, 32; 6, 13 (SC 109, 176, 240, 242, 276). Lausiaca6 (Butler,II, 22-24); Palladius(?), TheSecond Bookof the Histories 49Palladius, Historia of the Fathers11 (Budge, I, 332-333); Pachomius,Regulae53-55 (PL 23, 74); John Cassian,De institutiscoenobiorum 27 (SC 109, 160, 162); idem, Conlationes 11 (SC 64, 181-182). 4, 24, 50Athanasius,Vita coenobiAntonii5; 11-12 (PG 26, 845, 848, 860-861); John Cassian,De institutis 17 orum4, 3; 7, 21 (SC 109, 124, 126, 322); Gerontius, VitaMelaniaeJunioris (SC 90, 160). Lausiaca (Butler,II, 150-151); EvagriusPonticus,Practicos (SC 171, 506, 57 6 51Palladius, Historia 50 508); idem, De oratione (PG 79, 1177); John Cassian,De institutis coenobiorum 18; 5, 1-41 (SC 4, 109, 144, 146, 190-258). 52Verba seniorum(= Vitae patrumV) 4, 2 (PL 73, 865). 53Verba (= seniorum Vitae patrumV) 2, 2 (PL 73, 858). 1, 54JohnCassian, Conlationes 17 (SC 42, 98). 55Verba (= seniorum Vitae patrumV) 5, 5 (PL 73, 875). Ponticus,Practicos 87 (SC 171, 652, 678). 68; 56Evagrius Lausiaca38 (Butler, II, 121). Historia 57Palladius, 7, 58JohnCassian, Conlationes 2; cf. 12, 7 (SC 42, 245; SC 54, 132, 133).

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was expected to dominatewere, of course, more extensive than those to which the Athenianmale might attend. The monk's problemwas often locatedin areasthat seemed indominatable:wanderingthoughts,sexual dreams, erections, nocturnal emissions. But even in these seemingly intractable areas, Evagrius Ponticus and Cassian proferred practical advice for the monk that they claimed would lead to success. In addition to keeping close guard over his daytime thoughts, the monk is assisted by a practicalregimen: the restrictionof food and water ("gluttony" was thought to be closely related to attacks of lust).59 Cassian himself was advised that if he ate only two pieces of bread a day, took just a few sips of water, and slept no more than three or four hours a night, he could, with God'shelp, conquerhis nocturnalproblemswithin six months.60 As Aline Rousselle has shown, since even what the monks counted as a rarely-enjoyed "banquet"consisted in about 1069 calories, their bodies, usually provided with much less nourishment, must have been so physicallydepletedthat sexual desire would fade as a result of malnourishmentalone, as modern medical literaturedemonstrates(223). Thus Foucault'sclaim that in Christianasceticism we have moved from the Greekmodel of self-dominationto a "feminine"model of passivity,that the centraltheme of sexual discourseswitches from "penetration" to "intactness"(1983b:247), requires qualification. To be sure, others althoughmales of the desertare no longer sexually "penetrating" and are themselvesbeing "penetrated" the Devil's arrows(a common by toposin monastic literature),61they still exhibit that qualityof self-mastery that Foucault found characteristicof Athenian male ideals. The model of physical "intactness"that Foucault deems so important in monastic literaturearises relativelylate, and is most notably associated with the theme of Mary'sperpetualvirginity,including her virginityin partu. It is no accident that the prime advocates of Mary'sperpetual virginityin the late fourth century,Ambrose and Jerome, are the very authors who counsel Christianvirgins of their own day to keep their "gardens enclosed," their "fountains sealed," language they borrow

20, 59EvagriusPonticus, Practicos56 (SC 171, 630, 632); Historiamonachorum 2 (SubsHag 53, 119); John Cassian, Conlationes 6; 5, 10; 5, 26; 12, 11; 12, 15; 22, 6 (SC 42, 193-194, 197-198, 5, coenobiorum 11; 5, 20; 6, 2; 6, 7; 6, 216; SC 54, 139-140, 144; SC 64, 121-122); idem, De institutis 5, 23 (SC 109, 206, 208, 224, 264, 270, 286). 12, 60JohnCassian, Conlationes 15 (SC 54, 144). coenobiorum 9 (SC 109, 132); idem, Conlationes 5; 7, 15; 18, 13 4, 7, 61JohnCassian,De institutis (SC 42, 251, 259; SC 64, 25).

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from the Song of Songs.62 All in all, however, freedom from pollution and physical "intactness"are stressed far less than self-domination. A last point concerningthe self-dominationtheme: unlike the Athenian elite women, describedby Foucaultas those who were mastered, dominated, and penetratedby another, the women of the desert, like are their male counterparts, describedas self-dominating. We hear of a certain Candida, who arose at night to grind corn, fire the oven, and bake bread for the Eucharistin order to subdue her body by manual labor and lack of sleep--and, as she allegedly put it, in order to "do awaywith the greedyappetiteof Esau."63Of the abbess Sarah,we learn that she contended with the demon of lust for seven years before she finallyconqueredhim.64 This was probablythe same Sarahwho reportedly claimed that althoughshe was a woman in sex, she was not one in spirit.65 "Virile self-mastery,"it appears, was not restrictedto males, either of classical Athens or of the Egyptiandesert.66 A second characteristic that Foucaultascribedto the Athenian male was the desire to createfor himself a life more brilliantthan that of his fellow men. He would fashion an "aestheticsof existence" that would set him apart. To achieve this special brilliance,the male would impose variousrestrictionsupon himself, sexual ones included. The creationof the exceptional life, however, is a prominenttheme in monastic literature as well. The striving for an exceptional life received (so it was imagined) support from Jesus himself: "If you would be perfect,sell your goods, give to the poor, and come and follow me."67 We are told that these words formed the inspirationfor Antony'soriginal renunciation.68 Moreover,Jesus also had allegedly emphasized in his teaching about types of eunuchs that "not all" would be able to become eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.69Asceticism thus became the mode of life for Christianswho strovefor a perfectionthrough preferred
62Song of Songs 4:12; Jerome, Epp. 22, 25; 49(48), 21 (CSEL54, 178-179, 386); Ambrose,De institutione 9, 5, virginis 58; 9, 61 (PL 16, 335); idem, Exhortatio virginitatis 29 (PL 16, 359); idem, Ep. 63, 36 (PL 16, 1250). Lausiaca57 (Butler,II, 150-151). 63Palladius,Historia 64Palladius(?), Counsels the HolyMen 11, 555 (Budge, I, 773). of 65Verba seniorum Vitae (= patrumV) 10, 73 (PL 73, 925). women to appropriatea model of virile self-mastery 66AlthoughFoucaultallows Graeco-Roman (1983b: 247), he does not mention this possibility for Christianwomen. Foucault'slack of attention to female sexuality has received much comment. For essays on Foucault in relation to women's issues, see now Diamond and Quinby. 67Matthew19:21 and parallels. 68Athanasius,VitaAntonii2 (PG 26, 841). 69Matthew19:10-12.

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which they could escape the downward pull of worldly concerns, of family, of sexual activity. That we tend not to associate asceticismwith an "aestheticsof existence" reveals our overemphasison the material conditions of asceticism-the dirt, the vermin-and our relativeneglect of the ascetics' fastidiousgrooming of their psyches. As EvagriusPonticus expressed this Christianelitism, a distinction should be made between "the righteous"and "the perfect": "the righteous" were those who kept free of adulteryand other earthlyperversities, but not from possessions and the world's business-unlike "the perfect,"ascetics who were free from desire itself and who rose above the entire earthly heritage.70 As Cassian put it, the commandment "Thou shalt not commit adultery"was to be interpretedliterally by those-but only those-who were "still in bondage to foul passions";7' the ascetic had surpassed the need for any such literally-interpreted laws. Those who still lived in the realm of "law" (i.e., the life of reproduction) ratherthan that of "grace"(i.e., the life of virginity)were prone to slide down the slippery slope from lawful married intercourse to unlawful adulterywith alarmingalacrity. But for those who renounced even what was "lawful" (namely, marriage) through their choice of asceticism, "unlawful"acts could not even pose themselves as temptations.72 Thus ascetic piety itself created an elite class, the virgins who were equated with the onehundredfoldharvest in Jesus' parable-as contrastedwith the lowly thirtyfoldharvest that representedthe married.73 Moreover-pace Foucault-no divine or ecclesiastical law, no pastoral authority,requiredthis strivingfor a special excellence above and beyond the precepts all Christianswere expected to observe;it was a self-imposed restriction. To be sure, the elitism of "perfect"Christian ascetics differed in some respectsfrom the elitism of Foucault'sAthenianmales. Although a surprisingnumber of early ascetic leaderscame from privilegedbackthe grounds,74 creationof a brilliantascetic life was open both to those

70JohnCassian,Dejustis et perfectis1; 4 (Muyldermans, Syriac:105,106; French:143). 14, 71JohnCassian, Conlationes 11 (SC 54, 197). 21, 72JohnCassian, Conlationes 32-33 (SC 64, 106-108). 73Matthew 13:8;Jerome,Epp.22, 15; 49 (48), 2; 66, 2; 123, 8 (CSEL54, 163, 353, 648; CSEL56, 82); AdversusJovinianum 3 (PL 23, 223). I, Isidore (Palladius,Historia Lausiaca 1 [Butler,II, 161);Amoun (Historia monachorum 74Examples; Arsenius42 [PG65, 108]). The Cappa22, 1 [SubsHag53, 128]);Arsenius(Apophthegmatapatrum, docian Fathersalso stand as examples of ascetics from high social backgrounds,as do Western ascetics such as Paulinus of Nola, Ambrose, Sulpicius Severus, Paula, Marcella, and the two Melanias.

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and from humble backgrounds"7 to women, two categories of people deemed incapable of having beautifullives by ancient Greek standards. Thus a democratizingof opportunityexisted in tandem with an elitism based on choice and achievement. Monasticelitism createdits own special dangers,however, for if the monks succumbedto pride, the glory of their lives would be ruined: when a monk "fell," how much the demons loved to chant the Scriptural verse, "Whoeverraises himself up shall be abased!"76 Foucaultascribesto the Greeksexual ethic is The thirdcharacteristic the pursuit of self-knowledge. Here Foucault'sargumentfounders, for he bolsters his case by an appeal to Plato'sview that long-termabstention would assist the quest for "knowing thyself" (1985a: part 5, esp. 245-246), yet he is hard-pressedto find any other Greek males who if valued sexual renunciationin the quest for "truth," they had any interinto to begin with. Plato stands alone, unintegrated est in such a quest but not representative of Foucault'sscheme, a harbingerof futureideals those of his own day. This point has been scored by other commentators (Lloyd: 28).77 As Foucaulthimself admits, Plato's teaching in the runs against the grain of traditionalGreek and Symposium the Phaedrus wisdom about pleasure, and raises questions that would eventually transformthe Greek ethic into one of renunciation(1985a:229-230).78 "Indefiniteabstention... could not easily be accommodatedin an ethic organizedaroundthe search for the right use of pleasure"(1985a:230). of The view that Foucault ascribes to Plato, however unrepresentative ancient Greek ideals, illustrateswell the values of Christianmonastics: the quest for truth, now identified with the quest for God, is the very goal of the monk's askisis (1985a:245-246). The monk's search for truth, however, was fraught with dangers unknown to an ancient Athenian,for the monk lived in a world peopled by demons who delightedto lead monks astrayby appearingas powers of goodness. Thus both Antony and Cassian report that demons can

John of Lycopolis,a builder;Sisinnius,a slave;Amoun 75Examples:Paul the Simple, a herdsman; Lausiaca22; 35; 49; 8 [Butler,II, 69, 100, 143, 27]), of Nitria,a balsam grower (Palladius,Historia among many others. 76Luke14:11; 18:14;Historiamonachorum 35 (SubsHag53, 21-22). 1, 77"Atmany points they [Platoand Aristotle]are typicalof no one but themselves." If the genealogist's task is to show how power, knowledge, and the body relate to each other (Dreyfus and Rabinowitz:105),Foucaulthas been less than successful in explicating the "knowledge"component for the ancient Greeks. 78Foucault's argumenton this point might have been somewhatmodifiedif he had treatedthe Old Stoics: see note 13 above.

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transform themselves into angels of light.79 They lure the monk to "holiness" by waking him for prayer and by encouraginghim to eat nothings--and this for the sake of causinghim to stumble in his renunciation. The Devil tricks the monk into thinking that love of family is praiseworthy-so he can implant avaricein his heart.8' Demons sing like holy songs and reciteScripture, exemplarymonks82-but only to get the ascetic in their power. Worst of all, they solemnly pronounce the ascetic to be "blessed,"83 even predictingthat he will attain the priesthood84 thus leading him to pride, the deadlysin. The Egyptianascetic had as many grave problems in discerning falsehood from truth as did the prisoners in Plato's cave who were released into the blinding sunbut light,85 whereasthe eyes of Plato'sprisonerswould grow accustomed to the light, the monk could exist in lifelong trepidationthat he might, at the very end, mistake falseness for truth. Certainty was reservedfor the moment of death. Thus through my reading of the patristic texts, I am prompted to modify Foucault's scheme in several ways, most notably to suggest a double path leading from the ethics of the Greeks and the Romans to early Christianmonastic values, on the one hand, and to the ideals of Christianmarriage,on the other. These "Greek"and "Roman"roads merged in medieval Christianityto the extent that confession became incumbent upon marriedlay Christians,not simply upon monks. But for the late ancient period, I would gloss Athanasius'famous line that the popularityof asceticismhad made "the desert a city"86: the "city"it became, I would argue, shares slightly more with ancient Athens, but perhaps somewhat less withfin de sidcleVienna, than Foucaulthimself imagined.87

1, 79JohnCassian, Conlationes 19; 16, 11 (SC 43, 100; SC 54, 231), citing II Corinthians 11:14; Athanasius,VitaAntonii39 (PG 26, 900). Foucaulthints that he is aware of this problem (1985a: 41). Antonii25; 35 (PG 26, 881, 893). 1, 80JohnCassian,Conlationes 21 (SC 42, 105); Athanasius,Vita Historia Lausiaca6 (Butler, II, 22). 81Palladius, 82Athanasius,VitaAntonii25 (PG 26, 881). 83Athanasius,VitaAntonii35; 39 (PG 26, 893, 900). Ponticus,Practicos13 (SC 171, 528). 84Evagrius 85Plato,Republic VII, 1-2 (514A-517A). 86Athanasius,VitaAntonii14 (PG 26, 865). 871wish to thankJay Geller,DavidJohnson, BruceLawrence,TerrenceTilley, the membersof the Society, Culture, and Religion of Ancient Mediterraneanresearch group, and two anonymous reviewersfor their criticismsand comments. I also thank BrendaDenzler for editorialassistance.

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ABBREVIATIONS
Orientalium. CSCO Corpus Christianorum Scriptorum Latinorum. CSEL Corpus Ecclesiasticorum Scnrptorum der ersten GCS Die GriechischenChristlichenSchriftsteller Jahrhunderte. Graeca. PG Patrologia Latina. PL Patrologia SC SourcesChritiennes. Hagiographica. SubsHag Subsidia Veterum SVF Stoicorum Fragmenta.

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