RT Article
T1 Damaris (Acts 17:34) and an Aristocratic Family from Sparta: Neglected Epigraphic Evidence on the Name of a Female Disciple
JF Novum Testamentum
VO 63
IS 3
SP 346
OP 359
A1 Heijer, Arco den 1989-
LA English
PB Brill
YR 2021
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1761149350
AB This article surveys epigraphic evidence for Damaris, Damares and Damari(o)n to show that these are distinctively Spartan or Laconian names. It rejects the hypothesis that Damaris is a Lukan construction from Homeric δάµαρ (wife) or a typical name for a courtesan. Positively, it suggests that the woman named Damaris in Acts 17:34 could be imagined as a member of the Voluseni family, a prominent Spartan family connected with the Athenian elite. Finally, it examines the rhetorical force that a recognizably Spartan name could have in the narrative of Acts.
K1 Athens
K1 Sparta
K1 Epigraphy
K1 Acts
K1 Damaris
DO 10.1163/15685365-12341701