Editing Anthony the Great (section)

== Temptation ==
{{See also|Temptation of Saint Anthony in visual arts}}

Accounts of Anthony enduring preternatural temptation during his sojourn in the Eastern Desert of Egypt inspired the often-repeated subject of the temptation of St. Anthony in Western art and literature.<ref>Alan Shestack; ''Fifteenth century Engravings of Northern Europe''; no. 37, 1967, National Gallery of Art, Washington (Catalogue), {{LCCN|6729080}}</ref>

Anthony is said to have faced a series of preternatural [[temptation]]s during his pilgrimage to the desert. The first to report on the temptation was his contemporary [[Athanasius of Alexandria]]. It is possible these events, like the paintings, are full of rich metaphor or in the case of the animals of the desert, perhaps a vision or dream. Emphasis on these stories, however, did not really begin until the [[Middle Ages]] when the psychology of the individual became of greater interest.<ref name="ButlerLives1991" />

Some of the stories included in Anthony's biography are perpetuated now mostly in paintings, where they give an opportunity for artists to depict their more lurid or bizarre interpretations. Many artists, including [[Martin Schongauer]], [[Hieronymus Bosch]], Joos van Craesbeeck, [[Dorothea Tanning]], [[Max Ernst]], [[Leonora Carrington]], [[Matthias Grünewald]], [[Jacob van Swanenburg]], and [[Salvador Dalí]], have depicted these incidents from the life of Anthony; in prose, the tale was retold and embellished by [[Gustave Flaubert]] in ''[[The Temptation of Saint Anthony (novel)|The Temptation of Saint Anthony]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://flaubert.univ-rouen.fr/article.php?id=26|title=Gustave Flaubert – études critiques – Le saint-poème selon Flaubert : le délire des sens dans La Tentation de saint Antoine|last=Leclerc|first=Yvan|website=flaubert.univ-rouen.fr|access-date=4 September 2017|archive-date=13 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813043729/http://flaubert.univ-rouen.fr/article.php?id=26|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== The satyr and the centaur ===
[[File:The Meeting of Saint Anthony and Saint Paul, Master of the Osservanza.jpg|thumb|261px|''The Meeting of Saint Anthony and Saint Paul of Thebes'', [[Master of the Osservanza]], 15th century, with the centaur at the background]] 
Anthony was on a journey in the desert to find [[Paul of Thebes]], who according to his dream was a better Hermit than he.<ref name=Jero>''Vitae Patrum'', Book 1a- Collected from Jerome. Ch. VI</ref> Anthony had been under the impression that he was the first person to ever dwell in the desert; however, due to the dream, Anthony was called into the desert to find his "better", Paul. On his way there, he ran into two creatures in the forms of a [[centaur]] and a [[satyr]]. Although chroniclers sometimes postulated that they might have been living beings, Western theology considers them to have been [[demon]]s.<ref name=Jero/>

While traveling through the desert, Anthony first found the centaur, a "creature of mingled shape, half horse half-man", whom he asked about directions. The creature tried to speak in an unintelligible language, but ultimately pointed with his hand the way desired, and then ran away and vanished from sight.<ref name=Jero/> It was interpreted as a demon trying to terrify him, or alternately a creature engendered by the desert.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bacchus|first=Francis|title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Saint Paul the Hermit|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11590b.htm|publisher=Robert Appleton Company|access-date=4 January 2013}}</ref>

Anthony found next the satyr, "a manikin with hooked snout, horned forehead, and extremities like goats's feet." This creature was peaceful and offered him fruits, and when Anthony asked who he was, the satyr replied, "I'm a mortal being and one of those inhabitants of the desert whom the Gentiles, deluded by various forms of error, worship under the names of [[Fauns]], [[Satyrs]], and [[Incubi]]. I am sent to represent my tribe. We pray you in our behalf to entreat the favor of your Lord and ours, who, we have learnt, came once to save the world, and 'whose sound has gone forth into all the earth.'" Upon hearing this, Anthony was overjoyed and rejoiced over the glory of Christ. He condemned the city of [[Alexandria]] for worshipping monsters instead of God while beasts like the satyr spoke about Christ.<ref name=Jero/>

=== Silver and gold ===
Another time Anthony was travelling and found a plate of silver coins in his path. Since he was in the middle of the desert, where it didn't make any sense for anyone to be there, he declared that the silver was a temptation from the devil. Immediately after Anthony's declaration, the silver vanished.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great |url=https://oca.org/saints/lives/2015/01/17/100216-venerable-and-god-bearing-father-anthony-the-great |access-date=11 December 2017 |website=oca.org}}</ref> Soon, after walking some more in that desert, he found a pile of gold coins that was also a temptation from the devil. Anthony cast the gold into a fire, and the gold coins immediately disappeared just like the silver ones.

After these two events, he had a vision where the whole world was covered with snares and traps. Anthony prayed saying, "Oh good Lord, who may escape from these snares?” He was responded to by a voice that said, "Humility shall escape them without more."<ref>{{Cite web |last=kostasadmin |date=2023-01-17 |title=St. Antony the Great |url=https://www.orthodoxpath.org/saints-and-elders-lives/st-antony-the-great/ |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=The Orthodox Path |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Demons in the cave ===
Being an ascetic, Anthony went out to live in the tombs away from the village. There were so many demons in the cave though, that Anthony's servant had to carry him out because they had beaten him to death. When the hermits were gathered to Anthony's corpse to mourn his death, Anthony was revived. He demanded that his servants take him back to that cave where the demons had beaten him. When he got there he called out to the demons, and they came back as wild beasts to rip him to shreds. Suddenly a bright light flashed, and the demons ran away. Anthony knew that the light must have come from God, and he asked God where he was before when the demons attacked him. God replied, "I was here but I would see and abide to see thy battle, and because thou hast mainly fought and well maintained thy battle, I shall make thy name to be spread through all the world."<ref>{{cite web|title=The Golden Legend: The Life of Anthony of Egypt |url=http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/golden153.htm |access-date=4 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123065522/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/golden153.htm |archive-date=23 January 2013 }}</ref>