Also the unicorn is a holy man who looks only upon God, and makes Him the cause of salvation, and through His power strikes Satan. For this animal drives away serpents.But also [it is] with the clouds at the meeting of the righteous at the Lord’s coming.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
The holy rhinoceros (Commentary on Job)
Stepanos follows Olympiodorus the deacon in interpreting the unicorn as a symbol of a holy man focused on God. Olympiodorus explicitly connects the "one-horned creature" with the rhinoceros, an unruly and wild animal that men cannot tame and which cannot be used for human purposes. The rhinoceros' lack of concern for human and worldly ends makes it a symbol of the holy man, perhaps an ascetic, who lives in the untamed wilderness and has contempt for the commerce of the world. Stepanos adds the detail that this animal drives away serpents. He also seems to place the creature among the clouds at the second coming.
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