Antony (ca. 251–356) was the first of the “desert fathers.” Inspired by the Gospel message to give everything he had to the poor and follow Christ (Matthew 19:21–24), Antony and others like him sold all of their belongings, cut their social ties, and retreated into the wilderness, where they adopted lives of extreme deprivation. Despite his longing for solitude, Antony’s reputation for virtue attracted onlookers and admirers as well as political and religious leaders in need of his guidance. An account of his holy life written in Greek around 360 by Archbishop Athanasius of Alexandria became a bestseller in western Europe owing to a Latin translation made in the early 370s by Evagrius of Antioch. Demons figured strongly in Antony’s trials as a hermit. Just as the Devil had tempted Christ in the desert (see this page), so too did legions of demons strive to distract Antony by enticing him with the allure of food and sex and by frightening him into losing heart and faltering in his commitment to God. Sometimes they attacked him physically, leaving him weak with wounds and pain. The outcome of these contests was never in doubt; prayers and the sign of the cross were the hermit’s best defenses against these violent onslaughts. This account of Christian heroism in the face of demonic attacks provided a template for writing hagiography throughout the Middle Ages.
While Antony was busy with all of these things that caused everyone to love him, the devil, an enemy of the word Christian, could not bear to see such outstanding virtues in a young man and so he attacked him with his old wiles. First of all he tried to see whether he could drag Antony away from the form of life to which he had committed himself: he made him remember his possessions, his sister’s protection, his family’s high status. He tried to awaken in him a desire for material things or for the fleeting honours of this world, for the pleasures of different kinds of food and all the other attractions which belong to a life of indulgence. Finally he reminded Antony of how difficult it is to attain the goal of virtue and the very hard work involved in achieving it; he also reminded him of the weakness of the body and the length of time needed. In short he created the greatest confusion in Antony’s thoughts, hoping to call him back from his proper intention…but when, as a result of Antony’s prayers to God, the devil realized that he had been driven out by Antony’s faith in Christ’s sufferings, he seized the weapons with which he normally attacks all young people, using seductive dreams to disturb him at night. First he tried to unsettle him at night by means of hostile hordes and terrifying sounds, and then he attacked him by day with weapons that were so obviously his that no one could doubt that it was against the devil that Antony was fighting. For the devil tried to implant dirty thoughts but Antony pushed them away by means of constant prayer. The devil tried to titillate his senses by means of natural carnal desires but Antony defended his whole body by faith, by praying at night and by fasting. At night the devil would turn himself into the attractive form of a beautiful woman, omitting no detail that might provoke lascivious thoughts, but Antony called to mind the fiery punishment of hell and the torment inflicted by worms: in this way he resisted the onslaught of lust.
Then the holy Antony, considering that a servant of God ought to take as his model the way of life of the great Elijah and to use it as a mirror to organize his own life, moved away to some tombs situated not far from his settlement. He asked one of his friends to bring him food at regular intervals. And when this brother had shut him up in one of the tombs, Antony remained there alone. But the devil was afraid that, as time went on, Antony might cause the desert to become inhabited, so he gathered together his minions and tortured Antony by beating him all over. The intensity of the pain deprived Antony of his ability both to move and to speak, and later he himself would often tell how his injuries had been so serious that they were worse than all the tortures devised by men…Then there was a sudden noise which caused the place to shake violently: holes appeared in the walls and a horde of different kinds of demons poured out. They took on the shapes of wild animals and snakes and instantly filled the whole place with spectres in the form of lions, bulls, wolves, vipers, serpents, scorpions and even leopards and bears, too. They all made noises according to their individual nature: the lion roared, eager for the kill; the bull bellowed and made menacing movements with his horns; the serpent hissed; the wolves leaped forward to attack; the spotted leopard demonstrated all of the different wiles of the one who controlled him. The face of each of them bore a savage expression and the sound of their fierce voices was terrifying. Antony, beaten and mauled, experienced even more atrocious pains in his body but he remained unafraid, his mind alert…Jesus did not fail to notice his servant’s struggle but came to protect him. When at last Antony raised his eyes, he saw the roof opening above him and, as the darkness was dispelled, a ray of light poured in on him. As soon as this bright light appeared, all of the demons vanished and the pain in Antony’s body suddenly ceased.
[At the request of his followers, Antony preached the guidelines for his way of life, including a warning about the threat of demons.] “The demons are hostile to all Christians, but they especially hate those who are monks and virgins of Christ. They set traps along their paths and strive to undermine their commitment by means of irreverent and obscene thoughts, but let them not strike terror into you. For the prayers and fasting of those who have faith in the Lord cause the demons to collapse immediately, but even if they are driven back a little way, do not think that you have gained complete victory. For they have a tendency, when wounded, to rise up with even greater violence and to change their method of attack: when they have no success with dirty thoughts, they use fears to terrify, transforming themselves into women one moment, wild animals the next moment and then serpents as well as huge bodies with a head reaching to the roof of the house, and finally turning into troops of soldiers and an infinite number of different shapes. All these vanish as soon as the sign of the cross is made…Now I will reveal to you other means of deception practiced by the demons. They often come at night, pretending to be angels of God and praising the monks’ dedication, admiring their perseverance and promising future rewards. When you see them, protect yourselves and your dwellings with the sign of the cross and immediately they will dissolve into nothing for they fear the sign of victory by which the Saviour, depriving them of their powers of the air, has shown them up. They also often leap around, twisting their limbs in various contortions and impudently present themselves to us so as to fill our minds with terror and make our bodies shudder in horror. But in this case, too, a firm faith in God will put them to flight as if they were merely feeble jokes.”
A few days later another struggle took place with the same enemy. While Antony was busy (for he was always working so that he could present his visitors with some small gift in repayment for the things they brought him), someone pulled the plait or reed of the basket he was weaving. This movement made Antony stand up and he saw a creature with a human form down to the groin but whose lower body was in the shape of an ass. Seeing this, Antony made the sign of the cross on his own forehead and just said, “I am a servant of Christ: if you have been sent to me, I shall not run away.” There was not a moment’s delay: at once the hideous monster fled with its attendant evil spirits, more swiftly than you could relate it, and as it rushed in headlong flight it was destroyed. The death of the monster which had been scared off and killed marked the destruction of all the demons who despite all their efforts were unable to drive Antony from the desert.