EPHREM THE SYRIAN

EPHREM THE SYRIAN (ca. 306–373). Perhaps the greatest Christian writer in Syria, and certainly the greatest poet of the Church Fathers (q.v.), Ephrem was born in Nisibis, moving to Edessa (q.v.) in 363. His dates make him a contemporary of the Cappadocian Fathers (q.v.), and his writings indicate that he shared in many of their theological concerns-theosis, for example, and the Trinity (qq.v.)-although he expressed himself in an entirely different idiom. That idiom was verse, always inspired by Scripture (q.v.), and included exegetical, dogmatical, and ascetical works.

Enormously popular in the Syriac Church (q.v.) to the present day, many of his poems and hymns were translated into Greek during his lifetime and thereafter (together with a great many spuria). He found a ready and appreciative audience wherever his writings appeared, especially among monastics where his works continued to be read throughout the Byzantine era (q.v.) and following. His poetry (q.v.) had a lasting influence, via the hymns of Romanos the Melodist, on the Byzantine rite and music (qq.v.). Early translated into Slavic, he is also enduringly popular among the Russian Orthodox, both lay and clerical, to the present.