Doikos Damianos, “Agathagellos, as a prophetic and apocalyptic work and its message, “Recollection of 1821”, Year book of Theological Faculty of AUT, 1971.

            Damianos Doikos in his essay, which is part of a broader special edition of the Faculty of Theology of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki on the festivities of 1821, is examining the text of Agathagellos, its prophetic and apocalyptic elements and its message.

            The author in his short introduction is referring to the historical conditions that lead to the appearance of oracles and prophesies, which cultivated the spirit and the hope of freedom. Agathagellos belonged in this category and it had an enormous and deep influence not only on the morale of the unredeemed Greeks but later on the national visions of the free Greeks.

            Damianos Doikos presents then the language, the structure, the content and the paternity of the text.

            In the first unit, the author is examining the text of Agathagellos as a prophesy by comparing it with the prophesies of the Old Testament. He concludes that although there are some prophetic elements in the text, those are not enough in order Agathagellos to be characterized as a prophesy.

            In the second unit the author examines Agathagellos as an apocalyptic text. He gives the definition of apocalypses (revelation) and compares Agathagellos with the biblical apocalyptic texts. He concludes that Agathagellos has more apocalyptic elements and characteristics than prophetic ones.

            In his last unit, the author presents the message of Agathagellos. He stresses that Agathagellos is simultaneously a religious and a national text. However it does not have so many historical details in order to be called “a national Gospel”.

            The article is accompanied by photos of cover and manuscripts of the text.