The Symbolology of Dionysius the Areopagite: (The Aesthetic Aspect)

The article discusses the aesthetic aspects of the symbolology introduced by the Byzantine author of the Corpus Areopagiticum (late fifth-early sixth centuries) that was signed in the name of the pupil of the Apostle Paul, Dionysius the Areopagite. The symbolology is understood to mean knowledge of both symbols and symbolic type of consciousness and worldview, which is implicitly present in Dionysius's works. Based on the analysis of the Corpus texts, it is shown that all levels of symbol theory developed by Dionysius—like likenesses, unlike likenesses, apophatic naming, and sacral-liturgical symbolism—have an aesthetic coloration. The symbolology of the Areopagitica gave a powerful impetus to the development of European theological aesthetics and the artistic practice of the Christian culture for many centuries, in Western Europe as well as in the Byzantine Empire and medieval Russia.