Macrina's Scar: Homeric Allusion and Heroic Identity in Gregory of Nyssa's Life of Macrina

The starting point for this essay is a postmortem episode from the Life of Macrina, when the saint's brother (and biographer) recalls finding a scar on his sister's body as he prepared it for burial (chap. 31). Close analysis of the language and literary structure of the episode suggests that Gregory of Nyssa modeled it on a famous scene from the Odyssey, the discovery of Odysseus' scar (Ody. 19). Guided by literary theorist E. Auerbach's analysis of Odysseus' scar, this essay argues that the scar flashback is significant for establishing Macrina's identity. Why Gregory would have presented Macrina as a scarred and "baptized Odysseus" is the central question of this essay, which explores the legacy of Homer in Christian late antiquity and the construction of heroic identity in early saints' lives.