Aphrodisius

Aphrodisius is known only as a correspondent of Isidore of Pelusium (d. c. 450), to whom Isidore addressed at least five surviving letters, active in the Pelusium and eastern Nile Delta milieu of early-to-mid 5th-century Egypt. He is addressed chiefly as a presbyter (priest), once as a monk, and in the corpus's address apparatus as a deacon; the letters treat him as a clergyman whom Isidore instructs in Scripture and pastoral practice, answering questions Aphrodisius himself posed - explaining the verse "Seek not to be a judge" from Sirach and why divine grace does not alight indiscriminately on all - and counseling him on how to console the grieving, when to rebuke rather than keep silent, and how to respond to those who had behaved insolently toward him. The relationship is that of a learned spiritual director writing to a junior cleric who looks to him for exegetical and pastoral guidance. Beyond these letters he is otherwise unattested.