Epigonus

Epigonus is known only as a recipient of letters from Nilus of Ancyra (d. c. 430), and is addressed in the salutation of one of them as a cursor, that is, an imperial courier or running messenger. The six short notes Nilus sends him are chiefly works of scriptural instruction: Nilus repeatedly explains the allegory of Moses and the veil over his face (Exodus 34), reads the obscurity of the Pentateuch and the figures of Hagar and Sarah as keys to interpreting the Hebrew Scriptures spiritually, and points him to images such as the 'well of vision.' One letter strikes a more pastoral note, urging Epigonus not to lose hope amid misfortunes that had befallen him, since God can readily turn gloomy circumstances to gladness. The relationship is that of a learned ascetic teacher guiding a layman in the figurative interpretation of the Law; beyond these letters Epigonus is otherwise unattested, and is best placed simply within the early-fifth-century Ancyran milieu of Nilus's correspondence.