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Damaris is a woman mentioned in the New Testament, living around 55 AD in Athens, Greece. As per the Acts of the Apostles (17:34), she embraced the Christian faith following the speech of Paul of Tarsus, given in front of the Athenian Areopagus. She might have been of high social status because only such women were allowed to assist the Areopagus meetings. This may be the reason why her name has been especially recorded.[1]
According to Christian tradition she was Dionysius the Areopagite´s wife, and she is remembered to be his faithful assistant in organizing the incipient church when her husband became Bishop of Athens. Apparently, for Luke the Evangelist, having such elite citizens converted to the new faith was very important because it served as an example of depriving luxury and wealth to serve Christ.
There is no universal consensus about the meaning of her name. Apparently it is the Hellenization of the Celtic name Damara, the goddess of fertility. With the subsequent invasions of the Gauls to Asia Minor and their permanent establishment in the Galatia region, the intermixing of both Greek and Celtic cultures may have given birth to the "Graeco-Celtic" name Damaris.
This was very common in the Hellenistic culture developed by Alexander the Great and his successors. Following this pattern, Artemis of Ephesus, which had previously been assimilated with an ancient local goddess of fertility[2] happens to be the exact parallel with the Celtic deity.
On the contrary, those who support the pure Hellenic origin of the name, state that it is the "modern" Hellenistic form (or contraction) of the classical name Damarete,[3] like Theron of Acragas's daughter who became the wife of Gelo of Syracuse. Others, instead, find it in the word "damalis" which in Greek language means "a heifer", hence the name.[4]
What is not subject to discussion, is that the Indo-European root of the name comes from the word "dompt"[5]meaning "dominant", so a suggested meaning would be "dominant woman".[6]
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Saint Damaris of Athens is celebrated on October 3rd. together with Saint Dionysius[7], but for the Old Calendarists who follow the Julian calendar this feast currently falls on October 16th.
In modern Athens, Saint Damaris is also honoured by having a street named after her -Odos Damareos- siding the Profitis Ilias Square, which is one of the main urban open spaces in the Pagkrati neighborhood.