ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates how ascetic Lives directed readers to perceive their subjects' transition from an earthly to a heavenly existence through, among other techniques, descriptions of their excessive hairiness. It suggests that the unique hairiness of desert hermitsa biological phenomenon that resulted from their rigorous ascetic regimes could have been read as evidence of their other-worldliness. Given contemporaneous discussions of the hairiness of the near-dead or of resurrection bodies and given that these same hermits were positioned in closer proximity to spaces conventionally associated with the other world or afterlife. Finally, it argues that the hermits' hairiness, which was often characterized as beastly, could have been the source of their angelic radiance. This link between beastliness and radiance contributes to the perception that excessively hairy desert hermits are angelic and explains why they inspired more fear and awe than other, slightly less hairy ascetics.
