# Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria

Source: https://coptic-lore-forge.lovable.app/wiki/pope-dioscorus-i-of-alexandria — Coptic Orthodox Wiki (updated 2026-10-02)

Dioscorus I, twenty-fifth patriarch of Alexandria and successor of Cyril the Great, is venerated as a Coptic saint and commemorated on 7 Tut.[^1][^2]

## Patriarch of Alexandria

Dioscorus I was the twenty-fifth patriarch of the See of Saint Mark and succeeded Saint Cyril the Great in 444.[^1] His patriarchate is dated to 444–458, while differing dates are recorded for his death.[^1][^6]

Cyril chose Dioscorus as a close companion in religious meetings and made him an archdeacon.[^3] The Alexandrian presbytery elected him unanimously to succeed Cyril in 444.[^3]

## Relations with Rome and Chalcedon

On becoming patriarch, Dioscorus sent Possidonius to Rome with a message for Pope Leo I; Leo replied with an epistle affirming agreement between the two sees concerning sacramental discipline, priestly ordination, and liturgy.[^4]

At the Council of Chalcedon in 451, Dioscorus faced accusations brought by Eusebius of Dorylaeum and supported by Theodoret of Cyrrhus.[^7] In his defense, he appealed to Athanasius, Gregory, and Cyril, maintaining that after the Incarnation there were not two natures but the incarnate nature of the Logos, and that he was defending their doctrine.[^7]

Dioscorus was deposed and exiled to Gangra.[^5] Historical assessments differed sharply: he was regarded as a heretic in the West, whereas the Copts honored him as a prominent saint.[^5]

## Death and Commemoration

Dioscorus’s death is most commonly dated to 454, whereas another tradition places it in 458, also giving that year for the election of Timothy II.[^6] These dates are presented as differing source traditions rather than a settled chronology.[^6]

Dioscorus was canonized by the Copts, and his name appears in the Coptic Synaxarion.[^6] His feast day is 7 Tut.[^2]

## Literary Tradition

An encomium on Macarius, bishop of Tkow, is traditionally ascribed to Dioscorus.[^8] Its authorship is identified as pseudonymous, and its composition is dated no earlier than the second quarter of the sixth century.[^9] The work draws on a pseudonymously attributed account of Dioscorus’s life and survives in Sahidic and Bohairic translations, with Arabic versions also extant.[^9]

## Sources
[^1]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 603)
[^2]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 123)
[^3]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 603)
[^4]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 603)
[^5]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 2)
[^6]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 608)
[^7]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 606)
[^8]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 214)
[^9]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 346)