Hypostasis of the Archons

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Hypostasis of the Archons, also translated The Reality of the Rulers, is a Gnostic religious text. Originally written in Greek in the second or third century CE, the only known copy is a Coptic translation found in Codex II of the Nag Hammadi library. The text is a hybrid of two sources recounting the subject of Norea, the sister of the biblical Seth. The first half retells the first six chapters of the Book of Genesis, while the second presents a revelation dialog between Norea and Eleleth, a "luminary" or angel-like being. The text closely parallels another Gnostic text, On the Origin of the World, which appears alongside it in the second Nag Hammadi codex. Hypostasis combines elements from Jewish traditions, Greco-Roman and Egyptian myths, and the dialogues of Plato, especially Timaeus. In retelling the stories of Adam and Eve and the Flood, it inverts their traditional meaning. God's role in the original narrative is divided between four deities, including Yaldabaoth, a mocking caricature...

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