Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena

Authorship, date, and setting

The narrative is anonymous: it gives Paul a journey to Spain and also gathers Philip, Andrew, and Onesimus around Xanthippe, Polyxena, and Rebecca. The title of the old translation includes all three women. The text supplies no verifiable author, and its apostolic travels cannot be treated as historical report. Its date and place of composition are uncertain; the story belongs to Christian apocryphal literature, not the canonical Acts.

Structure of the forty-two chapters

In this edition's division, 1–21 follow the conversion of Xanthippe and Probus through Paul's preaching. Chapters 22–37 follow Polyxena's abduction and journeys, with encounters involving Philip, Andrew, and Rebecca. In 38–42 Onesimus helps secure her release, the travelers return, and the family meets Paul again.

Themes and key passages

Xanthippe's desire for baptism drives the first half (11–14). A lioness protecting Polyxena (27) and her meeting with Andrew (28–30) mark the shift toward a sequence of dangers and rescues. Baptism, prayer, and resistance to coercion shape the women's stories; the miracles belong to the narrative world of the work and do not independently verify events.

Summary by parts

1–14: A servant hears Paul in Rome and brings news of his preaching to Spain. Xanthippe seeks the apostle despite Probus's initial resistance and is baptized.

15–21: Visions and teaching accompany change in the household; Probus moves from opposition toward interest in the faith. The story then turns to Polyxena.

22–37: Abducted and carried by sea, Polyxena reaches Greece, escapes, meets the lioness, Andrew, and Rebecca, and faces further threats from a prefect.

38–42: Onesimus explains his arrival, the travelers return to Spain, and Polyxena rejoins her sister. The abductor reappears at the end and is also baptized.

Reception, canon, and manuscripts

The work circulates in collections of apocryphal apostolic narratives and was published in English translation among the Ante-Nicene Fathers. It is not part of the New Testament canon. Its modern inclusion in such collections records the literary preservation of the story, not confirmation that the episodes came from the apostles.

Sources

• Alexander Walker (trad.), The Life of Xanthippe, Polyxena and Rebecca (1886).
• New Advent, Church Fathers (s.d.).