Hypsistarians, i.e. worshippers of the Hypsistos, and similar variations of the term first appear in the writings of Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa, about AD 374. The term has been linked to a body of inscriptions that date from around 100 AD to around 400 AD, mostly small votive offerings, but also including altars and stelae, dedicated to Theos Hypsistos, or sometimes simply Hypsistos, mainly found in Asia Minor and the Black Sea coasts that are today part of Russia.
Cult statue of Zeus Hypsistos, from the sanctuary of Zeus Hypsistos, Imperial Roman times, Archaeological Museum, Dion.
Gregory of Nazianzus, also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory Nazianzen, was a 4th-century archbishop of Constantinople and theologian. He is widely considered the most accomplished rhetorical stylist of the patristic age. As a classically trained orator and philosopher, he infused Hellenism into the early church, establishing the paradigm of Byzantine theologians and church officials.
Icon of St. Gregory the Theologian, fresco from Kariye Camii in Istanbul, Turkey
A Byzantine-style icon depicting the Three Holy Hierarchs: (left to right:) Basil the Great, John Chrysostom and Gregory the Theologian.
Andrei Rublev, Gregory the Theologian (1408), Dormition Cathedral, Vladimir.
