I'm guessing he is talking about Demetrius I, whose nickname was "Soter" or "Savior"/"Redeemer". He was the king of Syria from 162-150 B.C, and got his nickname from the Babylonians whom he saved from a Roman tyrant. I'm not really sure how the rest of the song relates to the man, though, or why Demetrius would be considered holy.
He is mostly known in modern western history for his relationship with the Jewish people. He got involved in Jewish politics, and defeated Judas Maccabeus at the urging of one political faction, but was never able to win the political support of the Jews. Again, I don't know how this relates to the song... now I'm just blabbing....
For more info, Wikipedia has a short article about Demetrius, and the Jewish Encyclopedia and Catholic Encyclopedia (both available online) flesh things out a bit.
Oh, also, 1 Maccabees, 7-10 and 2 Maccabees, 14-15 describe the events from the Jewish perspective (ALSO available online via a quick Google search! Hurrah! Too much information!)
Looks like this is it. Sufjan's lyrics take from Biblical stuff all the time. Demetrius being a "Redeemer" makes him holy in the sense that a redeemer is the most holy person (see: Christ)
Looks like this is it. Sufjan's lyrics take from Biblical stuff all the time. Demetrius being a "Redeemer" makes him holy in the sense that a redeemer is the most holy person (see: Christ)
I'm guessing he is talking about Demetrius I, whose nickname was "Soter" or "Savior"/"Redeemer". He was the king of Syria from 162-150 B.C, and got his nickname from the Babylonians whom he saved from a Roman tyrant. I'm not really sure how the rest of the song relates to the man, though, or why Demetrius would be considered holy.
He is mostly known in modern western history for his relationship with the Jewish people. He got involved in Jewish politics, and defeated Judas Maccabeus at the urging of one political faction, but was never able to win the political support of the Jews. Again, I don't know how this relates to the song... now I'm just blabbing....
For more info, Wikipedia has a short article about Demetrius, and the Jewish Encyclopedia and Catholic Encyclopedia (both available online) flesh things out a bit.
Oh, also, 1 Maccabees, 7-10 and 2 Maccabees, 14-15 describe the events from the Jewish perspective (ALSO available online via a quick Google search! Hurrah! Too much information!)
Looks like this is it. Sufjan's lyrics take from Biblical stuff all the time. Demetrius being a "Redeemer" makes him holy in the sense that a redeemer is the most holy person (see: Christ)
Looks like this is it. Sufjan's lyrics take from Biblical stuff all the time. Demetrius being a "Redeemer" makes him holy in the sense that a redeemer is the most holy person (see: Christ)