"The number of the ten virgins signifies the souls that have believed in Jesus Christ, symbolizing by the ten the only right way to heaven." - St. Methodios of Olympus
J. Pauli writes (Dictionary of Early Christian Literature, p. 422):
The Symposion seu convivium virginum, written in an elegant style and modeled on Plato's Symposium, gives a comprehensive introduction to various areas of Christian doctrine and attests to Methodius's vision of a completion of Platonism by Christianity. Ten virgins, taking part in a banquet in the garden of Virtue, each starting from a citation of scripture, praise not Eros but Parthenia as the perfect ideal of Christian life (though marriage is not rejected). The divine image in human beings is restored by chastity/virginity; the body then obeys the soul. At the end of the work, Thekla sings a marriage hymn in 24 strophes to Christ the bridegroom (an archetype of virginity: archiparthenos) and his bride the Church."
Chapter I.-The Difficulty and Excellence of Virginity; The Study of Doctrine Necessary for Virgins.
Chapter II.-Virginity a Plant from Heaven, Introduced Late; The Advancement of Mankind to Perfection, How Arranged.
Chapter III.-By the Circumcision of Abraham, Marriage with Sisters Forbidden; In the Times of the Prophets Polygamy Put a Stop To; Conjugal Purity Itself by Degrees Enforced.
Chapter IV.-Christ Alone Taught Virginity, Openly Preaching the Kingdom of Heaven; The Likeness of God to Be Attained in the Light of the Divine Virtues.
Chapter V.-Christ, by Preserving His Flesh In-Corrupt in Virginity, Draws to the Exercise of Virginity; The Small Number of Virgins in Proportion to the Number of Saints.
Chapter I.-Marriage Not Abolished by the Commendation of Virginity.
Chapter II.-Generation Something Akin to the First Formation of Eve from the Side and Nature of Adam; God the Creator of Men in Ordinary Generation.
Chapter III.-An Ambiguous Passage of Scripture; Not Only the Faithful But Even Prelates Sometimes Illegitimate.
Chapter IV.-Human Generation, and the Work of God Therein Set Forth.
Chapter V.-The Holy Father Follows Up the Same Argument.
Chapter VI.-God Cares Even for Adulterous Births; Angels Given to Them as Guardians.
Chapter VII.-The Rational Soul from God Himself; Chastity Not the Only Good, Although the Best and Most Honoured.
Chapter I.-Passages of Holy Scripture Compared.
Chapter II.-The Digressions of the Apostle Paul; The Character of His Doctrine: Nothing in It Contradictory; Condemnation of Origen, Who Wrongly Turns Everything into Allegory.
Chapter III.-Comparison Instituted Between the First and Second Adam.
Chapter IV.-Some Things Here Hard and Too Slightly Treated, and Apparently Not Sufficiently Brought Out According to the Rule of Theology.
Chapter V.-A Passage of Jeremiah Examined.
Chapter VI.-The Whole Number of Spiritual Sheep; Man a Second Choir, After the Angels, to the Praise of God; The Parable of the Lost Sheep Explained.
Chapter VII.-The Works of Christ, Proper to God and to Man, the Works of Him Who is One.
Chapter VIII.-The Bones and Flesh of Wisdom; The Side Out of Which the Spiritual Eve is Formed, the Holy Spirit; The Woman' the Help-Meet of Adam; Virgins Betrothed to Christ.
Chapter IX.-The Dispensation of Grace in Paul the Apostle.
Chapter X.-The Doctrine of the Same Apostle Concerning Purity.
Chapter XI.-The Same Argument.
Chapter XII.-Paul an Example to Widows, and to Those Who Do Not Live with Their Wives.
Chapter XIII.-The Doctrine of Paul Concerning Virginity Explained.
Chapter XIV.-Virginity a Gift of God: the Purpose of Virginity Not Rashly to Be Adopted by Any One.
Chapter I.-The Necessity of Praising Virtue, for Those Who Have the Power.
Chapter II.-The Protection of Chastity and Virginity Divinely Given to Men, that They May Emerge from the Mire of Vices.
Chapter III.-That Passage of David Explained; What the Harps Hung Upon the Willows Signify; The Willow a Symbol of Chastity; The Willows Watered by Streams.
Chapter IV.-The Author Goes on with the Interpretation of the Same Passage
Chapter V.-The Gifts of Virgins, Adorned with Which They are Presented to One Husband, Christ.
Chapter VI.-Virginity to Be Cultivated and Commended in Every Place and Time.
Chapter I.-The Offering of Chastity a Great Gift.
Chapter II. Abraham's Sacrifice of a Heifer Three Years Old, of a Goat, and of a Ram Also Three Years Old: Its Meaning; Every Age to Be Consecrated to God; The Threefold Watch and Our Age.
Chapter III.-Far Best to Cultivate Virtue from Boyhood.
Chapter IV.-Perfect Consecration and Devotion to God: What It is.
Chapter V.-The Vow of Chastity, and Its Rites in the Law; Vines, Christ, and the Devil.
Chapter VI.-Sikera, a Manufactured and Spurious Wine, Yet Intoxicating; Things Which are Akin to Sins are to Be Avoided by a Virgin; The Altar of Incense (a Symbol Of) Virgins.
Chapter VII.-The Church Intermediate Between the Shadows of the Law and the Realities of Heaven.
Chapter VIII.-The Double Altar, Widows and Virgins; Gold the Symbol of Virginity.
Chapter I.-The Excellence of the Abiding Glory of Virginity; The Soul Made in the Image of the Image of God, that is of His Son; The Devil a Suitor for the Soul.
Chapter II.-The Parable of the Ten Virgins.
Chapter III.-The Same Endeavour and Effort After Virginity, with a Different Result.
Chapter IV.-What the Oil in the Lamps Means.
Chapter V.-The Reward of Virginity.
Chapter I.-What the True and Seemly Manner of Praising; The Father Greater Than the Son, Not in Substance, But in Order; Virginity the Lily; Faithful Souls and Virgins, the One Bride of the One Christ.
Chapter II.-The Interpretation of that Passage of the Canticles.
Chapter III.-Virgins Being Martyrs First Among the Companions of Christ.
Chapter IV.-The Passage Explained; The Queens, the Holy Souls Before the Deluge; The Concubines, the Souls of the Prophets; The Divine Seed for Spiritual Offspring in the Books of the Prophets; The Nuptials of the Word in the Prophets as Though Clandestine.
Chapter V.-The Sixty Queens: Why Sixty, and Why Queens; The Excellence of the Saints of the First Age.
Chapter VI.-The Eighty Concubines, What; The Knowledge of the Incarnation Communicated to the Prophets.
Chapter VII.-The Virgins, the Righteous Ancients; The Church, the One Only Spouse, More Excellent Than the Others.
Chapter VIII.-The Human Nature of Christ His One Dove.
Chapter IX.-The Virgins Immediately After the Queen and Spouse.
Chapter I.-Methodius' Derivation of the Word Virginity: Wholly Divine; Virtue, in Greek 0Areth/, Whence So Called.
Chapter II.-The Lofty Mind and Constancy of the Sacred Virgins; The Introduction of Virgins into the Blessed Abodes Before Others.
Chapter III.-The Lot and Inheritance of Virginity.
Chapter IV.-Exhortation to the Cultivation of Virginity; A Passage from the Apocalypse is Proposed to Be Examined.
Chapter V.-The Woman Who Brings Forth, to Whom the Dragon is Opposed, the Church; Her Adornment and Grace.
Chapter VI.-The Works of the Church, the Bringing Forth of Children in Baptism; The Moon in Baptism, the Full Moon of Christ's Passion.
Chapter VII.-The Child of the Woman in the Apocalypse Not Christ, But the Faithful Who are Born in the Laver.
Chapter VIII.-The Faithful in Baptism Males, Configured to Christ; The Saints Themselves Christs.
Chapter IX.-The Son of God, Who Ever Is, is To-Day Begotten in the Minds and Sense of the Faithful.
Chapter X.-The Dragon, the Devil; The Stars Struck from Heaven by the Tail of the Dragon, Heretics; The Numbers of the Trinity, that Is, the Persons Numbered; Errors Concerning Them.
Chapter XI.-The Woman with the Male Child in the Wilderness the Church; The Wilderness Belongs to Virgins and Saints; The Perfection of Numbers and Mysteries; The Equality and Perfection of the Number Six; The Number Six Related to Christ; From This Number, Too, the Creation and Harmony of the World Completed.
Chapter XII.-Virgins are Called to the Imitation of the Church in the Wilderness Overcoming the Dragon.
Chapter XIII.-The Seven Crowns of the Beast to Be Taken Away by Victorious Chastity; The Ten Crowns of the Dragon, the Vices Opposed to the Decalogue; The Opinion of Fate the Greatest Evil.
Chapter XIV.-The Doctrine of Mathematicians Not Wholly to Be Despised, When They are Concerned About the Knowledge of the Stars; The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac Mythical Names.
Chapter XV.-Arguments from the Novelty of Fate and Generation; That Golden Age, Early Men; Solid Arguments Against the Mathematicians.
Chapter XVI.-Several Other Things Turned Against the Same Mathematicians.
Chapter XVII.-The Lust of the Flesh and Spirit: Vice and Virtue.
Chapter I.-Chastity the Chief Ornament of the True Tabernacle; Seven Days Appointed to the Jews for Celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles: What They Signify; The Sum of This Septenary Uncertain; Not Clear to Any One When the Consummation of the World Will Be; Even Now the Fabric of the World Completed.
Chapter II.-Figure, Image, Truth: Law Grace, Glory; Man Created Immortal: Death Brought in by Destructive Sin.
Chapter III.-How Each One Ought to Prepare Himself for the Future Resurrection.
Chapter IV.-The Mind Clearer When Cleansed from Sin; The Ornaments of the Mind and the Order of Virtue; Charity Deep and Full; Chastity the Last Ornament of All; The Very Use of Matrimony to Be Restrained.
Chapter V.-The Mystery of the Tabernacles.
Chapter I.-Chastity Alone Aids and Effects the Most Praiseworthy Government of the Soul.
Chapter II.-The Allegory of the Trees Demanding a King, in the Book of Judges, Explained.
Chapter III.-The Bramble and the Agnos the Symbol of Chastity; The Four Gospels, that Is, Teachings or Laws, Instructing to Salvation.
Chapter IV.-The Law Useless for Salvation; The Last Law of Chastity Under the Figure of the Bramble.
Chapter V.-The Malignity of the Devil as an Imitator in All Things; Two Kinds of Fig-Trees and Vines.
Chapter VI.-The Mystery of the Vision of Zechariah.
Chapter I.-The True and Chaste Virgins Few; Chastity a Contest; Thekla Chief of Virgins
Chapter II.-Thekla Singing Decorously a Hymn, the Rest of the Virgins Sing with Her; John the Baptist a Martyr to Chastity; The Church the Spouse of God, Pure and Virgin.
Chapter III.-Which are the Better, the Continent, or Those Who Delight in Tranquillity of Life? Contests the Peril of Chastity: the Felicity of Tranquillity; Purified and Tranquil Minds Gods: They Who Shall See God; Virtue Disciplined by Temptations.
