Although not known by name for generations, Evagrius crafted the ideals of western asceticism through his widely-disseminated works. The living link through whom the ascetic principles of hellenistic philosophers passed into monasticism, Evagrius also molded Christian asceticism through his influcence on John Cassian, Climacus, Pseudo–Denis, and Saint Benedict. Born in 345 in Ibora in Pontus, Evagrius united the mystical theology of Origen and the rigorous asceticism of the desert monks in a tradition which still lives today.