Eutychian

Two different saints named Eutychian are commemorated on 17 August, and the sources on saint.gr mention both.

The first is Eutychian of Nicomedia, a martyr together with Straton, Philip and Cyprian. The four lived in Nicomedia and went daily to the amphitheatre, where they taught and catechized idol-⁠worshippers with diligence. Many believed in Christ, and the amphitheatre was almost emptied of spectators of indecent shows. The governor of the city noticed the thinning crowds, learned the cause and ordered the arrest of the four saints. They did not hesitate to confess Christ before him, and the works they did out of love for Him. In anger the governor had them cruelly tortured, and then they were thrown alive into the fire, and so all of them gloriously received the crown of martyrdom.

The second is Eutychian, the venerable martyr of Crete, brother of Saint Eutychius, bishop of Gortyna, and of Saint Cassian. Local tradition says he was killed near the village of Listaros, at the place called Manaria, where the chapel of the Archangel Michael now stands. On the rock where he was martyred a hand and an axe are said to have been imprinted. His brother and sister buried his body in a cave, where Eutychius was later buried too. The Greek calendar of 17 August (new style) commemorates Eutychian among the martyrs together with Cyprian and Macarius, without saying which of the two saints is meant.