[1][2] At the island of Paros, she was able to escape her captors, and lived in solitude there for 35 years, until she was found by a hunter (sometime in the 870s).
[1][2] The tale of Theoktiste's life was told by the hunter thirty years later to another hermit called Symeon, who in turn retold the story to the author of the hagiography, Niketas Magistros.
920, modelled on the life of Mary of Egypt, but altered to suit the events and environment of 9th-century Byzantium, particularly the ever-present Saracen pirate menace following the establishment of the Emirate of Crete in the 820s.
[2] Due to her association with Mary of Egypt, she is depicted in a similar manner in icons: "a thin woman with white hair, who is barefoot and wears a ragged cloak that covers barely half her body.
"[2] The Life was later reworked slightly by Symeon Metaphrastes, who put her feast day on 10 November.