The "Orationes" of Gregory of Nazianzus in the Byzantine Romance "Barlaam and Ioasaph"

• Authors: Samoń Magdalena
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The Byzantine romance Barlaam and Ioasaph relating the conversion to Christianity of an Indian Prince, modelled on the life of Buddha, was very popu­lar in the Middle Ages and later, for several centuries, but today is known to few people. Discussion of authorship and time of its composition, started by Hermann Zotenberg in the 1880s, has continued until today, without satisfactory conclu­sions. He cast doubt on the commonly held hypothesis that the work was written by St. John of Damascus. One of the main arguments adduced by the supporters of this thesis was presence in the romance of multiple passages from works by Greg­ory of Nazianzus, who St. John used to quote often. In this article I analyse the fragments of his Orationes which can be recognised in the text of Chapter XXIV, seeking answer to the question of how great was the dependence of its author (or editor) on this father of the Church and how his writings were used.

Keywords

EN

Barlaam and Ioasaph; St. Gregory of Nazianzus; Christianity; romance; Buddha

• Publisher: Księgarnia Akademicka
• Journal: Classica Cracoviensia
• Year: 2017
• Issue: 20
• Pages: 103-118

Contributors

author

Samoń Magdalena

References

• Migne J. P. (ed.), 1857, Sanctus Gregorius Nazianensus: Patrologiae Graecae to­mus XXXV, Paris.
• Migne J. P. (ed.), 1858, Sanctus Gregorius Nazianensus: Patrologiae Graecae to­mus XXXVI, Paris.
• Migne J. P. (ed.), 1852, Sanctus Gregorius Nazianensus: Patrologiae Graecae to­mus XXXVII, Paris.
• Moreschini C. (ed.), 2000, Gregorio di Nazianzo: Tutte le orazioni, Milano.
• Volk R. (ed.), 2006, Die Schriften des Johannes von Damaskos: Historia animae utilis de Barlaam et Ioasaph (spuria). Text und zehn Appendices, VI/2, (Patri­stische Texte und Studien, 60), Berlin.
• Volk R. (ed.), 2009, Die Schriften des Johannes von Damaskos: Historia animae utilis de Barlaam et Ioasaph (spuria), VI/1, (Patristische Texte und Studien, 61), Berlin.
• Beaton R., 1996, The Medieval Greek Romance, 2nd ed., London.
• Budge E. A. W., 1923, Baralâm and Yĕwâsěf: Being the Ethiopic Version of a Christianized Recension of the Buddhist Legend of the Buddha and the Bodhisat­tva, Cambridge.
• Conybeare F. C., 1896, ‘The Barlaam and Josaphat Legend in the Ancient Geor­gian and Armenian Literatures’, Folklore 7/2, pp. 101–142.
• Dolger F., 1953, Der griechische Barlaam-Roman ein Werk des H. Johannes von Damaskos, Ettal.
• Hommel F., 1890, ‘Anhang’, [in:] N. Weisslowitz, Prinz und Derwisch, ein in­discher Roman in hebräischer Gestellt aus dem Mittelalter, Monachium, pp. 136–143.
• Jacobs J., 1896, Barlaam and Josaphat. English Lives of Buddha, London.
• Janów J., 1935, ‘Wstęp‘, [in:] Żywot Barlaama i Jozafata, Lwów, pp. V–CCVIII.
• Kazhdan A. (ed.), 1991, The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, New York – Oxford, [online:] http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001.
• Kazhdan A., 1999, A History of Byzantine Literature (650–850), Athens.
• Khintibidze E., 1997, ‘New Materials on the Origin of Barlaam and Ioasaph’, Orientalia Christiana Periodica 63, pp. 491–501.
• Krumbacher K., 1891, Geschichte der byzantinischen Literatur von Justinian bis zum Ende des oströmischen Reiches (527–1453), Monachium.
• Kuhn E., 1893, „Barlaam und Ioasaph”. Eine bibliographisch-literargeschichtli­che Studie, Monachium.
• Lang D. M., 1955, ‘St. Euthymius the Georgian and the Barlaam and Ioasaph Romance’, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Uni­versity of London 17/2, pp. 306–325, [online:] http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/ S0041977X00111759.
• Peeters P., 1931, ‘La premiere traduction latine de ‘Barlaam et Joasaph’ et son original grec’, Analecta Bollandiana 49, pp. 276–312, [online:] http://dx.doi. org/10.1484/J.ABOL.4.00734.
• Smorąg-Różycka M., 1993, ‘Romans chrześcijański Barlaam i Jozafat w kulturze średniowiecznej Europy. Uwagi o dwóch miniaturach w „Ewangeliarzu Ław­ryszewskim”’, Slavia Orientalis 42/1, pp. 9–28.
• Woodward G. R., Mattingly H. (eds.), 1914, John of Damascus, Vita Barlaam et Joasaph, London–Cambridge, pp. VII–XXII.
• Wolff R. L., 1939, ‘Barlaam and Ioasaph’, The Harvard Theological Review 32/2, pp. 131–139, [online:] http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0017816000022392.
• Zotenberg H., 1886, Notice sur le livre Barlaam de Ioasaph accompagnée d’extraits du text grec et des versions arabe et éthiopienne, Paris.

Identifiers

DOI

https://doi.org/10.12797/CC.20.2017.20.06