Tales from Another Byzantium

Celestial Journey and Local Community in the Medieval Greek Apocrypha
Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-0-521-82395-1
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 474 Seiten, Format (B × H): 183 mm x 260 mm, Gewicht: 1079 g

The rich corpus of medieval Greek apocryphal religious literature has been little used by historians. This 2007 book was the first full-length study of two medieval Greek visionary journeys to heaven and hell: the Apocalypse of the Theotokos and the Apocalypse of Anastasia. Composed anonymously sometime between the ninth and eleventh centuries, both enjoyed a lively circulation in the Byzantine Empire and far beyond. Functioning on the fringes of the official Church, they transmit both traditional and novel theological ideas, and shed light on the reception of Church doctrine and imperial governance by ordinary Byzantine Christians. Though their heroines tour the Other World, their true concern is this world, and the reinforcement of social, moral, and ritual norms within local communities. Providing an original translation of both texts, the book probes the tales as manifestations of non-elite religious and moral culture in the medieval Orthodox Church.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Baun, Jane

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Kirchengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Klassische Literaturwissenschaft Klassische Griechische & Byzantinische Literatur
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Bibelwissenschaften Apokryphen, Pseudepigraphen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Geschichte der klassischen Antike Byzantinische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: tales from another Byzantium; Part I. Texts and Contexts: 1. What is an apocalypse? Responses medieval and modern; 2. Apocryphal biology: the texts and their mutations; 3. Transformations from Late Antiquity to Byzantium; 4. The Middle Byzantine textual environment; Part II. Other Worlds: 5. Passages through the apocalyptic imagination; 6. The inhabitants of heaven; 7. This world and the next; Part III. Morals: 8. Intercession, judgement, and the Mother of God; 9. Morality, culture and community.

Über Autor(innen)

Jane Baun is a Fellow of Greyfriars Hall, Oxford, and a member of the Theology Faculty of Oxford University.