Seminar 29 November 2021

Translating the Father of Translation. Linguistic and Cultural Transfers in Byzantium

Athens (IHR/NHRF), 29th November 2021

Marie Skłodowska-Curie IF TRANSFA

Horizon 2020 (no 892782)

National Hellenic Research Foundation, Institute of Historical Research (IHR/NHRF), Athens

Société des Bollandistes, Brussels

The Greek dossier of the Vita Sancti Hilarionis (BHL 3879) revisited

Anna Lampadaridi

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow

Latin hagiographical legends that found their way into Greek help us to better understand contacts between West and East during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, reversing the traditional perspective represented by the basic flow of translations made from Greek into Latin.

The project aims to contribute to a better understanding of this process through the examination of the dossier of the Greek versions of the Vita Sancti Hilarionis(hereinafter VH) (BHL 3879). This Latin hagiographical text was composed by Saint Jerome, considered as the “Father of Translation”, at the end of the 4th century, in Bethlehem.

The Greek dossier of the VH constitutes an extremely rare case of hagiographical translations from Latin into Greek, as it includes different Greek translations. Ruth Strout (1943) distinguished three basic Greek translations: version I (BHG 752), version II (BHG 753), and the so-called “Samos translation” (BHG 751z).

The project sets out to provide the first complete critical edition of the Life BHG 752. This verbum e verbo translation of the Latin original into Greek will be compared to the Life BHG 753, a free translation of the Latin VH, so as to look into the Byzantine reception of the legend of Hilarion.

The Metaphrastic Vita Sancti Hilarionis (BHG 755)

Laura Franco

Tor Vergata (Roma) / Royal Holloway (London)

The aim of this presentation is to explore the relationship between the Metaphrastic version of the VH (BHL 3879) and one of its premetaphrastic sources, namely what Strout called version II (BHG 753). The Metaphrastic VH still remains unpublished, as it is not included among the Metaphrastic works printed in the Patrologia Graeca.

A preliminary edition of the Metaphrastic version of the VH, based on three manuscripts was included in my PhD dissertation.

For the present analysis I have collated my edition with another three manuscripts, in order to acquire a more complete picture. From this investigation it seemed that most probably Symeon followed the Life BHG 753 (version II), which is compatible with Anna Lampadaridi’s observation that the Life BHG 753 (version II) was the redaction that had a wider circulation. Therefore the linguistic comparison of Symeon’s version is limited to the Life BHG 753 (version II) (though occasionally referring to the premetaphastic versions and to the Latin original).

The analysis of the text is preceded by a brief introduction on the work of Symeon and its importance in the general picture of Byzantine hagiography.

 To remotely attend the Workshop, please click on the zoom link below and register: 

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_E8wM-AcRS-m14jjePaeijg