The Legends of Barbara and Katherine in the Greek Tradition (4th-10th Centuries)

FAIN: RQ-266163-19

New York University (New York, NY 10012-1019)
David Konstan (Project Director: December 2018 to present)

Preparation for publication of an edition and translation of Greek narratives of the lives of Saint Barbara and Saint Katherine, from late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. (36 months)

Barbara and Katherine, two early Christian martyrs, were among the most popular saints of the Middle Ages. Celebrated in most European languages, from refined literature to folk songs and magic spells, stories about them became archetypal narratives that conditioned the perception of women in Europe and beyond from the 4th c. to today. From the earliest Greek versions till the year 1000, the narratives underwent significant changes in plot and literary form. But the early history of this intricate tradition has never been reconstructed and the ancient texts pertaining to the legends remain unpublished or poorly edited. This project will produce critical editions, with extensive historical and philological introductions and annotation, of nineteen late antique and medieval Greek versions of Barbara's and Katherine's stories. The recovery and cultural preservation of these narratives will contribute to the histories of gender, ritual, religious subjectivity, and premodern European literatures.

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Title: What Is Metaphrasis? The Case of John of Sardis (BHG 215i)
Author: Daria Resh
Abstract: The question persists: what is metaphrasis in hagiography? A Byzantine in the 11th century—for it was then that this term passed into common use—could quickly point out what it is: the main type of hagiographical text included in the liturgical collection of Symeon Logothete, also known as Metaphrastes. This chapter is a quest for the literary phenomenology of metaphrasis in its historical evolution: from the earliest samples to the Menologion of Symeon Logothete.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: http:/brill.com/view/title/54263
Primary URL Description: Announcement by publisher
Format: Other
Publisher: E.J. Brill

“The First Metaphrast: Ioannes, Bishop of Sardeis,” (Article)
Title: “The First Metaphrast: Ioannes, Bishop of Sardeis,”
Author: Daria Resh
Abstract: Provides evidence for the earliest Byzantine writer in the metaphrastic tradition.
Year: 2020
Format: Other
Publisher: Brepols

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