The Greek Life of *Antony ('the Great', monk of Egypt, ob. 356, S00098) is translated into Syriac during the 5th or 6th century.
E05930
Literary - Hagiographical - Other saint-related texts
The Syriac version of the Greek Life of Antony [for a description and discussion, see E00631] survives in two recensions, long and short. The earliest textual witnesses of both recensions are dated to the sixth century: the text of the long recension is found in ms. BL Add. 14646, dated to the 6th century (see Wright 1870-1872, vol. 3, p. 1086); the text of the short recension is found in ms. BL Add. 14609, dated to c. 587 (see Wright 1870-1872, vol. 3, p. 1088). In both manuscripts the Life is attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria. Comparison of the two versions demonstrates that the short version is an abridgement of the long.
The Syriac text of the long version is not identical to that of the Greek version of the Life. It is about 50 percent longer than the Greek text, although some of its sections are shorter. It has been suggested by Brakke (pp. 52-53) that the Syriac version is a result of a revision of the Greek original carried out during the 5th century by a Syriac translator.
The Syriac text of the Life was published in Draguet 1980, together with French translation and discussion of its relation to the Greek version. For additional discussions of the relationship between the Greek and Syriac versions, see Abramowski 1988; Lorenz 1989; Brakke 1994. On the Syriac monastic context of the translation, see Takeda 1998, 2001.
Composing and translating saint-related texts
Discussion
The Syriac translation of the Life bears witness to the spread of the cult of Antony among Syriac-speaking Christians during the fifth or, at latest, the sixth century, and is the earliest witness of the saint's cult in this milieu.Bibliography
Edition and translation:Draguet, R., La Vie primitive de S. Antoine conservée en syriaque. 2 vols (CSCO 417-418, Syr. 183-184; Louvain: Secrétariat du CorpusSCO, 1980).
Further reading:
Abramowski, L., “Vertritt die syrische Fassung die ursprüngliche Gestalt der Vita Antonii? Eine Auseinandersetzung mit der These Draguets,” in: Mélanges Antoine Guillaumont. Contributions à l’étude des christianismes orientaux (Cahiers d’Orientalisme 20; Genève: Patrick Cramer, 1988), 47-56.
Brakke, D., “The Greek and Syriac Versions of the Life of Antony,” Le Muséon 107:1-2 (1994), 29-53.
Lorenz, R., “Die griechische Vita Antonii des Athanasius und ihre syrische Fassung,” Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte 100 (1989), 77-84.
Takeda, F.F., A Study of the Syriac Version of the Life of Antony: A Meeting Point of Egyptian Monasticism with Syriac Native Asceticism (Ph.D. dissertation; University of Oxford, 1998).
———. “The Syriac Version of the Life of Antony: A Meeting Point of Egyptian Monasticism with Syriac Native Asceticism,” in: R. Lavenant (ed.), Symposium Syriacum VII: Uppsala University, Department of Asian and African Languages, 11–14 August 1996 (Orientalia Christiana Analecta 256; Roma: Pontificio Istituto Orientale, 1998), 185-194.
———. “Monastic Theology of the Syriac Version of the Life of Antony,” Studia Patristica 35 (2001), 148-157.
Wright, W., Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum, Acquired since the Year 1838. 3 vols (London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1870-1872).
Sergey Minov
10/07/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00098 | Antony, 'the Great', monk of Egypt, ob. 356 | ܐܢܛܘܢܝܤ | Certain |
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