The Greek homiletic Martyrdom of *Kyrillos (bishop and martyr of Gortyna in Crete, S00396), based on a possibly 4th c. account, recounts the martyrdom of an elderly bishop who was executed and buried on a high mountain. Probably written in Crete.
E06913
Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom
The Martyrdom of Kyrillos, archbishop of Crete (BHG 467, 467b)
Summary:
The title gives the “17th before the Kalends of July” (= 15 June) as the saint’s feast, and describes Kyrillos as archbishop of Gortyna in Crete
During the persecution of Maximian, under the provincial governor Agreianos, the elderly archbishop Kyrillos has a vision of a bird taking a part of his head to a mountain, which presages his martyrdom. He is arrested on Sunday, on the 7th before the Ides of July (= 9 July), and tried by Agreianos who threatens to have him burned. Kyrillos does not apostatise, and is condemned to death. He is carried on a cart with two oxen which walk directly to the site of his martyrdom, which is a very rough place high on a mountain called Raxos/Raxon. A voice from heaven says 'Till here', and the oxen suddenly stop. Kyrillos is executed, and his body is buried by the Christians on the spot. The text is a homily given on the saint’s feast.
Text: Franchi De' Cavallieri 1953.
Summary: E. Rizos.
Saint’s feast
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - unspecified
Place of martyrdom of a saint
Other (mountain, wood, tree, pillar)
Non Liturgical ActivityComposing and translating saint-related texts
Transmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
MiraclesMiracle at martyrdom and death
Miracle with animals and plants
Revelation of hidden knowledge (past, present and future)
Apparition, vision, dream, revelation
Miraculous sound, smell, light
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Officials
Torturers/Executioners
Source
For the manuscript tradition of the text see:http://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/notices/oeuvre/15082/
Discussion
This text, preserved in a 10th c. manuscript, is the summary of an early and important text concerning this martyr. It is less than certain whether Kyrillos’ association with Gortyna and Crete reflects the original story. The saint’s feast (9 July) is associated with Tomis in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, which suggests the possibility that the story originally belonged to the martyr Kyrillos/Cyrillus whose cult is documented in Axiopolis of Moesia/Scythia Minor.Bibliography
Text and commentary:Franchi de’ Cavallieri, P., Note agiografiche 9 (Studi e Testi 175; Città del Vaticano, 1953), 203-229.
Efthymios Rizos
17/10/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00396 | Kyrillos, bishop and martyr of Gortyn | Κύριλλος | Certain | S01020 | Kyrillos/Quirillus, Kyndaias/Quindeus, and companions, martyrs of Axiopolis | Κύριλλος | Uncertain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Efthymios Rizos, Cult of Saints, E06913 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E06913