Tales from another Byzantium : celestial journey and local community in the medieval Greek apocrypha / Jane Baun.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baun, Jane, 1960-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Apocalypse of Mary.

Apocalypse of Anastasia.

Physical Description:

ix, 461 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Summary:

The rich corpus of medieval Greek apocryphal religious literature has been little used by historians. This book is 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 new 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 original translations of both texts, the book probes the tales as manifestations of non-elite religious and moral culture in the medieval Orthodox Church.

Contents:

Introduction: Tales from another Byzantium 1

Part 1 Texts and Contexts

1 What is an apocalypse? Responses medieval and modern 9

2 Apocryphal biology: the texts and their mutations 34

3 Transformations from Late Antiquity to Byzantium 76

4 The Middle Byzantine textual environment 110

Part 2 Other Worlds

5 Passages through the apocalyptic imagination 133

6 The inhabitants of Heaven 175

7 This world and the next 215

Part 3 Morals

8 Intercession, judgment, and the Mother of God 267

9 Morality, culture, and community 319

B The Apocalypse of the Theotokos, Oxford version 391

C The Apocalypse of Anastasia, Paris and Milan versions 401

D The Apocalypse of Anastasia, Palermo version 415.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [425]-447) and index.

Contains:

Apocalypse of Mary. English

Apocalypse of Anastasia. English.

ISBN:

9780521823951

0521823951

OCLC:

122291153

Online:

Publisher description

Contributor biographical information