Florilegia

The article explores the development of the genre kephalaia in the history of medieval Bulgarian literature, especially the changes of its context in the miscellanies in the 10th c. and later in the 13th–14th c. Paraenetic works by many patristic authors, usually presented as short wise sayings in groups of 100 (centuriae), were translated, excerpted, revised, and translated again – a century-long tradition preserved in many Slavic manuscripts. The survey is focused on two works in this genre – Capita de oratione (CPG 2452) by Evagrius of Pontus and Centuriae iv de caritate et continentia (CPG 7848) by Thalassius of Libya. They were first introduced into the Slavic literatures in the early 10th c., and with the development of monasticism and the rise of Hesychasm, their renewed and revised translations were included in the monastic miscellanies from the 14th c. onwards. The linguistic comparison of the versions of the two texts reveals the connections and the differences between them. The analysis of their respective contexts in several manuscripts shows the continuity between the literary traditions of the early and the later period of Slavic literatures.

The Dioptra, a work consisting of over 7000 political verses in form of a dialogue between the body and the soul, as well as prose paratexts, heavily borrows from other texts. Whereas the sources paraphrased in the verses often go unacknowledged, other prose excerpts, mostly patristic but sometimes scriptural, are quoted verbatim and attributed to their respective authors. These paratexts are marginal scholia, texts inserted in the verse parts, and appendices. They are related to aspects of the verse parts, either by supporting an argument, by elaborating on details of the text, or by elucidating an argument from a different angle. The fictional setting of the dialogue functions as a frame, holding together the numerous sources, organising them in questions and answers that prompt more questions, and commenting upon them.