RECEPTION

This essay focusses on Evagrius Ponticus’ Kephalaia Gnostika and its reception. It will offer some results of novel research into the literary structure of this work, including the issue of its so-called ‘silent chapters,’ as well as into its rhetorical strategies and philosophical theology, in particular its anthropology and conception of bodies, Christology, with a proposal for a new reading of one of the Kephalaia Gnostika, and eschatology, especially Evagrius’ doctrine of apokatastasis. Evagrius inherited the last theory from Origen and Gregory of Nyssa, and integrated it in its own further. The influence of Gregory of Nyssa on Evagrius is an aspect of recent research that has been offered as a contribution to scholarship and should now be taken into account. Finally, a brief look will be given at the literary, and partially theological, legacy of the Kephalaia Gnostika.

Subject: Scripta Medieval Studies Linguistic History of Literature

Keywords: Evagrius Ponticus’ Kephalaia Gnostika literary form Christology eschato­ logy anthropology Gregory Nyssen’s influence on Evagrius RECEPTION

This paper examines the development of the image of the biblical Joseph (Genesis 37-50) in the Slavonic tradition. Although Joseph appears in the Slavonic Bible and the Christian tradition in many forms, e.g. as a righteous martyr, pious believer, merciful caretaker of the poor, ideal ruler, and as the prefigurement of Jesus Christ, the image of Joseph as a Christian spiritual expert has not been studied methodically. Based on the denomination that medieval Slavic Christians gave to Joseph, i.e. Їѡсифь Прѣкрасни, which literally means, “the most beautiful Joseph,” I argue it refers to his inner beauty, which makes him radiate with divine light and turns him into a spiritual expert in the interpretation of the messages from God. Slavs took over the biblical traditions about Joseph from the Greek translations before enriching them with their own creativity and spirituality. The fact that Їѡсифь Прѣкрасни is clearly the translation of Ἰωσὴφ ὁ Πάγκαλος, and that the Syriac History of Joseph does not exist in Slavonic, precisely because it had never existed in Greek despite its literary quality, supports this premise.

Subject: Language and Literature Studies Theory of Literature Language studies Philology Studies of Literature

Keywords: JOSEPH OLD TESTAMENT Slavonic tradition MANUSCRIPTS TRANSLATION RECEPTION