Narrating Martyrdom : Rewriting Late-antique Virgin Martyrs in Byzantium, Pap...

Narrating Martyrdom : Rewriting Late-antique Virgin Martyrs in Byzantium, Paperback by Alwis, Anne P., ISBN 1802077480, ISBN-13 9781802077483, Like New Used, Free shipping in the USThis book reconceives the rewriting of Byzantine hagiography between the eighth and fourteenth centuries as a skilful initiative in communication and creative freedom, and as a form of authorship. Three men - Makarios (late C13th-C14th), a monk; Constantine Akropolites (), a statesman; and an Anonymous educated wordsmith (c. C9th - each opted to rewrite the martyrdom of a female virgin saint who suffered and died centuries earlier. Their adaptations, respectively, were of St. Ia of Persia (modern-day Iran), St. Horaiozele of Constantinople, and St. Tatiana of Rome. Ia is described as a victim of the persecutions of the Persian Shahanshah, Shapur II (309-79 ), Horaiozele was allegedly a disciple of St Andrew and killed anachronistically under the emperor Decius (249-51 ), and Tatiana, we are told, was a deaconess, martyred during the reign of emperor Alexander Severus (222-35 ). Makarios, Akropolites, and the Anonymous knowingly tailored their compositions toinfluence an audience and to foster their individual interests. The implications arising from these studies are far-reaching: this monograph considers the agency of the hagiographer, the instrumental use of the authorial persona and its impact on the audience, and hagiography as a layered discourse. Th also provides the first translations and commentaries of the martyrdoms of these virgin martyrs.