This is the first study which brings together the references to ancient Greek myths (154 episodes) in medieval Armenian literature. The main source for such stories are translations, but direct citations from Greek in original Armenian works also exist.

"Greek myths were, to some extent, familiar to medieval Armenian authors, mainly through translations of late classical and early Christian writings; they also appear in original works, but this knowledge was never profound or accurate. Both translators and Armenian authors, as well as later scribes, while translating, renarrating and copying short mythical stories, or mentioning or just alluding to them often related the stories and the familiar or unfamiliar names occurring in them correctly, but sometimes they made mistakes, chiefly corrupting names not well-known to them, and sometimes, even details of the plot. This is the first study which brings together the references to ancient Greek myths (154 episodes) in medieval Armenian literature by including the original Armenian and Greek (if extant) text and translation. With appendices listing the occurrences of Greek gods, their Armenian equivalents, images, altars, temples, and rites, the Aesopian fables and the Trojan war"--

This volume, the first ever of its kind in English, introduces and surveys Greek literature in Byzantium (330 - 1453 CE). In twenty-five chapters composed by leading specialists, The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Literature surveys the immense body of Greek literature produced from the fourth to the fifteenth century CE and advances a nuanced understanding of what "literature" was in Byzantium. This volume is structured in four sections. The first, "Materials, Norms, Codes," presents basic structures for understanding the history of Byzantine literature like language, manuscript book culture, theories of literature, and systems of textual memory. The second, "Forms," deals with the how Byzantine literature works: oral discourse and "text"; storytelling; rhetoric; re-writing; verse; and song. The third section ("Agents") focuses on the creators of Byzantine literature, both its producers and its recipients. The final section, entitled "Translation, Transmission, Edition," surveys the three main ways by which we access Byzantine Greek literature today: translations into other Byzantine languages during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages; Byzantine and post-Byzantine manuscripts; and modern printed editions. The volume concludes with an essay that offers a view of the recent past--as well as the likely future--of Byzantine literary studies.

Byzantium is more and more recognized as a vibrant culture in dialogue with neighbouring regions, political entities, and peoples. Where better to look for this kind of dynamism than in the interactions between the Byzantines and the Armenians? Warfare and diplomacy are only one part of that story. The more enduring part consists of contact and mutual influence brokered by individuals who were conversant in both cultures and languages. The articles in this volume feature fresh work by younger and established scholars that illustrate the varieties of interaction in the fields of literature, material culture, and religion. Contributors are: Gert Boersema, Emilio Bonfiglio, Bernard Coulie, Karen Hamada, Robin Meyer, Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, Claudia Rapp, Mark Roosien, Werner Seibt, Emmanuel Van Elverdinghe, Theo Maarten van Lint, Alexandra-Kyriaki Wassiliou-Seibt, and David Zakarian.

In this collection of Armenian apocryphal texts, Michael E. Stone focuses on texts related to heaven and hell, angels and demons, and biblical figures from the Hebrew Bible and apocrypha. The texts, introductions, translations, annotations, and critical apparatus included in this volume make this collection a key resource for students and scholars of apocryphal and pseudepigraphical literature.

A Handbook to Classical Reception in Eastern and Central Europe is the first comprehensive English ]language study of the reception of classical antiquity in Eastern and Central Europe. This groundbreaking work offers detailed case studies of thirteen countries that are fully contextualized historically, locally, and regionally. The first English-language collection of research and scholarship on Greco-Roman heritage in Eastern and Central Europe Written and edited by an international group of seasoned and up-and-coming scholars with vast subject-matter experience and expertise Essays from leading scholars in the field provide broad insight into the reception of the classical world within specific cultural and geographical areas Discusses the reception of many aspects of Greco-Roman heritage, such as prose/philosophy, poetry, material culture Offers broad and significant insights into the complicated engagement many countries of Eastern and Central Europe have had and continue to have with Greco-Roman antiquity

An interdisciplinary approach, crucial as it is in most fields of research, proves itself to be unescapable in the study of interactions between the ancient Armenian and Greek worlds and literatures. The volume arises from such an awareness and collects papers presented in a conference which has been organized in 2013 at the University of Genova, thanks to a cooperation with the Université Paris-Sorbonne, following in the footsteps of a tradition inaugurated by Giancarlo Bolognesi in the years '80 and '90. The subject is explored from many points of view: the topic of Armenian translations of Greek texts – with considerations of a methodological nature and the discussion of case-studies –, aspects which pertain to the historical context and the historiographical sources, the wide theme of the Armenian reception of Biblical, Christian and Byzantine literature, and finally philological, linguistic and lexical problems. The aim of this kind of research is to exploit the cooperation among classical philologists, linguists and Armenologists, in order to face the challenge of investigating a subject which requires many different competences.

Original literature first appeared among the indigenous population of Caucasia in the fifth century AD as a consequence of its Christianization. Though a number of Armenian histories were composed at this time, several centuries elapsed before the Georgians created their own. But how many centuries? Through a meticulous investigation of internal textual criteria, Studies in Medieval Georgian Historiography challenges the traditional eleventh-century dating of the oldest Georgian narrative histories and probes their interrelationships. Illuminating Caucasia's status as a cultural crossroads, it reveals the myriad Eurasian influences - written and oral, Christian and non-Christian - on these "pre-Bagratid" histories produced between the seventh and the ninth century. Eastern Georgia's place in the Eurasian world and its long-standing connection to the Iranian Commonwealth are specially highlighted. This volume also examines several related historical and historiographical problems of the early Bagratid period and supplies critical translations of six early Georgian histories previously unavailable in English. Dr. Stephen H. Rapp, Jr. is Assistant Professor of History at Georgia State University, Atlanta (USA), and is the Founding Director of its Program in World History and Cultures.

The second volume of The Heritage of Armenian Literature continues the highly acclaimed and monumental project of presenting Armenia's literary treasures to an English-speaking audience. Nowhere else can students and general readers easily find a comprehensive, English-language guide to these masterpieces, complete with important background information and vivid, accurate translations of key sample passages. Volume 2 takes readers through the medieval period up to the eighteenth century. As in the previous volume, the editors here offer a wide and varied range of readings that encompasses the literary panorama of this ancient civilization. They situate each work as extensively as possible within its theological, historical, and philosophical contexts, while highlighting aspects that will be meaningful to readers in light of modern scholarship.