ако някой е в Будапеща...

The CENTER FOR HELLENIC TRADITIONS
cordially invites you
to the opening lecture of the 4th
Hellenic Colloquia Series


By

Bronwen NIEL (Centre for Early Christian Studies Australian Catholic University)

The Miracles of Saints Cyrus and John: the Latin transmission of the Greek text

Time: Thursday, October 16, 18:00
Location: CEU, Popper Room, Nador 9, Budapest

Abstract
The text entitled The Miracles of Saints Cyrus and John was composed in Greek by Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem (634-638). The text concerns the miracles of two healing saints: Cyrus, supposedly a physician of Alexandria, and John, a soldier in Egypt. Their cult was established by the 'discovery' of their relics by Cyril of Alexandria in the fifth century, and it replaced the local Egyptian cult of Isis at Menouthis. After the Arab conquest of Egypt it spread to Rome and Constantinople, and an Arabic legend of the saints' healings developed. It is argued that Sophronius used his version of the miracles to strengthen his claims for the orthodoxy of those who opposed the imperially-sponsored doctrines of monoenergism and its later development, monothelitism. Sophronius's text was translated into Latin by Anastasius Bibliothecarius in the late ninth century and survives in a single manuscript. By examining Anastasius's political motives for this choice of text, we find it being used to argue for Roman orthodoxy and primacy in the latter half of the ninth century.