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Gregory Nazianzinos and Byzantine hymnography*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2013

Peter Karavites
Peter Karavites
Affiliation:
Bridgewater State College, Bridgewater, MA
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Extract

Frequent references have been made by several scholars to the use of Gregory's writings as a ‘mine’ for Byzantine hymnography. The discussions have usually stopped with three or four quick citations of the instances that best exemplify the borrowing. To date there has not been any systematic effort to research the topic in greater detail. This failure is understandable. Such a research presupposes knowledge not only of Gregory's writings, a major task in itself since his works occupy four volumes of PG, but also of Byzantine hymnography which is scattered throughout several volumes used by the Orthodox Church in its daily heortologion. Adding the possibilities that might exist among the mss of Grottaferrata and those that might exist in the Vatican Library, one can easily understand the magnitude of the task and its complexities. This paper attempts a limited but still daunting undertaking: the ferreting out of the borrowings from Gregory by the Byzantine hymnographers whose hymns are still used by the Orthodox Church. Beyond the obvious borrowings by the hymnographers from Gregory lies the insoluble problem of what may be directly borrowed and what indirectly. How can one prove that similarities or even identities in the language denote direct borrowing of one author from another? The complexities of such an investigation notwithstanding, the effort should be made, even on a limited scale, because of the interest and the challenge involved.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 113 , November 1993 , pp. 81 - 98
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 1993

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References

1 Strunk, Oliver, Essays in music (New York 1977) 55–67Google Scholar; Trembelas, P. N., Ecloge Ellenikes Orthodoxou Hymnographias (Athens 1978) esp. 13–36.Google Scholar Some of the earlier books I checked very quickly are Pitra, J. B., Hymnographie de l'Église Grecque (Rome 1867)Google Scholar and Juris ecclesiastici Graecorum, historia et monumenta (Rome 1868); Analecta sacra, i (Paris 1876); Christ, W. et Paranikas, M., Anthologia graeca carminum christianorum (Leipzig 1871)Google Scholar; Krumbacher, K., Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur (2nd ed.Munich 1897)Google Scholar, Gk. trans. G. Soteriades (Athens 1910); Beck, Hans Georg, Kirche and theologische Literatur im byzantinischen Reiche (Munich 1977)Google Scholar; Tillyard, H.J., Byzantine music and hymnography (London 1923)Google Scholar; Neale, J.M., History of the Holy Easter (London 1850).Google Scholar For the influence of Ephraim on Romanos, Wehofer, T.M., ‘Untersuchungen zum Lied des Romanos auf die Wiederkunft des Herrn’, Sitzungsberichte d. Ak. d. Wiss., Wien, phil-hist. Kl. xliv (1907) 1–95Google Scholar; Mitsakis, K., Byzantine Hymnographia (Thessalonike 1971)Google Scholar; Wellesz, Egon, A history of Byzantine music and hymnography 2 (Oxford 1961).Google Scholar

2 Trembelas 301; Mitsakis 435.

3 Pentecostarion, p. 5, col. 2 published in Athens by Saliveras, n.d. (The date is not so important here. All issues of the ecclesiastical books are usually identical and one is easily guided by the type of hymn and the date of the holiday in order to locate the hymn. This is true of the Pentecostarion, the Triodion, the Menaea, etc.)

4 Discourse i 4, PG xxxv, col. 397.

5 Pentec. 2, col. 2. Antithetical schemata in the writings of Gregory abound. See Disc. xli 10; xl 33–34; xliv 9–10. Gregory also used the following schema

etc.,

which schema we encounter often in many hymns, see for instance the doxasticon of Lauds for St. Nicholas, Dec. 6, 45, col. 2.

6 Pentec. 2, col. 2.

7 Pentec. 2, col. 1; 4, col. 2; 5, col. 2.

8 Pentec. 2, col. 1; 4, col. 2; 5, col. 2.

9 Pentec. 4, col. 2.

10 Pentec. 2, col. 2.

11 Pentec. 3, col. 1.

12 Menaeon. Dec. 25, p. 200, col. 1.

13 Menaeon, Dec. 25, 194, col. 2.

14 Menaeon, Dec. 25, 200, col. 1.

15 Menaeon, March 25, 108, col. 2, doxasticon sticheron attributed to Theophanes Graptos.

16 The sticheron bears the name of Germanos, who lived in the eighth cent. A.D. Menaeon, Dec. 25, 194, col. 1 and 206, col. 1.

17 Menaeon, Dec. 25, 206, col. 1.

18 Menaeon, Jan. 6, 74, col. 1.

19 The name of the composer is not given, Pentec. 208, col. 1.

20 Pentec. 203, col. 1; 215, col. 1.

21 See also xxv 16 and xliii, 3; 7; xliv 13. Gregory's description of the Holy Spirit reminds us of Heracleitus' frg. 30 about the world (cosmos), κόσμον τόνδε, τὸν αὐτὸν άπάντων, οὔτε τις θεῶν οὔτε ἀνθρώπων ἐποίησεν, ἀλλ᾿ ἀεὶ καὶ ἔστιν καὶ ἔσται πῦρ ἀείζωον, άπτόμενον μέτρα καὶ ἀποσβεννύμενον μέτρα. Also Plut. de anim. 1014 A; Plat. Tim. 29 a, both differing from Heracleitus, ascribe the creation to a superior force. Obviously, Gregory, who had studied philosophy in Athens and knew the Greek philosophic theories well, is here paraphrasing Heracleitus' statement. See also Sources Chrétiennes, under Grégoire de Nazianze, ad loc.

22 Pentec. 215, col. 2.

23 Gregory himself relies here on the description of the Bible (Ps. 142.10; 50.5; 12; Wis. 1.7; 7.22; Matt. 28.19; 2; Cor. 13.1; Acts 13.12; John 16.13; I Cor. 12.11. Because of the similarities between Gregory's and the hymnographer's language, it would not be bold to infer that the hymnographer, who most probably knew the Bible well, borrowed the language of his hymn from Gregory. For further definitions of the Holy Spirit see also xxiii 11; xxxi 29.

24 Second and third hymns of the Lauds of Pentecost, Pentec. 215, col. 2, and 217, col. 1.

25 Pentec. 208, col. 2.

26 Pentec. 208, col. 1–2, and 209, col. 2; 227, col. 2.

27 The cleansing power of fire was commonly accepted by many Near Eastern peoples and the Greeks.

28 Pentec. 227, col. 2. Gregory follows the Trinitarian doctrine expressed in the Nicene Creed but his locution is slightly different. The Nicene language is Τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον, τὸ Κύριον, τὸ Ζωοποιὸν, τὸ ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκπορευόμενον instead of Gregory's προϊὸν. The hymnographer uses here Gregory's locution.

29 Pentec. 210, col. 1; 228, col. 1.

30 The Great Hôrologion (Athens 1978) 212–13 or any other edition under the date of Sept. 13; Eus. VC 3.32.2; Sozomen HE 2.25; Theodoret HE 2.26; Couasnon, C., The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem (Oxford 1974)Google Scholar; Krantheimer, R., Early Christian and Byzantine architecture iii (Harmondsworth 1979) 62–70Google Scholar; 77–78; Bahat, D., BAR xii (1986) 26–45Google Scholar; Barnes, T. D., Constantine and Eusebius (Cambridge MA 1981) 248–49.Google Scholar

31 Menaeon, Sept. 13, 82, col. 2.

32 Menaeon, Sept. 13, 86, col. 1.

33 Menaeon, Sept, 13, 82, col. 2.

34 Paracletike 386, col. 1.

35 Menaeon, Sept, 13, 91, col. 1.

36 Odes Three and Four deal with the topic of chrismation, while Odes Three and Eight deal with the Tabernacle. See also 88, col. 1.

37 The text I have been using is newly published under the general title EPE, Ellenes Pateres tes Ecclesias (Greek Fathers of the Church) in Thessalonike, under the general editorship of P. Chrestou, Emeritus Prof, of the Univ. of Thessalonike. The texts of Gregory with a translation on the opposite page take up eleven volumes. The text is an improvement over PG. Basil's speech on Mamas is in vol. vii of the EPE series, 274–89.

38 Menaeon, Sept. 2, 18, col. 1–2.

39 Menaeon, Aug. 1, 3, col. 1.

40 Menaeon, Aug. 1, 5, col. 2. Since the Canon is ascribed to Andrew of Crete, who was probably the first Canon writer, this canon is one of the earliest canons of the Church.

41 Menaeon, Aug. 1, 5–6, col. 2–1.

42 Menaeon, Aug. 1, 11, col. 2.

43 Menaeon, Aug. 1, Ode 7, stanza 3, 10, col. 1.

44 Menaeon, June 24, 80, col. 2. The birthday of John the Baptist is celebrated by the Orthodox Church on June 24. The holiday coincides with the summer solstice with only a couple of days difference. The exact date of John's birthday is of course unknown, except for the reference in Luke 1. 26 that Elizabeth was six months pregnant when the Virgin conceived Jesus. But then we do not know Jesus' exact birthday; so we are back where we started. At any rate, if Christ was born in winter, John must have been born some time in summer, according to the Bible. What we also know is that it is no coincidence that Christ's birth date was placed around the winter solstice since the festival of Sol Invictus was held at that time, and the Christian Fathers cleverly sought to replace it by the festival in honour of the new Sun. Similarly, the birth of John seems to have replaced a pagan holiday since John's birth is connected even today with remnants of pagan customs, such as lighting fires throughout Greece, clearly a pagan custom. Hence, John's birthday is known as St. John the Lambada.

45 Menaeon, June 24, 80, col. 2.

46 Menaeon, June 24, 81, col. 1. There is considerable doubt whether Byzas and Byzantios are two different names or different forms of the same name. Under the name of Byzantios there are no canons, only hymns. This fact led W. Christ to think that Byzantios lived before the rise of canon, Trembelas 261; Beck 472 and 519 for Byzantios, 472 for Byzas. Beck does not know if they are two different persons or one; Émerseau, C., EO xxii (1923) 12–14.Google Scholar

47 Menaeon, Jan. 1, Ode Four, stanza four, 10, col. 1.

48 Menaeon, Jan. 1, Ode Four, stanza five, 10, col. 1.

49 Menaeon, Jan. 1, 11, col. 1.

50 xlii 20.

51 Menaeon, Jan. 1, 12, col. 1. For the the use of ξυνωρίς by Gregory see xliii, 22. In xliii, 12 ff. Gregory uses the picture of friendship, used also by Pindar (Ol. 6. 1–2), to describe his relationship with Basil. Likewise, Gregory paraphrases Anaxagoras' εἰ τὸ πάντα έν πάσῃ κεῖσθαι, μὴ πειστέον τοῖς λέγουσιν, Anax. fr. B 4–6. Throughout the discourse Gregory refers constantly to Homer, Greek history, philosophy, poetry, mythology, and displays his superb knowledge of the Greek authors, despite the fact that in his writings he frequently employs his knowledge of antiquity to lambast the Greeks for their religious beliefs.

52 εἴπερ ἄρτος ὰγγέλων λόγος, ᾦ ψυχαὶ τρέφονται καὶ ποτίζονται Θεὸν πεινῶσαι, καὶ ζητοῦ–σαι τροφὴν οὐ ρέουσαν, οὐδ᾿ ἀπιοῦσαν, ἀλλ᾿ ἀεὶ μένουσαν ἧς σιτοδότης ἧν ἐκεῖνος, xviii 36.

53 Menaeon, Jan. 1, 11, col. 1; Jan. 1, 10, col. 2.

54 Menaeon, Jan. 1, 10, col. 2.

55 Menaeon, Jan. 1, 7, col. 2.

56 Menaeon, Jan. 1, 7, col. 1.

57 Menaeon, Jan. 1, 11, col. 1.

58 Menaeon, Jan. 1, 5, col. 2.

59 There is a confusion in this discourse by Gregory between Cyprian the Syrian bishop and the more famous bishop of Carthage. Unfortunately, I failed to find a holiday in the Menaeon for the Carthaginian bishop to make a comparison between the two for the purpose of clarification.

60 Menaeon, Oct. 2, 11, col. 1.

61 Menaeon, Oct. 2, 11, col. 2.

62 Menaeon, Oct. 2, 11, col. 1.

63 Menaeon, Oct. 2, 12, col. 1.

64 Menaeon, Oct, 2, 12, col. 1.

65 Menaeon, Oct. 2, 13, col. 1.

66 Menaeon, Oct. 2, 13, col. 1.

67 For Gregory's reliance on the biblical text here see Isa. 6.1 ff.; Judg. 13. 22 ff., Luke 5.8 ff.

68 Menaeon, Febr. 2, Heirmos Fifth, 17, col. 2.

69 The composer's name is not given, Triodion, 362, col. 2, hymn one of the Lauds.

70 Triodion 384, cols. 1–2.

71 Triodion 412, col. 2.

72 Paracletike 225, col. 1; Trembelas 185.

73 Triodion, 412, col. 2; Mitsakis 334; A. Tuilier (ed.) La passion du Christ (Paris 1969) esp. the introduction and 11. 454–60 in the series SC ad. loc. Gregory's text reads as follows:

Romanos' Oikos is as follows:

The attribution of this work to Gregory is disputed, see for example Diggle, J.CR xxi (1971) 19–21.Google Scholar M. L. West in his Teubner edition of Aeschylus (xxi) brackets the author of the Chr. Pat. With the latest witnesses in his index testimoniorum. I assume with Mitsakis 419–435 that Chr. Pat. is earlier than Romanos' hymn, though, admittedly, there is no easy solution to this complex problem.

74 See note in the Menaeon January 18, 151, col. 2.

75 Menaeon, Jan. 30, 235–48.