Die »Erzählung des Aphroditian«

The »Tale of Aphroditian,« a highly imaginative version of the Magi pericope (Matthew 2:1-12), was very popular in the Byzantine and Slavic worlds until the 16th century. For the first time, Katharina Heyden describes the complex history of the tale from medieval Russia to pre-Constantine Syria. Using the musical terms »theme and variations,« the author analyzes the literary, iconographic and historical contexts as well as the main theological aspects as the »variations,« and the »leitmotiv« is a positive Christian reception of pagan antiquity and its cult. The appendix presents the various versions of the tale in the original languages (Slavonic and Greek) and in German as well, along with the Byzantine miniatures, some of which are being published for the first time. This work was awarded the GSCO-Price 2009 of the Gesellschaft zum Studium des christlichen Ostens.
This work was awarded the GSCO-Price 2009 of the Gesellschaft zum Studium des christlichen Ostens.