Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index

Record Number: 46843
Author(s)/Creator(s): John Geometres , , , Christos Simelidis and Maximos Constas, Father
Contributor(s):
Title: Life of the Virgin Mary
Source: Life of the Virgin Mary. Maximos Constas, translator, and Christos Simelidis, translator Edited by Maximos Constas and Christos SimelidisDumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, 77. Harvard University Press, 2023. Pages 2 - 375.
Description: John Geometres (ca. 935–ca. 1000) was one of the most highly esteemed poets and authors in Byzantium; yet his most important text, the Life of the Virgin Mary, remains largely unknown today. This literary and rhetorical masterpiece stands as a work of outstanding theological sophistication, animated by deeply felt devotion to the Mother of God. Geometres’s distinctive and idiosyncratic narrative offers a comprehensive biography, from Mary’s ancestry to her death and beyond, with special emphasis on her direction of Christ’s female disciples, her active participation in the passion and resurrection, and her leadership of the nascent Church. The Life has been rightly considered a critical missing piece in a larger puzzle connecting early Marian writings with later works. Based on a completely new edition of the Byzantine Greek text, this is the first complete translation of Life of the Virgin Mary into a modern language.— [Reproduced from the publisher's website: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674290808]
Article Type: Edition of Text; Translation
Subject (See Also): Byzantium Geometres, John, Poet Hagiography Mary, Virgin, Saint- Cult Mary, Virgin, Saint in Literature
Award Note: Feminae Translation of the Month, September 2023
Geographic Area: Eastern Mediterranean
Century: 10
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Author's Affiliation: Aristotle University in Thessaloniki [Simelidis]; Holy Cross School of Theology [Constas]
Conference Info: - , -
Year of Publication: 2023.
Language: English; Greek
ISSN/ISBN: 9780674290808 (print)