Magnalia Dei. Biblical History in Epic Verse by Grigor Magistros (the First Literary Epic in Medieval Armenian): Critical Text, with Introduction, Tra

1. Auflage 2012
ISBN: 978-90-429-2507-6
Verlag: PEETERS PUB

Buch, Englisch, Band 14, 209 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 239 mm, Gewicht: 340 g

Reihe: Hebrew University Armenian Stu

Composed by Grigor Magistros, an 11th-century Armenian princely savant and

friend of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus (reigned

1042-55), the Magnalia Dei is a summation of the Bible in epic

verse. Written on one of the author's visits to Constantinople, it

resulted from an encounter there with a Moslem intellectual by the name of

Manazi - none other than Abu Nasr al-Manazi, vizier and emissary of the

Abbasid Caliphate, theologian and poet, who frequently visited

Constantinople in quest of Greek scientific manuscripts. During their

discussion on the Bible and the Qur'an, a stock Islamic argument emerged:

that the Qur'an is superior to the Christian Scriptures on account of its

beautiful, inimitable verse. The epic is Magistros's response.
The Magnalia

Dei is the earliest literary epic in medieval Armenian, and one of the

most informative compositions within the genre of biblically inspired

verse narratives in Christian literature.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Terian, A.

Fachgebiete

• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Geisteswissenschaften