Старобългарският превод на анонимното житие на Дионисий Ареопагит
The Old Bulgarian Translation of the Anonymous Vita of Dionysius the Areopagite

Summary/Abstract: The study is dedicated to the Old Bulgarian translation of the martyrium of Dionysius the Areopagite. The Greek original has not been preserved but the Latin version (available in print) was later translated into Greek. The Vita published here (BHG 554) is a version that is based on the legend that St. Dionysius was bishop of Paris. This legend became known in Byzantium after 827 A.D. and the Greek text must have appeared before 834.The Old Bulgarian translation is preserved in Serbian copies only. The analysis of the language and of the composition of the mss. in which the text is found suggest that the translation is from the Preslav school. It is certain that the Vita was introduced into Old Bulgarian literature in the 10th century together with the first versions of menologia. All copies of the Vita that are known to us are preserved in codices and cycles of vitae that betray an early origin.At present we know of 6 South Slavonic copies of the Vita of St. Dionysius. Four of them are from the 14th century. The other two copies are of a later date (17th century) and were included in Serbian collections that show a tendency to compile collections containing both earlier and later translations. All copies are representatives of the same early translation that spread to Russia as well.As a whole the Slavonic text reflects a redaction that is sometimes rather different from and sometimes comparatively true to the Latin version. It is comparable to the secondary Greek translation made by the presbyter Petrus Lanselius Gravelinganus (16th century). A comparison of the copies shows that the differences between them are not essential. The Russian text, however, is rather different since it contains many new interpretations and also lexical and syntactical changes.

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