User:Revolution Saga/sandbox/Agathangelos

A relief of Agathangelos on the Armenian Cathedral of Moscow.

Agathangelos (in Old Armenian: Ագաթանգեղոս Agatʿangełos, in Greek Ἀγαθάγγελος "bearer of good news" or angel, c. 5th century AD) is the pseudonym of the author of a life of the first apostle of Armenia, Gregory the Illuminator, who died about 332. The history attributed to Agathangelos is the main source for the Christianization of the Kingdom of Armenia in the early 4th century.

Versions

The work has reached us in Armenian, Greek, Georgian, Syriac, Ethiopic, Latin and Arabic, making it the most widespread Armenian work outside of Armenia. The "standard" version of Agathangelos' history accepted in the Armenian tradition dates to the second half of the 5th century. This version was soon translated into Greek; on the basis of this Greek translation, a translation into Arabic was made, as well as many secondary Greek, Latin and Ethiopic versions. These texts are known in scholarship as the "A" cycle of Agathangelos. Another, earlier Armenian version of the history, now lost, was the basis for two Greek, two Arabic, and a Karshuni translation. The texts deriving from this lost Armenian version are known as the "V" cycle, which is less homogeneous.

History

In the prologue, the author claims to be a secretary of Tiridates III, the king of Armenia who converted to Christianity in the early 4th century, but the life was not written before the 5th century. The "standard" Armenian version narrates events from 224 until the death of Gregory after 325. It appears to be a combination of a number of traditions into a single narrative. Its main parts are the conflict between Armenia and Iran after the rise of the Sasanians;

The extant Armenian text covers the period from 224 to the death of St. Gregory after 325. It describes the early careers of Gregory and Trdat, the tortures and imprisonment of Gregory by the yet unconverted king, the martyrdom at Vałaršapat of nuns (Hṛip῾simē and her companions) who had fled from Diocletian, the release of Gregory and ensuing conversion of Trdat and the court, and the destruction of pagan temples. It also gives an account of Gregory's consecration in Cappadocian Caesarea, the founding of an organized Armenian church, the visit of Trdat and Gregory to Constantine I, and of the succession of Gregory's son to the patriarchate. The text in its present form includes a long theological document, the “Teaching of St. Gregory,” which dates probably to the mid-6th C. (M. van Esbroeck, AB 102 [1984] 321–28).

The main divisions are the following: War between Armenia and Persia after Ardašīr I’s revolution; the restoration of Trdat to the Armenian throne with Roman help and the imprisonment of Gregory; the martyrdom at Valarshapat of nuns supposedly fleeing from Diocletian; the release of Gregory and the conversion of king and court; the destruction of pagan temples and the establishment in Armenia of a regular Christian clergy and hierarchy.

Sources

• Agatʻangeghos (1983). Ter-Mkrtchian, G.; Kanayants, S. (eds.). Hayotsʻ patmutʻyun Հայոց Պատմություն [History of Armenia]. Translation into modern Armenian and notes by A. N. Ter-Ghevondian.
• Agathangelos (1976). History of the Armenians. Translation, introduction and commentary by Robert W. Thomson (First ed.). Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-87395-323-1.
• Cross, F. L.; Livingstone, E. A., eds. (2005). "Agathangelos". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd rev. ed.). Oxford University Press.
• Thomson, R. W. (1984). "Agathangelos". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume I/6: Afghanistan–Ahriman. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 607–608. ISBN 978-0-71009-095-9.
• Thomson, Robert W. (1991). "Agathangelos". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
• Redgate, A. E. (2000). The Armenians. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-22037-2.