Die Konstantinsvita im Späten Byzanz : vorläufige Ergebnisse einer Gegenüberstellung palaiologenzeitlicher Metaphrasen

This paper explores the reworking of the hagiographical vita of Constantine the Great by three authors of the late byzantine period, namely Constantine Akropolites (BHG 368), Nikephoros Gregoras (BHG 369), and John Chortasmenos (BHG 362). To a certain extent, all three texts are influenced by BHG 364, the most popular text on Constantine which probably was composed during the 8th–9th c. In comparison to the older hagiographical texts on Constantine all paleologan texts are composed in a rather high linguistic as well as stilistic register. Moreover, Akropolites' and Gregoras' texts belong to the literary genre of enkomion which by itself demands a higher stilistic level than a vita. As to the content, Akropolites follows closely BHG 364, whereas Gregoras explicitly sets for himself the task to write the truth about Constantine which allegedly has been distorted by other texts as BHG 364. Chortasmenos in his turn, relies on Gregoras as his most important model text which he copies almost verbatim in 25 % of his text without even mentioning Gregoras' name. Akropolites' and Gregoras' texts on Constantine show the same stilistic characteristics which already have been observed in other works of these two productive authors.