At the origins of Georgian hagiography

Abstract

Formation of hagiographic (martyrdom genre) literature in Georgian and Byzantine history is dictated by different contexts: in the I-IV centuries it was the persecution of Christians in pagan Rome, in Georgian reality there is only one composition with this content – „The Martyrdom of the Children of Kola”, and „The Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik” describes the story of queen who was martyred by her spouse (a man who was the political ally of Persia). At the same time, there are no fighters against heresy in Georgian literature; the context of Georgian hagiography is different. The martyr tortured by the conqueror enemy is typical for Georgian hagiographic literature (for example, Abo, Michael-Gobron, Eustathius of Mtskheta, David and Tarechan...) This creates the opposing pair: the hero-saint and anti-hero, a non-Christian and non-Georgian invader enemy. Therefore, the hero of Georgian hagiography has acquired another content and idea: except protecting a religion the protagonist was associated with the defender of national ideas (e.g. Abo, despite of Arab origin, is being called Tbileli or former Ismaelite, due to his martyrdom place and the ideological meaning by hymnographers and hagiographers as well) this detail distinguishes Georgian hagiographic matters from Byzantine not only by its content but functionally as well.