The Greek Historia Monachorum in Aegypto: Monastic Hagiography in the Late Fourth Century (Oxford Early Christian Studies) - Hardcover

Cain, Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198758251 ISBN 13: 9780198758259

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2016

Synopsis

Winner of the Kayden Book Award

The Greek Historia Monachorum in Aegypto was one of the most widely read and disseminated Greek hagiographic texts during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. To this day it remains, alongside Athanasius' Life of Antony, one of the core primary sources for fourth-century Egyptian monasticism as well as one of the most fascinating, yet perplexing, pieces of monastic hagiography to survive from the entire patristic period. However, until now it has not received the intensive and sustained scholarly analysis that a monograph affords. In this study, Andrew Cain incorporates insights from source criticism, stylistic and rhetorical analysis, literary criticism, and historical, geographical, and theological studies in an attempt to break new ground and revise current scholarly orthodoxy about a broad range of interpretive issues and problems.

About this title

About the Author

Andrew Cain is Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Review

"Cain has written a study of this which will prove invaluable to all those interested in late antique monasticism, Egypt and hagiography, with chapters on the text, the authorship, the genre, the literary influences and the style before moving on to look more directly at what the work describes... Cain's book though is a wonderfully learned and informative study of this most engaging of ancient texts." -- Theresa Urbainczyk, Gnomon Vol.90

"Now that the study of hagiography boasts several sound critical editions and translations into modern languages, it is crucial to proceed with monographs devoted to works that shaped the development of this particular branch of literature and, beyond that, the thought-world of late antique and medieval society. Should this be undertaken by such well-read and thoughtful commentators as the present author, we have good reason tobe optimistic."--The Catholic Historical Review

"Cain's book will likely become the definitive text on the [Historia monachorum in Aegypto]. His research is excellent, his arguments well documented, and the theses of the eleven chapters will provide ample foundation for years of further scholarship In short, Cain has ensured that any subsequent books or articles on the HMA must engage with this monograph. That alone places him, and this book, in rare company." -- Reading Religion

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0198758251
• ISBN 13: 9780198758259
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 342