Palaea Historica. The Second Slavonic Translation. Commentary and Text

The so-called Byzantine Palaea Historica is a text that functioned in the literature and culture of the Byzantine­ Slavic commonwealth. As a collection of stories on Old Testament themes, which arc basically of biblical origin, it preserves same pre-Christian narrations coming from the Hebrew tradition, as well as same Early Christian apocrypha. Moreover, it represents different interpretations of the Bible. An important component of the Palaea are the poetic fragments - excerpts from the Book of Psalms and from some liturgical poetry by St. John of Damascus, St. Cosmas of Maiuma, and St. Andrew of Crete. In this volume, the presented critical edition of the second Slavic translation of the Palaea Historica is preceded by an introduction, which discusses the origins and characteristics of the literary relic as well as the history of its reception amongst the Slavs.