The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

‘Your virginity shines' – The Attraction of the Virgin in the Annunciation Hymn by Romanos

På svenska

Author

Editor

  • Markus Vinzent

Summary, in English

The sixth century liturgical poet Romanos Melodos composed dramatic hymns for the great feasts in Constantinople. His career coincides with an important phase in the history of Mariology: In the wake of the Ephesus council Marian devotion starts to make historical footprints throughout the Church of the Empire; sources reveal a growing interest in the person of the Theotokos, especially in the capital. Recent studies have focused on images of the Virgin in texts like the Akathistos and the homilies of Proclus. Through an analysis of Romanos’s Hymn on the Annunciation (XXXVI in the Oxford edition) this presentation explores the Marian image in texts that belong to a later part of the post-Ephesian phase and which present a much broader image of her. The focus of the analysis is the function of virginity; what does this symbol symbolize? What role does the virginity of Mary play in hymns intended for a civic audience?



I suggest that in this hymn Marian virginity has little to do with asceticism; she does not renounce anything. The text, on the contrary, uses her virginity to exalt her as attractive and an object of desire, one to whom the congregation may turn.

Publishing year

2013

Language

English

Pages

125-132

Publication/Series

Studia Patristica

Volume

XVI

Issue

68

Document type

Conference paper

Publisher

Peeters Publishers

Topic

  • Religious Studies

Keywords

  • mariology
  • virginity
  • erotics
  • Romanos Melodos

Conference name

The Sixteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies

Conference date

2011-08-08 - 2011-08-12

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISBN: 978-90-429-3001-8