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

Arentzen, Thomas LU (2013) The Sixteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies XVI(68). p.125-132
Abstract
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... (More)
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. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
mariology, virginity, erotics, Romanos Melodos
host publication
Studia Patristica
editor
Vinzent, Markus
volume
XVI
issue
68
pages
125 - 132
publisher
Peeters Publishers
conference name
The Sixteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies
conference dates
2011-08-08 - 2011-08-12
ISBN
978-90-429-3001-8
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Centre for Theology and Religious Studies (015017000)
id
eb098e62-ab2a-4469-aeb5-caa707cadf8d (old id 2063122)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 10:48:42
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:00:54
@inproceedings{eb098e62-ab2a-4469-aeb5-caa707cadf8d,
  abstract     = {{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? <br/><br>
<br/><br>
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.}},
  author       = {{Arentzen, Thomas}},
  booktitle    = {{Studia Patristica}},
  editor       = {{Vinzent, Markus}},
  isbn         = {{978-90-429-3001-8}},
  keywords     = {{mariology; virginity; erotics; Romanos Melodos}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{68}},
  pages        = {{125--132}},
  publisher    = {{Peeters Publishers}},
  title        = {{‘Your virginity shines' – The Attraction of the Virgin in the Annunciation Hymn by Romanos}},
  volume       = {{XVI}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}