Le traduzioni dal greco nell’agiografia del nuovo Millennio: prospettive filologiche e storiografiche

This paper examines the Latin translations of Greek hagiographic works during the first century of the Second Millennium, through a thorough overview of the texts realized in Southern Italy and at Constantinople. As it was in the previous centuries, in fact, in these environments the necessary cultural conditions to carry out the task were provided at their best: mainly, the presence of native speakers of both languages, and the existence of Greek monastic communities in good relationships with their Latin counterparts. The first part of the article outlines some general trends in 11th century hagiographic versions, arguing that the translations made for political purposes (although still present) played a less pivotal role than they used to do previously, and that the Schism of 1054 did not harm too much the relationships between Greek and Latin monastic institutions. The second section investigates more closely the Greek-Latin hagiographies realized in four specific milieux of chief significance under this respect: Constantinople, and the school of translators from Amalfi at work in the Byzantine capital city; the Byzantine territory in Southern Italy (Calabria, Apulia, Lucania), focused on the holy abbots of Basilian monasteries; Montecassino, and the open scholarly debate about the identification of the translations actually composed in its scriptorium; and finally Rome, together with Grottaferrata Abbey founded by Nilo of Rossano. For each domain, the texts produced and the manuscripts that convey them are accounted for: greater attention is devoted to the translations which are still unpublished (a vast majority of the total amount), to the philological problems they raise, and to the transmission patterns of Greek-Latin hagiographic production.