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saqarTvelos mecnierebaTa erovnuli akademiis moambe, t. 9, #2, 2015 BULLETIN OF THE GEORGIAN NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, vol. 9, no. 2, 2015 History Euthymius the Athonite: A Call to Rethink the Great Heritage Irakli G. Shekriladze Georgian Technical University, Tbilisi (Presented by Academy Member Roin Metreveli) ABSTRACT. It took a millennial stay as “the most popular book” until “Barlaam and Josaphat” was comprehended as the first step on the long journey to the European Enlightenment and the authorship of the Georgian-Greek writer, scientist, philosopher and theologian Euthymius the Athonite was finally recognized. This fact reunited great Georgian-Greek tandem “Balavariani” – “Barlaam and Josaphat” split over centuries in consequence of misunderstanding. Seemingly, the moment came to broadly discuss the role of the tandem in European literature. However, current surge of research is mainly confined to the spheres of influence of “Barlaam and Josaphat”. Focusing on the Byzantine context over centuries postponed comprehensive analysis of the Georgian background of “Barlaam and Josaphat”, the urgency of which greatly increased with the final attribution of the novel. Euthymius the Athonite, the recognized leader of cultural and educational activities in Mount Athos Iviron Monastery, made decisive contribution to multifaceted progress of Georgia in the 11th-12th centuries. Through his titanic efforts he enriched Georgia with the advances of the civilized world and managed to feedback, the millennial echo of which is now heard worldwide. In the paper the attempt is made to show that the Georgian phase in the activity of Euthymius the Athonite is the key to understanding the phenomenon of “Barlaam and Josaphat”. Related hypothesis about Georgian-Byzantine Project “Buddha-Iodasaph-Josaphat” allows to reach concordant interpretation of seemingly contradictory facts. © 2015 Bull. Georg. Natl. Acad. Sci. Key words: Euthymius the Athonite, Barlaam and Josaphat, Balavariani, Georgian-Byzantine relations. General Historical Background Josaphat”, whose civilizational role is not yet suffi­ Quite rarely, the moment still arises when the cumula­ ciently pronounced. In the general context, it refers tive effect of the research moves a scientist to appeal to a much­discussed problem of the civilizational directly to the society. In November 2012 Silvia consequences of adaptation of the Buddhist spir­ Ronchey published the article “When Buddha was a itual and philosophical heritage to Christianity. Christian saint” in the newspaper La Stampa [1]. The problem of authorship of “Barlaam and Ronchey wrote about the great novel “Barlaam and Josaphat” remained unsolved for centuries. Recently, © 2015 Bull. Georg. Natl. Acad. Sci. Euthymius the Athonite: A Call to Rethink the Great Heritage 141 Robert Folk definitively established the authorship Arabic and Persian cultural trends and their literary of the Georgian­Greek writer, scientist, philosopher heritage Georgia acted as mediator between the Mus­ and theologian Euthymius the Athonite [2: vii­viii, 3: lim East and the Christian Greek ­ Roman West, the 1­95]. The research is based on the hypothesis of two religiously diverse worlds”. Korneli Kekelidze about metaphrastic style of the Further ceaseless foreign invasions cut off Geor­ novel and possible participation of Simeon gia from European way of development and prevented Metaphrastes in its creation [4: 167]. The hypothesis it from feedback the major achievements. At the same was previously developed by Elgudja Khintibidze [5: time, in the 9­11th centuries, as if prior demonstration 269], and finally by Robert Volk, who fundamentally of the forthcoming breakthrough, Georgian intellec­ examined nearly all the manuscripts of the novel, tuals adapted humanistic trends of Buddhism to based on the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae. Christianity with tangible long­term consequences This important event reunites great Georgian­ in terms of pan­European civilizational processes. Greek tandem “Balavariani” – “Barlaam and Josaphat” Assumably, the most important stage of this proc­ split over centuries in consequence of misunder­ ess was the Georgian­Byzantine Project “Buddha­ standing, revealing its basic role in European litera­ Iodasaph­Josaphat” initiated by Euthymius the ture of the second millennium. The role of the Geor­ Athonite in order to reproduce Georgian experience gian culture becomes worthy of increased attention. on Christianization of the Buddha’s biography The process of consolidation of Georgian princi­ (“Balavariani”) [7] and the canonization of Iodasaph palities into a centralized monarchy mainly completed [8: 34] in Byzantium. The key element of the Project by the end of the 10th century. Georgian kingdom was the novel “Barlaam and Josaphat” which was reached a peak of economic and military power by destined to become the cornerstone of European lit­ the end of the 12th century, under de facto cover of erature of the second millennium. Below we will try to the Crusades, distracting the main real enemies from strengthen this hypothesis with concrete arguments. Georgia for a century. The country gained clear signs The leading role in the project played the Athos of the early Renaissance in Europe, however, the proc­ Iviron Monastery founded by the great Georgian trio ess was interrupted by the Mongol invasion. as the main center of the Georgian development. Comprehensive progress of the country was Ioane­Tornike Chordvaneli, Euthymius’s uncle, a based on a strong system of intellectual and educa­ great commander and further a monk, left Mount tional support developed by the Georgian Christian Athos and led the expeditionary corps of 12 thou­ Church in the early medieval centuries. sand Georgians sent by David III of Tao­Klarjeti to Ivane Javakhishvili writes about the foreign con­ reinforce the imperial army against a large rebellion stituent of the above system [6: 407]: “Numerous of Bardas Sclerus (wherever the source is not speci­ cultural, educational centers existed in the monaster­ fied, historical dates correspond to the encyclopedia ies abroad, beginning from the south – Sinai, Pales­ Britannica) in 979. For the great victory the com­ tine, Jerusalem, Cyprus, Black Mountain near to mander­monk was thanked generously, including Antioch, Romana near Constantinople ending by gold trophy, which was invested in the construction Mount Athos, Chalcedon Peninsula, where the whole of the Iviron Monastery. galaxy of famous Georgian translators, philosophers Ioane­Varazvache Chordvaneli, the father of and other scholars worked, enabling Georgian edu­ Euthymius, the former noble courtier and prominent cated public to be acquainted with the fundamental military man, longstanding leader of the Monastery things created in Byzantium, Near East and the whole and a great contributor to Georgian progress. Christian World. In addition, due to close relations to Euthymius himself was a well­educated young Bull. Georg. Natl. Acad. Sci., vol. 9, no. 2, 2015 142 Irakli G. Shekriladze man, future great thinker and writer, an inspirer of tween the religions born thousands of miles away civilizational advancements in his homeland and in from each other. Byzantium. A qualitatively new stage can be seen in the re­ Later, the father and the son were canonized by cently published extensive collection of studies [15]. the Georgian and Byzantine churches. Though the focus is mainly on the spheres of influ­ Deep examination of Georgian track of the Project ence of the novel, two dozen researchers from sev­ requires broad consideration of Georgian historical eral countries and even the title of the collection sources, especially those concerning Georgian­Byz­ clearly demonstrate rapidly changing situation antine relations. The same applies to the personality around the novel as a whole. of Euthymius. Nevertheless, referring to the rapid rise in the sta­ Researchers of the problem [1­3, 9­10] unani­ tus of the novel on the international scene, we cer­ mously emphasize the immensity of the spheres of tainly understand that comprehensive assessment influence of the novel. They talk about the need of of the unprecedented in terms of influence literary wide exploration of these spheres. phenomenon is not a matter of the near future. The Meanwhile Ronchey gave brief remarks about same can be said about the author of the novel, espe­ known literature generated by “Barlaam and cially since the ambiguity with the authorship often Josaphat” [1,10]. The list of addressees of influence led to a discussion of the novel without regard to its is quite impressive: Rudolf von Ems, Catherine of Georgian background and personality of the author. Siena, Jacobus de Voragine, Gui de Cambrai, Euthymius the Athonite still remains as notably Boccaccio, Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, Pedro undervalued historical figure of the medieval Europe. Calderon de la Barca, Aleph of Borges, Marcel The process of revising the historical assessments is Schwob, Vincent of Beauvais, Jacopo da Varazze, only at the initial stage. Baudelaire, Tolstoy, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Tao-Klarjeti – Konstantinople – Mount Hermann Hesse, urban medieval French literature, Athos French and German medieval epic, the 18th ­ 19th cen­ tury European literature. When Varazvache Chordvaneli, prominent noble and The novel is translated to more than sixty lan­ military man in Tao­Klarjeti, Georgia, took the monas­ guages of Europe, Christian East and Africa. Its im­ tic vows his relatives sent his nine­year old son as a pact

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