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Abstract:

The article analyses a hagiographic text written in Coptic after more than 200 years of decline in Coptic hagiography. The study provides information on the manuscript containing the Martyrdom, on the editions of the text and its analysis by other scholars. A theoretical part on the peculiarities of the traditionalist type of artistic consciousness and the elements of realism in medieval narrative is also given. Despite the hagiographer’s original approach to writing his work, researchers have not analysed the text in terms of literary topoi, their transformation, and the reflection of reality in the Martyrdom of John of Phanijoit. Its author, the priest Mark, composed the text a year after the events described. He was evidently well educated, familiar with the hagiographic canon and skilled in the Coptic language, which was by then no longer in use. The uniqueness of the text lies in the interweaving of diverse elements within it. The hagiographer uses topoi that were common in Coptic martyrdom literature of the 7th–8th centuries, embellishes the text with rhetorical elements, and introduces plots, some of which create an illusion of reality, while others reflect the actual situation. The author’s main aim is clearly to tell the story of John not only hagiographically and plausibly, but also authentically. Priest Mark succeeded in doing this to a remarkable standard, however, because of the historical context, this peculiarity of the text is what has caused the Martyrdom and its protagonist to be forgotten.

Keywords: Coptic hagiography, genre of martyrdom, topos, elements of realism, illusion of reality, John Phanijoit.