ᲬᲛ. ᲔᲤᲗᲕᲘᲛᲔ ᲐᲗᲝᲜᲔᲚᲘᲡ „ᲦᲕᲗᲘᲡᲛᲨᲝᲑᲚᲘᲡ ᲪᲮᲝᲕᲠᲔᲑᲘᲡ“ ᲥᲐᲠᲗᲣᲚᲘ ᲗᲐᲠᲒᲛᲐᲜᲘᲡ ᲑᲔᲠᲫᲜᲣᲚᲘ ᲬᲧᲐᲠᲝᲡ ᲨᲔᲡᲐᲮᲔᲑ (მიშელ ვან ესბროკისა და ქრისტოს სიმელიდისის კვლევებზე დაყრდნობით)

ანოტაცია

This article examines two perspectives on the now-lost Greek source of the Georgian translation of the Life of the Virgin by Euthymius the Hagiorite. The discussion is based on the research conducted by Michel van Esbroek, who published the Georgian translation, and Christos Simelidis, who edited the Greek text of Life of the Virgin by the 10th-century Byzantine writer John the Geometres.
Many scholars consider the attribution of the work to St. Maximus the Confessor, as stated in the title of the Georgian translation by Euthymius, to be unreliable. Christos Simelidis, drawing on prior research and his own analysis, argues that the similarities between the Georgian translation and the Life of the Virgin by John the Geometres indicate that the Georgian version is derived from Geometres’ work. Comparing these two texts, he attributes the differences between them solely to the translation method of Euthymius the Hagiorite.
The author of this article, however, argues that since John the Geometres’ work is a compilation, a simple comparison of the two texts is insufficient for establishing their interrelationship. Instead, a thorough study of Geometres’ sources and original thought is necessary to determine the extent to which these elements are reflected in Euthymius’ Georgian translation.
Simelidis’ explanation— attributing all textual differences exclusively to Euthymius’ translation technique— is not entirely convincing. The author suggests that an opposite conclusion is also possible: Euthymius could have applied his translation method not only to John the Geometres’ text but also to a work by Maximus the Confessor. According to Michel van Esbroek, certain passages in Geometres’ text, which he identifies as unquestionably originating from Maximus, are intentionally omitted in Euthymius’ translation. These omissions, van Esbroek argues, suggest that Geometres’ work was influenced by a hypothetical Greek text by Maximus or another source that Euthymius also used.
Further complicating the analysis is the fact that Simelidis, lacking knowledge of the Georgian language, relies on Stephen Shoemaker’s English translation for comparison. The author of this article highlights instances where the English translation inaccurately or incompletely represents the Georgian text, leading to unconvincing and imprecise assessments by Simelidis.

The article also questions whether it is appropriate to discuss the “less elevated prose style” of Euthymius the Hagiorite based on the English translation—one of Simelidis’ key arguments for asserting that the Georgian translation derives from Geometres’ text.
Based on the research of Simelidis and van Esbroek, as well as the author’s own observations, this article concludes that the Greek source of Euthymius the Hagiorite’s Georgian Life of the Virgin remains unresolved. Further research is necessary in multiple directions, some of which are suggested within the article. It remains possible that Euthymius, great translator and thinker, did not translate a lost Greek work by Maximus the Confessor but rather another, likewise untraceable, Greek text. Alternatively, he may have compiled his translation using texts from various Greek authors, incorporating his own interpretative contributions — just as John the Geometres did in his own work. It is likely that one or more of these Greek sources were shared between Euthymius and Geometres, which would explain the connection between their texts.