Journal Phasis - Greek and Roman Studies

Nizharadze, Ketevan

English

The Phenomenon of Ecphrasis in Ancient Greek Literature and Its Paradigmatic Nature for the Post-Antique Literature

Dularidze, Tea

Phasis 13-14, 2010-2011
Tea Dularidze (Tbilisi)
THE INSTITUTION OF ENVOYS WITH HOMER –
ORIGIN OF DIPLOMACY IN ANTIQUITY
The institution of envoys emerged in times immemorial. It was quite 
developed in the ancient East, which is confirmed by numerous written 
documents. Suffice it to mention the truce between the Egyptian and 
Hittite kingdoms of Ramses II and Hattusili III, which is one of the best 
examples of international law.1 The truce signed in the 13th century BC 
made a fundamental change in the policy of confrontation and put an end 
to a futile war that lasted 17 years.
It is noteworthy at the same time, that the institution of envoys took a 
distinct shape with all its nuances in ancient Greece. It was the institution 
of envoys developed in Greece that was inherited first by Rome and then 
the whole of Europe. Although the Greek language did not have a word 
equivalent to the modern term of diplomacy, Greeks nevertheless 
managed to develop the kind of activities that can be described as 
diplomacy, which included methods of resolving conflicts peacefully, the 
art of holding negotiations and searching for ways of agreement between 
sides in conflict, establishment of allied relations, exchange of envoys, 
etiquette, oratorical skills, and other terms linked to this field of activities.
The term "diplomacy" is derived from the name of envoy's document
(d…plwma) traced back to late antiquity. The document was used as a travel 
                                                
1 Межгосударственные отношения и дипломатия на древнем востоке. Ответствен-
ный редактор Стучевский И. А. Наука, Москва 1987, 79; Darsania N., Pharaoh
Ramses II. Tbilisi 2007, 77-78; Giorgadze G., The Acadian Version of the Truce be-
tween Ramses II and Hattusili III, Georgian Diplomacy, Annua, 3, edited by Roin Me-
treveli, Tbilisi 1996, 16.
The Institution of Envoys with Homer – Origin of Diplomacy in Antiquity 213
"passport" and enabled its holders to cross borders and visit foreign 
countries.2
The epic by Homer is of a paradigmatic importance for looking into 
the stages of development of the foreign relations service in ancient Greece 
and the Greek culture in general. Hence, it is a most important source for 
us too. It is interesting to see how Homer managed to place quite a specific 
sphere – diplomacy – in the context of his poetic world. It is noteworthy 
that ambassadorial affairs are quite comprehensive in Iliad and Odyssey. It 
is known that the functions of envoys and their missions in post-Homer 
Greek society were quite differentiated, which is confirmed by the special 
terminology linked to the phenomenon.
About 10 words denoting "envoy" can be found in Old Greek: Ð 
¥ggeloj, Ð ¥ggaroj, Ð k»rux, Ð presbeut»j, Ð ¥ggeliafÒroj, Ð pemfqe…j,
Ð qewrÒj, Ð di£ktoroj, Ð ¢pÒstoloj and Ð ¹merodrÒmoj. At a glance, they 
seem to be synonymous, but they are quite different in meaning. Of 
course, it is now difficult to define the precise meaning of each term or the 
time of their emergence, but one thing is definitely clear: back in the times 
of Homer, words of this group were used quite frequently. Although some 
of them are used in the meaning we are now considering with authors of 
later periods, it is possible to assume that the words were used in the 
colloquial language earlier too. As time passed, their semantic side 
underwent changes that may seem insignificant now.
Homer mostly uses two of the aforementioned words: ¥ggeloj and 
k»rux and di£ktoroj is a substantivized adjective, which is confirmed by 
the expression used to describe Hermes: “di£ktoroj ArgeifÒntej”. This 
expression is used to denote the messenger of gods, it seems to have the 
meaning of someone showing the path.3
Being an envoy as a function is clear-cut with Homer. The notion 
implied not only messengers, who communicated news, but also people 
dispatched as ambassadors to fulfil a special mission. As regards ¥ggeloj, 
which was mostly used for gods' messengers, it could have had a broader 
meaning of informers or reporters, which is confirmed by the fact that 
Homer used the verb ¥ggellw and the form ¢ggel…hj "being a messenger, 
                                                
2 Der Naue Pauly, Enzyklopädie der Antike, H. Schneider, Stuttgart, Weimar 1991, 683. 
3 Autenrieth/Kaegi. Wörterbuch zu den Homerischen Gedichten. Stuttgart und 
Leipzig, 199914, 64.
Tea Dularidze214
ambassador".4 The word is used in Iliad five times (III, 206; IV, 384; XI, 140; 
XIII, 252; XV, 640) in the meaning of acting as ambassador.5
Aggel…hn ™lqÒnta sÝn ¢ntiqšw/ 'OdusÁi
(Came as envoy with godlike Odysseus)
                                                     Il., XI, 140
Aggel…hj oŠcneske b…h/ JHrakle…h
([Periphetes] went as an envoy to mighty Heracles) 
                                                                      Il,. XV, 640
In the antique era, the words acquired concrete semantic overtones. A 
lot of words linked to the activities of envoys in general – both nouns and 
verbs – were derived from ¥ggeloj. In addition, composed words with the 
stem were also quite frequent in Old Greek. Some of them were found 
only in Old Greek, others in the Byzantine era, and Modern Greek has 
inherited most of them.
The word used more frequently than others (90 times) in the epic by 
Homer is k»rux. Correspondingly, its semantic is quite broad, which 
points to the comprehensive nature and importance of the function of 
messengers. In poems, messengers are usually noble mortals, who serve 
kings or noblemen. Homer did not use a special word for the news or 
information conveyed by messengers. Presumably, words denoting it –
k»rugma, khrÚgma and others – emerge no earlier than the classical era. 
The word khrÚgma was first used by Sophocles (Ihn. 13, ect.) to denote a 
statement or message conveyed by a messenger. The law Creon issued in 
Antigone by Sophocles is called khrÚgma:
kaˆ nàn t… toàt aâ fasi pand»mwi pÒleoi
k»rugma qe‹nai tÕn strathgÕn ¢rt…wj ...6
(And now what new edict is this of which they tell,
that our captain hath just published to all citizens?) 
                                                                 Antigone, 8-9
As time passed, the frequency of the use of this word increased and its 
meaning also became broader. In Modern Greek, k»rugma means "public 
statement, announcement; preaching."7
                                                
4 Liddell H. G., Scott R., Jones H. St., McKenzie R., A Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford 
1996, 7; Passow F., Handwörterbuch der Griechischen Sprache, Leipzig 1841, 11. 
5 Gehring A., Index Homericus, Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim, New York 1970, 4. 
6 Sophoclis Tragoediae, vol. II, Edidit R. D. Dawe, Leipzig 1985, 47. 
7 Scholia Vetera, ed. P. N. Papageorgiou, Leipzig 1888, fr. 314.
The Institution of Envoys with Homer – Origin of Diplomacy in Antiquity 215
In Greek literature and sources, Greek envoys are often referred to as 
pršsbeij. This word is derived from pršsbuj (Nom. pl. pršsbeij, which 
means "old, aged". It is noteworthy that Homer used it as an adjective and 
not in the meaning of "envoy". In poems, we can see only the feminine 
form of the word – pršsba (g 452). The poet also uses its comparative and 
superlative forms – presbÚteroj and presbÚtatoj.
presbÚteroj de; sÚ ™ssi ...
(You are older [than Achilles]) 
                                   Il. XI, 787
Words derived from pršsbuj underwent certain evolution. Along with 
the meaning of "elder, oldest", presbÚteroj was also used in the meaning 
of "most respected, most important". The word united everything linked 
to respected titles and missions. In Sparta, pršsbuj was a political title.8 It 
was from this root that a word denoting envoy – presbeut»j – was 
derived later. In plural, it had the form of pršsbeij (more seldom 
presbeutai). The word - presbeut»j – gradually became used in sources
in this unchanged form. Its meaning became narrower and came to denote 
"envoy" in Modern Greek. Words composed and derived from pršsbuj 
emerged in the language with semantic links to the function of envoys and 
professional diplomacy.
Thus, the terminological analysis has shown that with Homer, the 
function of envoys had gone quite far even at the level of nuances. It is 
also noteworthy that it is difficult to divide with Homer messengers and 
envoys in the modern sense, as ¥ggeloj and khrÚkej fulfilled the 
functions of envoys and there was no term at that time to denote 
professional envoys. It emerged later albeit the functions and obligations 
of envoys are quite diversified in Iliad and Odyssey.
It is particularly interesting that with Homer, any prominent figure can 
assume the responsibilities of an envoy, doing so in accordance with the 
requirements of the moment. The 9th song of Iliad is a good example to 
illustrate this, as it mentions a representative group of envoys comprising 
non-professionals. Agamemnon sent mediators to convince enraged 
Achilles to participate in the war. It is noteworthy how the afore-
mentioned group is staffed. Nestor mentions envoys, who he regards as 
best. He names Phoenix "loved by gods" (di…filoj) as the leader, then 
"great" (mšgaj) Ajax and Odysseus "equal to gods" (d‹oj). All the three 
                                                
8 Liddell H. G., Scott R., Op. cit., 1462. 
Tea Dularidze216
selected personalities have different functions. Odysseus is the most 
experienced and astute. Phoenix is a friend of Achilles' father and he 
cannot be rejected. And Ajax is an incarnation of courage, whose 
straightforwardness and sincerity are highly assessed by Achilles. Homer 
recognizes the possibility of any prominent personality acting as an envoy. 
The poet uses the epithet klhto… "selected, renowned" for all the three. 
However, at the same time, he makes an allusion to professional envoys. 
In the poem, Talthybius, Eurybates, and Idaius are messengers with 
special functions and titles. Homer describes them as "messengers of Zeus 
and men" (DiÕj ¥ggeloi ºde; ka ;̂ ¢ndrîn). At the same time, there are also 
messengers in the poem with the main function of just conveying a 
message.
One more issue that is of importance in this connection is the 
immunity of envoys. They are the people who enjoy protection from Zeus. 
Traditionally, messengers were believed to be coming from the divine 
ancestry of Zeus and their role was of particular significance in the 
developments.9 It follows that they were under the protection of the 
supreme god, not the international law. It is noteworthy that not a single 
episode can be found in the poem, where envoys are insulted or come 
under physical pressure even in most extreme situations. In the first song 
of Iliad, Agamemnon sends his personal envoys – Talthybius and Euryba-
tes – to Achilles to deliver Briseis. Although Achilles is infuriated because 
of Agamemnon's behaviour and the envoys themselves are afraid of 
meeting Achilles, the latter is quite polite towards the mediators. Achilles' 
address bears obvious signs of reverence and even respect for them.
Ca…rete, k»rukej, DiÕj ¥ggeloi de; kaˆ ¢ndrîn ...
(“Cheer up, heralds, messengers for gods and men”)
                                                                            Il., I, 334
Achilles notes that it is the son of Atreus who should be blamed for the 
capture of Briseis, not he. It is clear that a long tradition of receiving 
envoys existed in Greece, because even in such a critical situation, Achilles 
is reserved and expresses his benevolence towards them. There are a lot of 
such examples in antique literature, which may mean that the rights and 
inviolability of envoys (in modern terminology – immunity) were gua-
ranteed although it emerged later as a legal norm.
Homer knew that there must have been some criteria to select envoys. 
The criteria could be different: in some cases, professional experience and 
                                                
9 Adcock S. F., Mosley D. J., Diplomacy in Ancient Greece, Thames and Hudson 1975, 183.
The Institution of Envoys with Homer – Origin of Diplomacy in Antiquity 217
wisdom and in others, personal experience gained with age. Envoys 
dispatched to Achilles were selected precisely on the basis of these criteria. 
However, the envoys were also accompanied by two professional envoys
– Odius and Eurybates, who do not interfere in the conversation with 
Achilles and do not express their position.
A third important factor characteristic of envoys is eloquence. In this 
regard, speeches made by Phoenix and Odysseus are excellent examples 
of Homer's art of rhetoric. Although the speech by Ajax is quite short 
compared with the two, it has quite a significant impact on Achilles due to 
its straightforwardness. Interestingly, professional and non-professional 
envoys are never young in the epic. Homer regards experience, wisdom, 
and age as particularly important. It is noteworthy that in later ages, 
people under 50 were never regarded as candidates for becoming 
envoys.10 This is probably how the term "elder" – presbeut»j – emerged 
with another meaning of "respected". In addition, an envoy was to be a 
calm, considerate, reasonable person with good oratorical skills.
In Homer's poems, there are envoys among both mortals and gods. 
Although every god can act as an envoy and they do so too, professional 
envoys can also be found in the divine circles. They are Hermes and Iris 
(¢ll ¢gaq¦ fronšousa: DiÕj dštoi ¥ggeloj e„mi – "I come with a message 
from Zeus who cares," Iris says; Il., XXIV, 173.) They are protected by Zeus 
personally, serving him when performing their duties. All that happens in 
the poem is linked to "fulfilling Zeus' will".11
Homer gives examples of long speeches (Phoenix) and very short ones. 
However, messengers are able to convey information in such a manner as 
to cause amazing emotions in the other side. It is known that except for 
rare exceptions, most tragic scenes did not take place in Greek tragedies 
before the eyes of viewers.12 It was messengers, who had the mission of 
communicating news about some trouble and they were supposed to 
impress viewers verbally, speaking in detail and emotionally. Homer 
seems to be describing messengers' speeches with particular skill. Of 
course, a question arises whether it was so necessary for Homer to depict 
professional messengers as skilful orators, as none of the professional 
messengers made long speeches in the poem. Their obligation was to 
                                                
10 История дипломатии, том 1, под редакцией В. П. Потемкина, Москва 1941, 38. 
11 Gordeziani R., Greek Literature. Epic, Lyric Poetry, and Drama of the Hellenic Era, I, 
Tbilisi 2002, 105.
12 Gordeziani R., Op. cit., 313.
Tea Dularidze218
convey information precisely, which was often achieved through short 
phrases.
In the following ages, the functions of orators and envoys were clearly 
divided in the Greek culture. Orators could assume diplomatic functions 
in some cases, but professional diplomats did not try to excel in eloquence. 
In Homer's epics, it is also clear that professional envoys fulfil only the 
missions commissioned by rulers. They do not have the right to make long 
speeches unlike ordinary heroes, who become envoys only in certain 
situations. However, it is also noteworthy that in such cases, people are 
more impressive, because they are free. The speech by Priam, who visits 
Achilles for his son's dead body, is a good example in this regard.
Thus, it can be said that with Homer, the institution of envoys is a kind 
of system that has distinct shapes both in terminology and functions. 
Relations between polises in ancient Greece promoted further deve-
lopment of diplomacy and can be regarded as the establishment of 
diplomatic relations on a micro system. What took shape at the level of 
polises gradually rose to the level of Hellenic and non-Hellenic levels, 
acquiring a truly global nature after the formation of the Roman state. My 
opinion is that, the experience of ancient envoys is quite interesting for the 
development of modern international relations, as a lot of interesting 
connections can be found between modern diplomacy and its ancient 
prototype.


The Institution of Envoys with Homer – Origin of Diplomacy in Antiquity

Gordeziani, Levan

To the Interpretation of CTU A 3-4

Kakashvili, Maia

Phasis 13-14, 2010-2011 
 
 
Maya Kakashvili (Tbilisi) 
ΑΛΛΗΓΟΡΙΑ ΑΓAΠΗ΢  
΢ΎΜΥΩΝΑ ΜΕ ΣΟ ΕΡΓΟ ΣΟΤ ΕΤΜΑΣΙΟΤ ΜΑΚΡΕΜΒΟΛΙΣΟΤ  
ΤΑ ΚΑΘ'  ΥΣΜΙΝΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΥΣΜΙΝΙΑΝ ΚΑΙ ΣΟ ROMAN DE LA ROSE ΣΟΤ GUILLAUME 
DE LORRIS ΚΑΙ ΣΟΤ JEAN DE MEUN 
΢τα μεσαίωνα ήταν διαδεδομένη πλατειά η λογοτεχνία η οποία χρησι-
μοποιούσε την αλληγορική γλώσσα. 
Σο πιο γνωστό αλληγορικό έργο στην γαλλική λογοτεχνία ήταν Roman 
de la Rose. Σο πρώτο μέρος ανήκει στόν Guillaume de Lorris (1210-1240) 
και το δεύτερο μέρος έχει γράψει ο Jean de Meun (δεύτερο μισό του 13ου 
αιώνα). Αυτό το μυθιστόρημα υπήρξε η πρώτη αλληγορία αγάπης στην 
λογοτεχνία κατά τη γνώμη επιστημόνων. Για παράδειγμα σύμφωνα με τον 
Μπ. Κνος η αγάπη γεννήθηκε στα μεσαίωνα στην Γαλλία και η αγάπη 
εμφανίστηκε στο ιπποτικό μυθιστόρημα χάρη σε eπιρροή του γαλλικού 
ερωτικού μυθιστορήματος.1 
΢. Πολιακόβα υποστήριζε ότι η πρώτη αλληγορία αγάπης είναι όχι το 
έργο του Guillaume de Lorris και του Jean de Meun, αλλά το μυθιστόρημα 
Σα καθ' Τσμίνην και Τσμινίαν του Ευματίου Μακρεμβολίτου, το οποίο 
γράφτηκε στο πρώτο μισό του 12ου αιώνα – στην εποχή των στενών 
πολιτιστικών σχέσεων του Βυζαντίου και της Δύσης και της έντονης 
επιρροής της ελληνικής λογοτεχνίας στη λατινική.2 Ακόμα το έργο του 
Ευματίου Μακρεμβολίτου περιείχε όλα αυτά τα βασικά στοιχεία, 
τυποποιημένα σχήματα και τα μοτίβα (και στην εμβρυώδη μορφή) τα 
οποία αργότερα μεταμορφώθηκαν στην νομοτέλεια του είδους της δυτικής 
                                                 
1  Αλεκσίτζε Α., Ο Κοσμος του  Ελληνικού  ιπποτικού μυθιστορήματος (XIII-XIV αι.), 
Σιφλίδα 1976, 106.  
2  Gigante M., La cultura latina a Bisanzio del secolo XIII, La Parole del passato, 1962, 82 
da Hesseling D. C. Eine Digenis Übersetzung aus dem XII Jh? – BZ. Bd 22, 1913. 
Αλληγορία Αγάπης 
 
273 
αλληγορίας αγάπης. Η καθημερινή και αισθαντική διήγηση για την 
αγάπη στο έργο του Ευματίου Μακρεμβολίτου είναι αφηρημένη και 
αλληγορική.3 
΢ύμφωνα με τον Α. Αλεκσίτζε η θεωρία της αγάπης εμφανίστηκε στο 
ελληνικό έδαφος.4 Ο επιστήμονας κάνει ανασκόπηση του γαλλικού 
μεσαιωνικού μυθιστορήματος και καταλήγει σε συμπέρασμα ότι η εξέλιξη 
της ερωτικής ροής οδήγησε την γαλλική λογοτεχνία στο ελληνικό ιδανικό 
της αγάπης, το οποίο χωρίς εξαίρεση συναντάμε σε όλα τα ερωτικά 
μυθιστορήματα του 12ου αιώνα.5 
Με πρώτη ματιά οι υποθέσεις των μυθιστορημάτων του Ευματίου 
Μακρεμβολίτου και του Guillaume de Lorris δεν πολύ μοιάζουν η μια την 
άλλη, αλλά η ομοιότητα είναι πολύ βαθιά και αφορά μερικές υποθέσεις 
και μερικά μοτίβα.  
Ο Υ. Ουόρεν στρέφει την προσοχή στην ομοιότητα μερικών στοιχείων.6 
΢ύμφωνα με την ερμηνεία της ΢. Πολιακόβας όμως οι ομοιότητες είναι πιο 
πολλές: 
1. Σο όνειρο είναι η παράλληλη γραμμή της εξέλιξης των ρεαλιστικών 
γεγονότων στο μυθιστόρημα του Μακρεμβολίτου. Αυτό είναι ένα μερός 
της υπόθεσης. Σο όνειρο στο έργο του Ευματίου Μακρεμβολίτου μας 
παρουσιάζεται ως προφητεία. Σα αρχαίο ελληνικό μυθιστόρημα ποτέ δεν 
έδινε τόσο μεγάλο ρόλο στο όνειρο, όπως το βλέπουμε στο μυθιστόρημα 
του Ευματίου Μακρεμβολίτου. Αυτή η “υπνοφιλία” ενώνει το 
μυθιστόρημα του Ευματίου Μακρεμβολίτου και την δυτική ερωτική 
αλληγορία. ΢το έργο συναντάμε πολλά όνειρα (10 όνειρα) που διαλύουν 
τα σύνορα μεταξύ των γεγονότων που γίνουνται στην πραγματικότητα 
και των ονείρων. Σο μυθιστόρημα του Μακρεμβολίτου μοιάζει με την 
δυτική αλληγορία, όπου υπόθεση παρουσιάζεται ως διήγηση ενός 
ονείρου.7 
2. Οι πρωταγωνιστές χωρίζονται και ύστερα σμίγονται και στα δύο 
μυθιστορήματα. 
3. Οι πρωταγωνιστές από τους εχθρούς του Έρωτα γίνονται οι δούλοι 
του και στα δύο μυθιστορήματα. 
                                                 
3  Полякова С. В., Из истории Византийского романа, Москва 1979, 128. 
4  Αλεκσίτζε Α., 114. 
5  Αλεκσίτζε Α., 105. 
6  Warren F. N., A Byzantine Source for Guillaume de Lorris Roman de la Rose, Publica-
tions of the Modern Language Association of America, 31, 1916, 233. 
7  Полякова С. В., Op. cit., 131. 
Maya Kakashvili 
 
274 
4. Οι εχθροί χωρίζουν και οι φίλοι ενώνουν τους ερωτευμένους και στα 
δύο μυθιστορήματα. 
5. Και η πρωταγωνίστρια του Εβματίου, και η πρωταγωνίστρια του 
Guillaume de Lorris είναι το ρόδο. Πίσω από το ανθρωπομορφικό 
πρόσωπο της Τσμίνης είναι δυνατόν να διακρίνουμε την φυτική της φύση. 
Σο ρόδο είναι το άλλο εγώ της Τσμίνης. 
6. Να δρέπει κανείς το ρόδο σημαίνει να υποτάσσει την γυναίκα και 
στα δύο μυθιστορήματα. 
7. Παρ‟ όλο που ο Τσμινίας ταξιδεύει πολύ και ο πρωταγωνιστής του 
Guillaume de Lorris δεν φεύγει από τον κήπο, οι πρωταγωνιστές και στα 
δύο μυθιστορήματα πηγαίνουν στον κήπο, όπου γίνονται τα περισσότερα 
γεγονότα του μυθιστορήματος. Αυτοί οι κήποι είναι τα βασίλεια του 
Έρωτα.8 
Ο κήπος είναι περιτριγυρισμένος από τον υψηλό τείχο, είναι 
μαγεμένος ή φυλακισμένος με άλλους τρόπους. Μέσα στον κήπο υπάρχει 
η πηγή, μοσχόβολα δέντρα, λουλούδια κτλ. Πρώτα εδώ συναντάνε την 
γυναίκα (ρόδο) και ερωτεύονται. 
Ο Ευμάθιος Μακρεμβολίτης δημιουργεί τον κήπο, ο οποίος αργότερα 
περαμορφώνεται στην γνήσια δυτική αλληγορία αγπάης. 
8. Σην αλληγορία μηνών την συναντάμε αρκερά συχνά στα έργα των 
συγχρόνων συγγραφέων του Μακρεμβολίτου. Και στο έργο του Ευματίου 
Μακρεμβολίτου και στο μυθιστόρημα του Guillaume de Lorris 
υπογραμίζεται ο φανταστικότητα των ζωγραφιών. Παρ‟ όλο που οι 
περιγραφές μοιάζουν ο ένας τον άλλον, η περιγραφή έχει παραμυθένια 
απόχρωση στο έργο του Guillaume de Lorris. ΢το μυθιστόρημα του 
Ευματίου Μακρεμβολίτου οι ζωγραφιές είναι τα δείγματα της τέχνης.9 
9. ΋μοια με τον Τσμινία και ο πρωταγωνιστής του Guillaume de Lorris 
έχει τον σύμβουλο στην αγάπη. 
10. Πρέπει να σημειωθεί ότι το Roman de la Rose εξελίσσει όλα αυτά τα 
μοτίβα, τα οποία βρίσκονται στό στάδιο της μόρφωσης στό έργο του 
Μακρεμβολίτου. Αυτά τα μοτίβα είναι: τα μοτίβα του δικαστηρίου, της 
άλωσης του κάστρου και του κυνηγίου. Αυτά όμως δεν είναι ακόμα τα 
συστατικά στοιχεία της υφής του είδους. 
Ο Τσμινίας μαθαίνοντας ότι ο πατέρας της Τσμίνης αραβώνιασε την 
θυγατέρα της σε έναν άλλο παλληκάρι, ο Τσμινίας διηγείται στην κόρη 
για το δικαστήριο του Κάτου Κόσμου, όπου αυτή θα παρουσιαστεί (VI, 6). 
                                                 
8  Blank W., Die deutsche Minneallegorie, Stuttgart 1970, 150. 
9  Полякова С. В., Op. cit., 146. 
Αλληγορία Αγάπης 
 
275 
Πιο θαμπό είναι το μοτίβο της αγάπης – το κυνήγι. Ο Κρατισθένης λέει 
στον φίλο του, ότι η υπηρέτρια εμπόδισε το κινήγι του (VI, 4). 
΢την Δύση ο πόλεμος για την γυναίκα εκφράζεται με την άλωση του 
κάστρου ή πύργου. Οι γωνείς του Τσμινία και της Τσμίνης λένε, ότι ο 
Έρως άλωσε τον πύργο της κόρης. 
΢ύμφωνα με την ΢. Πολιακόβα από εδώ μένει μόνο ένα βήμα μέχρει 
την γένηση ενός νέου μοτίβου. Σα μοτίβα αυτά στην εξελυγμένη ερωτική 
αλληγορία γίνονται τα στοιχία της υπόθεσης.10 
Από όλα αυτά που προαναφέραμε, αυξάνεται η σημασία του 
μυθιστορήματος του Ευματίου Μακρεμβολίτου. Ο Μακρεμβολίτης δεν 
ανήκει στους γνωστούς συγγραφείς, αλλά είναι πρώτος που ύστερα από 
μερικούς αιώνες ανανέωσε το ξεχασμένο είδος, το οποίο εξελίχτηκε 
ιδιαιτέρως στις εποχές των Κομνηνών και των Παλαιολόγων. Αυτός 
χρησιμοποίησε πρώτος μερικά μοτίβα και έτσι άσκησε την επιρροή του 
πάνω όσο στο ελληνικό, τόσο και στο δυτικό μυθιστόρημα. Σο έργο του Σα 
καθ' Τσμίνην και Τσμινίαν είναι η πρώτη αλληγορία αγάπης και παίζει το 
ρόλο του στην εξέλιξη της ιστορίας του είδους.  
                                                 
10  Полякова С. В., Op. cit., 138. 


Αλληγορία αγάπης

Giorgobiani, Tinatin

Phasis 13-14, 2010-2011 
 
 
Tinatin Giorgobiani (Tbilisi) 
SOME ASPECTS OF GREEK-GEORGIAN CULTURAL DIALOGUE 
A significant part of Greek religious and philosophical writings were 
translated into Georgian as early as between the 6th and 12th centuries and 
no surprise that the Georgian literary language could have been 
influenced by Greek. Indeed, Georgian vocabulary, syntax and 
phraseology were subject to a significant influence, which resulted in the 
adoption of infinitive and participial structures unnatural for Georgian, a 
specific use of the conjunction kai (and), etc. It should be noted that Semitic 
paronomasia – use of the same word or the same root in different syntactic 
functions in one sentence – is believed to be borrowed via Greek: e. g. “m¾ 
qhsaur…zete qhsauroÚj”, “nu iunjebt saunjesa” which literary means: “do 
not treasure your treasure” (Matt., 6.19); “¡l•¡lisq»setai”, “marilita dai-
marilos” – “salted with salt” (Mark., 9.49) and many other. However, Pro-
fessor I. Imnaishvili, an old Georgian specialist, argues that paronomasia, 
which is aimed at rendering the intensity of action, reiteration and 
duration, has been employed in Georgian literary language since very 
early times and that the rhetorical figure is quite common for Georgian 
and its dialects. 
When the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek and 
afterwards the New Testament was written in Greek, many ancient Greek 
words acquired new senses. Naturally, a number of Hebrewisms and 
Arameisms entered Georgian via Greek1 – specifically, measurement and 
monetary units. They are:  
                                                 
1  Danelia, K., Some Aspects the History of Georgian Written Language, TSU, 1983;      
see also Sarjveladze Z., An Introduction to the History of Georgian Literary Language, 
Tbilisi 1984 (in Georgian). 
Tinatin Giorgobiani 
 
246 
1. mÒdioj (Georg. modi), meaning “measure”, “measurement”, and 
corresponding to approximately 26 liters. Ephraim the Lesser uses modi in 
the meaning of measurement, meter, an important piece, something 
outstanding.  
2. s…kloj Georgian sik‟ila or sk‟ila, which is the same as “didrachma”, is 
rendered in the New Testament as “statir” or “mna” (Matt., 17.27; Luke., 
`9.16-18).2 
3.mn£ “mna”, a golden or silver coin, a monetary unit mentioned in 
the Georgian versions of the Old and New Testaments, which has the 
following definition: “… mna is one litra and a half of the second litra” 
(“mnai ars lit‟rai erti da lit‟ris meorisa nats‟ili”). Normally, metric units 
tended to be changing historically, each having different values at 
different times – sometimes more, sometimes less.  
4. gÒmor(Georg. gomori), a Hebrew word borrowed into Georgian via 
Greek, meaning the measure for liquid and grain. All these words entered 
Old Georgian from Greek almost without translation. 
Linguistic contacts and interaction influences the structure and 
vocabulary of the languages. Two type of influence has been observed: 
unilateral and mutual. The first one normally occurs at the level of 
vocabulary and results from literary and cultural borrowing as well as 
direct linguistic contacts. 
Linguistic contacts are accompanied by cultural contacts.3 When these 
two factors coincide, the interaction of two cultures in the same 
geographical environment results in the adoption by one community of 
what they lack as compared to the other. The so-called lexical hiatuses are 
filled in with borrowings, which at the time is essential for the language. 
What I mean is that the intensive study of the origins of Ancient Greek 
culture, started in the late 19th century, raised the question of Pre-Greek 
settlements. Many of the issues remain unsolved, but it has been 
established that ancient Greeks were comers to the Aegean region.4 It has 
also been discovered that at that time the Balkan Peninsula, the eastern 
shore of Asia Minor, and the islands in the Aegean Sea were inhabited by 
tribes of advanced culture. This Pre-Greek population was called the 
                                                 
2  The last two redactions of the Georgian Gospel with comments were prepared by I. 
Imnaishvili, Tbilisi 1979; Also see Melikishvili G., The Earliest Population in Georgia, 
Caucasus and the Near East, Tbilisi 1965, 219-220 (in Georgian). 
3  Gamkrelidze E., Foreign Vocabulary in Latin, Tbilisi 2002, 19 (in Georgian). 
4  Gordeziani R., The Iliad and Some Questions from the History and Ethnic Genesis of 
the Aegean Population, Tbilisi 1970, 197-198 (in Georgian). 
Some Aspects of Greek-Georgian Cultural Dialogue 
 
 
247 
Mediterranean or Aegean population. In the 3rd-2nd millenniums BC their 
cultural advancements reached an exceptional height on the Cretan island. 
Authors of antiquity point out that the earliest Aegean peoples were 
non-Hellenic, but were eastern tribes coming from Asia Minor. They 
settled the following territories: Thessaly, Peloponnese, the island of Crete, 
the islands in the Aegean Sea and Asia Minor. Scholars focus on the 
linguistic points of the tribes. As early as the 19th century, linguists paid 
attention to the words in Greek vocabulary that could not be explained in 
the European linguistic context.5 Ancient Greek dialects contain a great 
number of roots that are not likely to be Indo-European. Though Georgian 
abounds in Greek borrowings, it cannot be denied that ancient Greek 
language too must have adopted many words from common Kartvelian. 
All the more so that quite a number of points in ancient Greek phonetics, 
morphology and syntax still remain unaccounted for. In P. Kretchmer‟s 
work published in 1953, the whole Pre-Greek substratum is believed to be 
non-Indo-European and closely related to the Caucasian languages. 
Likewise, the well-known scholar, Schachermeyr6 argues in favor of the 
affinity of the Aegean and modern Ibero-Caucasian languages and finds 
plausible the Caucasian linguistic affiliation of the former. 
The Greek language, with over 3000 years of recorded history, 
completed and enriched its vocabulary with borrowings from non-Indo-
European and Indo-European languages for centuries. Therefore, the 
study of its lexical composition and attempts to shed light on a number of 
Greek roots unaccountable for in a European context requires taking into 
account the linguistic evidence of the Pre-Greek population as well as of 
Ibero-Caucasian languages, which in the early period were in close contact 
with the languages of the peoples fashioning ancient civilization.7 
Some scholars point out typological parallels between Kartvelian and 
Indo-European languages, which may invite several different expla-
nations: first, the remote linguistic affinity; second – centuries-old contacts; 
                                                 
5  Urushadze A., Some Questions from the History of Greek Language, Historical and 
Philological Studies, Tbilisi 1980, 193 (in Georgian). 
6  Schachermeyr F., Prähistorische Kulturen Griechenlands., RE XXII (XLIV Halbb), 
1954; One of the chapters of the work dealing with the Aegean substratum of Greek 
was translated into Georgian (TAU Bulletin of Scholarly Bibliography, 1963, annex #1. 
7  Meillet A., Aperçu d‟ une Histoire de la langue Grecque, Paris 1936, 23; See also Uru-
shadze A., Op., cit., 226 (the work implies the language of Pre-Greek and Anatolian 
inscriptions (Pelasgian, Lycian, Lydian, Karian, etc.).  
Tinatin Giorgobiani 
 
248 
third – mere typological isomorphism without any common origins or 
points of intersection.8 
Arnold Chikobava writes in his Introduction to Linguistics: “the 
languages of ancient civilization are neither Indo-European nor Semitic. 
Both the morphological structure and the cultural and historical context 
suggest the historical affinity of ancient Near Eastern and Ibero-Caucasian 
languages.”9 Thus, the question of the genetic affinity of the Ibero-
Caucasian languages with the tribes building ancient civilization still 
remains relevant in historical and cultural as well as linguistic terms. 
When working on Ancient Greek-Georgian Dictionary and the Greek 
and Georgian versions of the Bible, my attention was attracted by the 
word ‪p‟uri (“bread”). purÒjÐ is “wheat”, “ear”, “bread”. This form, as 
well as the forms pÚrnoj,pur…noj are attested in several Books of the Old 
Testament (Ruth, Jove, The Exodus), in several Psalms and in the works of 
ancient Greek authors: Homer, Thucydides and Herodotus (pÚrnoj, h, on 
a species of wheat (zeia• sitèdeij Od., 15, 312, 17, 12; Od., 4, 604). puro• 
ka• kriqa…(zeia…)Od., 9, 110. purofÒroj, on Ep. purhfÒroj (purÒj,fšrw) 
Hom., Her., Eur.). 
It is assumed that the word purÒjÐ(pl. oƒpuro…) and pur…noj, 
(“bread”, “wheat bread”) must have entered Greek from Pelasgian. Accor-
ding to G. Rogava, a Georgian Caucasiologist, one of the grain species in 
Georgian is the version of the Zan-Svan p‟os (“bread”). The alternation of 
the Georgian l, r with the Svan sh is of morphological character. The root 
inflects by taking a determinant. The word has the root p‟, which indicates 
that the word p‟ur is Kartvelian and is not a borrowing.10 Some interesting 
evidence can be found in the Biblical texts as well, which suggests that 
p‟uri must have entered Greek from the Pre-Greek, specifically, Kartvelian. 
Here are some examples from the Old Testament: 
1. ka• ™yèmisen aÙtoÝ ™k stšatoj puroà, achama mat sip‟okhisagan ipqlisa 
(“He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat”) (Plasm., 
80.17) 
                                                 
8  Tsereteli G., On the Theory of Sonants and Ablaut in Kartvelian Languages, Introduc-
tion in: Gamkrelidze T., Machavariani G., The System of Sonants and Ablaut in Kart-
velian Languages, Tbilisi 1965 (in Georgian). 
9  Chikobava A., Introduction to Linguistics, Tbilisi 1957, 378 (in Georgian). 
10  Rogava G., Some Remarks on pur- Stem, Bulletin XII #10, 1951, 635-640 (in Georgian); 
see Urushadze A, op. cit., 220; Melikishvili G., Some Remarks on the Ancient Popula-
tion of Georgia, Caucasus and the Near East, 1965, 219-220 (in Georgian). 
Some Aspects of Greek-Georgian Cultural Dialogue 
 
 
249 
2. Ð depurÒjka• ¹ ÑlÚra oÙk ™pl»gh kholo ipkli da asli ara iguema (“But 
the wheat and the rie were not smitten”) (Exod., 9. 32) 
3. gÁka• kriqÁj kueqanasa mas saipklesa da sakrtilesa (“A land of 
wheat, and barley”) (Deut., 8.8)  
     purÒjand pur…nojcan also be found in The Antiquities of the Jews by 
the 1st century historian Flavius: pur…nwn¢ss£rwnaj dÚo met¦ zÚmhj 
gegenÒtwn asaronta orta p‟urad kmnilt sapuravisa (“a loaf, made of wheat 
flour, of tenth deals, with leaven”) (III, 10, 6, 252). 
In the New Testament, the meaning of “bread” is rendered by a word 
¥rtoj, which collocates with “sacred, holy” – ƒerÕj¥rtoj (“holy 
bread”)¥rtojqe‹oj(“divine bread”). The word also has the meaning of 
meal and often refers to the same as the word de‹pnon which means 
“dinner”, “supper”. The same meaning is conveyed by the words 
m©za,hj,¹ (“paste, bread, matzah) and s‹toj, ou, Ð Georgian: ipkli, 
xuarbali, dik‟a11 (“wheat”) and sach‟meli, saipkle (meal) in general (Luke., 
16.7; Psalm., 64.14).  
Here are some examples from the New Testament: 
1. labën Ð Ihsoàj¥rton ka•eÙlog»saj Ÿklase, ka•doÝjto‹jmaqh-
ta‹j, ei pe,l£bete, f£getetoàtÒ ™sti tÕsîmamou miigho iesu p‟uri, 
ak‟urtxa da gant‟ekha da mistsa mots‟apeta tvista da hrkua: miighet da 
ch‟amet, rametu ese ars khortsi chemi (“And as they were eating, Jesus 
took bread, and blessed [it], and brake [it], and gave [it] to the 
disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body”) (Matt., 26.26 DE).12 
2. m¾ ™sq…wn ¥rton m»te p…nwn oinon, artsa ch‟amda p‟ursa, artsa sumida 
gvinosa (“[For John the Baptist] came neither eating bread nor drinking 
wine”) (Luke., 7.33)  
3. tÕn des‹ton sunag£gete e„j t¾n¢poq»khn moukholo ipkli igi shek‟ribet 
saunjesa chemsa (“but gather the wheat into my barn”) (Matt., 13.30) 
Bearing in mind that lexical meanings can be infinitely diverse and that 
the central functions of synonyms are specification and substitution, in 
this particular case we can conclude that purÒj and pur…noj were 
borrowed by Greek from Kartvelian, were replaced by their semantic 
equivalents – ¥rtoj, s‹toj, m©za, de‹pnon. The central meaning of 
purÒjand pur…nojwere narrowed and the mentioned four words came to 
                                                 
11  Sulkhan Saba Orbeliani defines dika as “wheat sawn in spring” (Joel., 1.11); see Geor-
gian dictionary, edited by Prof. Ioseb Kipshidze and Prof. Akaki Shanidze, Tbilisi 
1928. 
12  The last two redactions of the Georgian Gospel, the text and scholarly comments pre-
pared by I. Imnaishvili, Tbilisi 1979; Septuaginta, edidit Alfred Rahlfs, Stuttgart 1979. 
Tinatin Giorgobiani 
 
250 
function as their synonyms, at the same time introducing new meanings, 
such as “dinner”, “wheat, “meal”, “sacred bread”, “divine bread”. These 
synonyms of “bread” were established in the Books of the New Testament. 
Thus, purÒjand pur…noj,are the words of a very early period as they are 
attested in the Old Testament. It can be argued that they must have been 
among the earliest Kartvelian borrowings “naturalized” in Greek. As 
mentioned, the word (purÒj) is attested in the works of ancient Greek 
authors (8-4th BC) and also in some of the Books of the Old Testament. 
Afterwards they were replaced by ¥rtoj, s‹toj, m©za and de‹pnon. In the 
New Testament purÒjis not used any more, giving way to its synonyms.  
 
 


Some Aspects of Greek-Georgian Cultural Dialogue

Gagua, Iamze

Moral Code of Epic Heroes

Danelia, Maia

Zur Aktualisierung der kaukasischen Thematik von Apollonios Rhodios bis Valerius Flaccus

Tatišvili, Irene

Phasis 13-14, 2010-2011
Irene Tatišvili (Tbilisi)
TRACES OF HATTIAN SYNTAX 
IN SOME HITTITE RITUAL EXPRESSIONS?
It has been long now that scholars identified in the Hittite religious texts 
verbs with optional dative or accusative to indicate the recipient or 
beneficiary of the action (eku- / aku- “to drink”, šipant- “to libate, offer”, (šer 
arḫa) waḫnu- “to whirl”).1
Puhvel was the first to suggest that sentences where the god is the 
direct object of the verb eku- are equal to the structures with eku- + divine 
name in dative and that both structures with eku- would mean “to drink to 
(the honor of)”:2
dUTU-un ekuzi (KUB 33.79 IV? 12’).
ANA dIŠKUR ekuzi (KUB 34.77 obv?. 8’).3
As concerns the verb šipant-, it was already Carter4 who noticed that its 
indirect object referring to a deity to whom a sacrifice was offered could
appear in dative as well as in accusative:
kedaš DINGIR.MEŠ-aš šipanti “He libates for these gods” (KUB 2.13 I 
44).
LUGAL-uš … dAšgašepa dMUNUS.LUGAL dPirwan … šipanti “The king 
libates … (for) Ašgašepa, ”Queen’ (and) Pirwa …” (KUB 2.13 IV 12-13).5
                                                
1 See most recently Soysal 2008: 45ff., 56ff.; Goedegebuure 2008a: 67ff. (both with refer-
ences to older literature). The issues considered in this article are to dealt with from 
different perspectives in my articles published in Georgian language: Tatišvili 1998: 
92ff.; Tatišvili 2010a: 28ff.; Tatišvili 2010b: 492f. 
2 Puhvel 1957: 31ff.
3 Soysal 2008: 48, 50; for more examples see ibid. 48ff.
4 Carter 1962: 449.
5 Ed. Klinger 1996: 548 (Cf. Goetze 1970:85: libate… to (god)…), 560 (Cf. Goetze 1970: 
92: “treat a deity with a libation”). For more examples see Goetze 1970: 77ff.
Irene Tatišvili88
Melchert further corroborated the assumptions on the equivalence of 
accusative and dative constructions of the verbs by pointing out analogical 
cases with the verb (šer arḫa) waḫnu-:
MUŠENḫaranan ERÍN.MEŠ-ann-a LUGAL-aš MUNUS.LUGAL-ašš-a šer-
šemet waḫnumeni “We whirl the eagle and (the figurines of) the troops over the 
king and queen” (KBo 17.1 II 20-21). 
t-an LÚAZU IŠTU MUŠEN ḪARRI NA4ḫuštit wetenazzi-ya waḫnuzi “The 
physician “whirls” him (the king) with the ḫ. bird, with ḫušt- and with 
water” (IBoT 3.52, 3-5).6
Melchert even offered a formula to render the parallelism of the syntax 
of these three verbs in ritual contexts and an optional syntactic 
transformation:7
NP1 (acc.) + NP2 (dat.) + [NP3 (inst.)] + eku- / šipand-/ š. a. waḫnu- ⇒ 
NP2 (acc.) + NP1 (instr.) + [NP3 (inst.)] + eku- / šipand-/ a. waḫnu-
However, are there enough grounds to speak about a uniform 
syntactic rule in this case?
It has been observed that the distribution of the constructions with 
optional dative or accusative to indicate the recipient or beneficiary is not 
the same for these three verbs: eku-, unlike šipant- and waḫnu-, mostly 
takes accusative and very rarely dative.8
As concerns eku-, along with dative and accusative, we may also come 
across nominative structures:
15 DINGIR.MEŠ ekuzzi (// ekuzi) dMAḪ dGulšaš GUNNI (// dGUNNI) 
dU.GUR Ù dU.GUR URUḪāyaša dEN.ZU MUL-i GE6-anza dḪašammiliš 
dMUNUS.LUGAL Ḫareštaššiš Ḫilaššiš... (KBo 19.128 VI 17’-22’ // IBoT 
3.15 I 5’-7’).9
In the case of šipant- and waḫnu-, the semantic equivalence of dative 
and accusative structures leaves no room for doubts and their translation 
is likewise unambiguous. As concerns eku-, the interrelationship between 
different structures and their respective meanings still remains disputable. 
There are several basic variants of translating or interpreting the phrase
                                                
6 Melchert 1981: 247f.
7 Melchert 1981: 249.
8 Goedegebuure 2008a: 70. 
9 Soysal 2008: 53; for other examples, see ibid., 51. The author notes that the forms with 
ending -š are incorrectly in nominative case; the use of the divine name in nominative 
“must be considered as simply a mistake and may have no morphological conse-
quences” (op. cit. 54). However, it should be noted that the use of the nominative case 
is no less recurrent than of dative and can be likewise accounted for, which is at-
tempted later in the article.
Traces of Hattian Syntax in Some Hittite Ritual Expressions? 89
d(GN) eku-: give to drink/ tränken,10 drink to / toast11 and “drink the god” 
with eucharistic connotation.12
The least disputable seems to be the Hattian origin of “drink the 
god”.13 Hence, following Soysal, I find it reasonable to seek solutions to 
the syntactic issues in question with the help of Hattian. According to the 
scholar, “...the divine name in the expression d(GN) aku- / eku- with 
ending -n may have been originally constructed in the dative case under 
influence of Hattian. Since the Hattian dative marker -n is formally the 
same as the Hittite ending -n for the singular accusative, it is possible that 
the Hittites had adopted this cult expression in their language in a manner 
where the divine proper name would function as accusative. This use may 
have been transformed later into the real “Hittite” accusative in -n.”14
Though the dative structures with ANA preposition are relatively rare 
than accusative, they are closer to the Hattian phrase that translates as: 
“drink to the god”. 
The use of several syntactic structures to render the same idea in 
Hittite can indeed be put down to an inaccurate borrowing of the Hattian 
formula. However, in my opinion, the error is more likely to stem from the 
unfamiliar structure of the Hattian language rather than from a confusion 
associated with the formal likeness of case forms.
The structure of Hattian language can be disputable;15 however, the 
differences between Hittite and Hattian are obvious at the level of 
morphology (nominal and verbal) as well as syntax, and also cover the 
case system.16 On the other hand, a contact between two languages most 
naturally suggests mutual influence. The Hattian influence on Hittite first 
of all can be seen in possessive genitive,17 while the effects of interaction 
                                                
10 See e. g. Hrozný 1917: 85 n. 2; Otten 1958: 132.
11 See e. g. Puhvel 1984: 261ff.; Goedegebuure 2008: 67ff.; most recently Soysal 2010a: 
344ff. 
12 See, e. g. Forrer 1940: 124ff.; Friedrich 1952: 40; de Martino 2002: 120. In contrast, 
Kammenhuber (1991: 222ff.) interpretes the action as libation, which initially was 
performed only by the king. 
13 See e. g. Kammenhuber 1971: 152f.
14 Soysal 2008: 45, see also 55ff.
15 For example, some speak about the signs of ergativity in Hattian (Diakonoff 1967: 173; 
Schuster 1974: 106, n. 230; Taracha 1993: 292f., Taracha 1998: 15f.; Goedegebuure
2008b: 143 n. 15; Goedegebuure 2010: 949ff.), while others question it (see e. g. Kam-
menhuber 1969: 502, 543; Girbal 1986: 137ff.; Klinger 1994: 36ff.; cf. Soysal 2004: 37).
16 Soysal 2004: 184ff. For the Hattian case system see most recently Soysal 2010b: 1041ff. 
17 For the Hattian influence on the Hittite syntax, see Kammenhuber 1962: 12ff., 
Kammenhuber 1969: 482ff., Soysal 2000: 114.
Irene Tatišvili90
among the languages of Asia Minor include, for instance, the split ergative 
system in Hittite and other Anatolian languages.18
The explanation of the use of different syntactic variants in Hittite 
through the interference of a language having a different structure was 
compelled by my everyday practice. When studying the question, it may 
prove interesting to recall typical mistakes made by Georgian speaking 
individuals whose native language belongs to the Indo-European family, 
including Armenians, Ossetians, Russians, etc. residing in Georgia and 
European learners of Georgian. Moreover, the same mistakes can be 
observed in the speech of Georgians living in European countries. Despite 
their excellent command of Georgian, they may anyway have problems 
with subject and object markers, while Georgians may find challenging the 
usage of accusative in Russian, German, as well as in Ancient Greek, Latin 
or Hittite.
It should also be noted that I do not intend to touch the question of the 
genetic ties and/or encounters of Hattian with Georgian or any other 
Caucasian language, and share the opinion that the study is associated 
with considerable challenges.19 Even the analysis of typological parallels 
requires special caution.20 I only refer to Georgian to demonstrate the 
theoretical plausibility of the hypothesis offered below. While relevant 
examples could be sought in other languages as well, my choice of the 
Georgian can be explained by my deeper awareness of it, as compared to 
other languages.
In Georgian, as well as in other Kartvelian languages, subject and 
object case forms vary according to the tense form of a respective tran-
sitive verb. In the first series (= the Present series), the subjective marker is 
the same for transitive and intransitive verbs, while direct object appears 
in dative instead of accusative, which is not present in Georgian at all. For 
example: mefe (mepe=king:nom.) svams (svams=drink:prs.) RvTaebis 
(ghvtaeb-is=deity:gen.) sadidebels (sadidebel-s=toast/laudation:dat.) –
                                                
18 Watkins 2001: 52ff; on Hattian and Anatolian linguistic encounters see most recently 
Goedegebuure 2008b.
19 See e. g. Kammenhuber 1969: 440f.; Soysal 2004: 23f., 30ff. 
20 However, parallels between other languages can help unveil the mysteries of the 
Hattian language. See e. g. Goedegebuure 2008b: 164, 171; Goedegebuure 2010: 958f., 
960 n. 22. In methodological terms, an interesting work is Melchert (s.a.), which refers 
to Mangarayi to explain the ergative in Hattian. According to Soysal, among other 
tasks, the future Hattological research must also aim at the establishment of 
typological and genetic (where possible) relations of Hattian with modern languages 
of the region, including Caucasian, after their critical revision (Soysal 2004: 39).
Traces of Hattian Syntax in Some Hittite Ritual Expressions? 91
“The king drinks a deity’s toast” or mefe (mepe=king:nom.) adRe-
grZelebs (adghegrdzelebs=toast:prs.) RvTaebas (ghvtaeba-s=deity:dat.) 
– “The king toasts the deity”.
The subject takes the ergative case only with a transitive verb in the 
second series (= the Aorist series). In this case, the direct object appears in 
nominative. For example: mefem (mepe-m=king:erg.) Sesva (she-
sva=drink:prs.) RvTaebis (ghvtaeb-is=deity:gen.) sadidebeli (sadi-
debeli= toast/ laudation:nom.) – “The king drunk a deity’s toast” or 
mefem (mepe-m=king:erg.) adRegrZela (adrhegrdzela=toast:prs.) RvTae-
ba (ghvtaeba=deity:nom.) – “The king toasted the deity”.
In the third series (= the Perfective series), the subject of a transitive 
verb takes dative (unlike the subject of an intransitive verb, which, 
similarly to the first series, remains in nominative), while the direct object 
appears in nominative. For example: mefes (mepe-s=king:dat.) Seusvams 
(sheusvams=drink: perf.) RvTaebis (ghvtaeb-is=deity:gen.) sadidebeli 
(sadidebel-i=toast/ laudation:nom.) – “The king has drunk a deity’s 
toast” or mefes (mepe-s=king:dat.) udRegrZelebia (udghegrdzele-
bia=drink:perf.) RvTaeba (ghvtaeba=deity:nom.) – “The king has toasted 
the deity”.
Thus, the Georgian dative can render direct and indirect objects as well 
as the subject depending on a sentence structure, while the nominative, 
apart from the subject, can also render the direct object.
If we assume that in Hattian too subject and/or object case variations 
could have been caused by the variation of a verb form, a particular ‘case 
marker’ cannot be considered as the only option for a particular syntactic 
role of a word.21 This may account for different interpretations of some 
morphemes, for example -šu or -tu, which can be identified either as a case 
inflexion or the marker of direct or indirect object.22
Now, let us return to the Hittite ritual formula eku- + the divine name. 
It can be safely assumed that while borrowing this expression from the 
Hattian tradition into Hittite, the differences in the syntactic structure of 
the languages could have entailed several variants with the object in 
accusative, in dative or even in nominative.
As the use of accusative is most recurrent, the Hittites must have 
perceived the divine name in the ‘drink the god’ formula as the direct 
                                                
21 Cf. Goedegebuure 2010: 957.
22 Concerning the morpheme, see e. g. Girbal 1986: 66, 138f., 167f.; Klinger 1994: 37; 
Schuster 1974: 142; Soysal 2004: 241, 255f.; Soysal 2010b: 1042. 
Irene Tatišvili92
object, at least formally,23 while the use of other case forms for the name of 
a deity may suggest that in Hattian the direct object could appear in 
different case forms. Hence, if we agree that the divine name in the Hittite 
formula is the direct object, an “error” can be seen in the use of 
nominative, dative or other structures that are unusual for Hittite. 
The proposed explanation for dative-accusative alternation in the menti-
oned formula can be extended to the verbs denoting cult actions _ šipant-, 
(šer arḫa) waḫnu-. Though the texts where the ritual expressions are 
attested suggest different chronological or ethnic backgrounds, bearing in 
mind the extent of the Hattian influence on the Hittite religion, we should 
not rule out the plausibility of a similar type of alternation in other ritual 
expressions as well.
REFERENCES:
Carter 1962 _ C. W. Carter, Review of J. Friedrich, Hethitisches Wörterbuch. 
Zweites Ergänzungsheft. Oriens 15, 449f.
Diakonoff 1967 _ I. M. Diakonoff, Languages of the Ancient Near East (in Russian), 
Moskow.
Forrer 1940 _ E. Forrer, Das Abendmahl im Hatti-Reiche. Actes du XXe Congrès 
International des Orientalistes (Bruxelles, 1938), Louvain, 124ff. 
Friedrich 1952 _ J. Friedrich, Hethitisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg.
Girbal 1986 _ C. Girbal, Beiträge zur Grammatik des Hattischen. Frankfurt am 
Main-Bern-New York. 
Goedegebuure 2008a _ P. M. Goedegebuure, Hattian Origins of Hittite Religious 
Concepts: the Syntax of ‘to Drink (to) a Deity’ (Again) and Other Phrases. JANER
8.1, 67ff. 
Goedegebuure 2008b _ P. M. Goedegebuure, Central Anatolian Languages and 
Language Communities in the Colony Period: A Luwian-Hattian Symbiosis and the 
Independent Hittites. PIHANS 111, 137ff. 
                                                
23 Having analyzed its different versions, Soysal (2010a: 348) reconstructed the entire 
formula in the following way, which in my opinion, sounds quite convincing: “Die 
Gottheit aus dem Trinkgefäss mittels eines Getränks trinken (= trinkend verehren)”. 
The formal direct object in this statement, as well as in its brief version, is the deity, 
though it is obvious that the actual direct object of the verb ‘drink’ and the respective 
action is the liquid, while the deity, in whose honour the act is performed, is to be un-
derstood in dative sense. 
Traces of Hattian Syntax in Some Hittite Ritual Expressions? 93
Goedegebuure 2010 _  P. M. Goedegebuure, The Alignment of Hattian: an Active 
Language with an Ergative Base. Proceedings of the 53e Rencontre Assyriologique 
Internationale (Moskow-St. Petersburg, 2007) I/2, 949ff. 
Goetze 1970 _ A. Goetze, Hittite šipant-. JCS 23/3, 77ff.
Hrozný 1917 _ B. Hrozný, Die Sprache der Hethiter, Leipzig. 
Kammenhuber 1962 _ A. Kammenhuber, Hattische Studien. 1. RHA 20/70, 1ff.
Kammenhuber 1969 _ A. Kammenhuber, Das Hattische. Altkleinasiatische Spra-
chen (HdO 2/1-2,2). Leiden, 428ff. 
Kammenhuber 1971 _ A. Kammenhuber, Hethitisch ḫaššus 2-e ekuzi ‘Der König 
trinkt zwei’. SMEA 14, 143ff.
Kammenhuber 1991 _ A. Kammenhuber, Nochmals: der hethitische König trinkt 
Gott NN. Text, Methode und Grammatik (W. Richter zum 65. Geburtstag). St. 
Ottilien, 221ff.
Klinger 1994 _ J. Klinger, Hattisch und Sprachverwandtschaft. Hethitica 12, 23ff. 
Klinger 1996 _ J. Klinger, Untersuchungen zur Rekonstruktion der hattischen 
Kultschicht (StBoT 37), Wiesbaden. 
de Martino 2002 _ S. de Martino, Kult- und Festliturgie im hethitischen Reich. Die 
Hethiter und ihr Reich (Katalog der Ausstellung “Die Hethiter. Das Volk der 1000 
Götter”), Bonn, 118ff. 
Melchert 1981 _ H. C. Melchert, ‘God-Drinking’: A Syntactic Transformation in 
Hittite. JIES 9, 245ff.
Melchert s. a. _ H. C. Melchert, The Problem of the Ergative Case in Hittite. 
Variations, concurrence et evolution des cas dans divers domains linguistiques 
(edd. M. Mazoyer & M. Fruyt, to appear). Available online at 
http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/Melchert/recent_papers.html.
Otten 1958 _ H. Otten, Hethitische Totenrituale, Berlin.
Puhvel 1957 _ J. Puhvel, On an Alleged Eeucharistic Expression in Hittite Rituals, 
MIO 5, 31ff.
Puhvel 1984 _ J. Puhvel, Hittite Etymological Dictionary (Vol. 2: E, I). Berlin/New 
York/Amsterdam. 
Schuster 1974 _ H.-S. Schuster, Die Ḫattisch-hethitischen Bilinguen. I. Einleitung, 
Texte und Kommentar. Teil 1 (DMOA 17), Leiden. 
Soysal 2000 _ O. Soysal, Analysis of a Hittite Oracular Document. ZA 90/1, 85ff.
Irene Tatišvili94
Soysal 2004 _ O. Soysal, Hattischer Wortschatz in hethitischer Textüberlieferung 
(HdO I/74), Leiden-Boston. 
Soysal 2008 _ O. Soysal, Philological Contributions to Hattian-Hittite religion (I). 
JANER 8.1, 45ff. 
Soysal 2010a _ O. Soysal, Zu den Trinkgefässen bei den Hethitern auch in 
Verbindung mit Kulttrinken. Festschrift für G. Wilhelm anlässlich seines 65. 
Geburtstages, Dresden 335ff.
Soysal 2010 b _ O. Soysal, Zum Namen der Göttin Kataḫzipuri mit besonderer 
Berücksichtigung des Kasussystems des Hattischen. Proceedings of the 53e 
Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale (Moskow-St. Petersburg, 2007) I/2, 1041ff. 
Taracha 1993 _ P. Taracha, Probleme der hattischen Syntax. Die Personenanzeiger 
und ihre Stellung im hattischen Satz. ŠULMU 4, 287ff.
Taracha 1998 _ P. Taracha, Neues zu Sprache und Kultur der Hattier, Review of 
Klinger 1996, OLZ 93/1, 9ff.
Tatišvili 1998 _ I. Tatišvili, The Autumn Festival of Ištar of Samuha (in Georgian), 
Caucasian and Near Eastern Studies 9, Tbilisi 89ff.
Tatišvili 2010a _ I. Tatišvili, Some Remarks on the Interpretation of a Hittite 
Formula (in Georgian), Cultural-Historical Researches, Tbilisi 28ff. 
Tatišvili 2010b _ I. Tatišvili, Some Remarks on the Origin of a Hittite Formula (in 
Georgian), Proceedings of the Second International Congress of Caucasiologists, 
Tbilisi 124ff. 
Watkins 2001 – C. Watkins, An Indo-European Linguistic Area and Its Characte-
ristics: Ancient Anatolia. Areal Diffusion as a Challenge to the Comparative 
Method? Areal Diffusion and Genetic Inheritance: Problems in Comparative 
Linguistics, Oxford 44ff.


Traces of Hattian Syntax in Some Hittite Ritual Expressions?

Varvounis, Emmanouil

Η ελληνική λαϊκή λατρεία μεταξύ Ανατολής και Δύσης: ζητήματα πολιτισμικού διαλόγου στη θρησκευτική λαογραφία

Nadibaidze, Dali

Phasis 13-14, 2010-2011 
 
 
 
 
Dali Nadibaidze (Tbilisi) 
MINOAN ART AND THE ROLE OF GREEK AND ROMAN 
CULTURE IN THE FORMATION OF CHRISTIAN ART 
Originated in Judaism, Christianity spread in many parts of the world in 
the very first centuries. The apostles fulfilled the words of Christ, which 
continue to be fulfilled nowadays too: “Therefore go and make disciples of 
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of 
the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded 
you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mt., 28, 
19-20; Luke., 24, 46-48; Mark., 16, 15-16). As Christianity is the religion of all 
nations, each of them contributed its unique features to the creation of the 
Christian culture while preserving the fundamental, unifying force – the 
Christian creed and the Christian spirit manifesting it. 
Israel, the birthplace of Christianity, was part of the Roman Empire in 
the 1st century, together with Greece. Therefore, the Greeks and Romans, 
being the first Christians along with the Jews, were directly involved in 
the propagation of Christianity and shed the blood of martyrdom. They 
played a significant role in molding the Christian culture, which embodied 
the new weltanschauung. Judaism prohibited the representation of the 
image of God and applied symbols. Therefore, Greece and Rome served as 
the source of rich artistic traditions. Early Christian painting is based on 
Judaic symbols and the antique manner of painting. Apart from the Jews, 
Greeks and Romans, Christian art was created by numerous people 
inhabiting a vast area from Africa to Asia, including the heirs to the 
Mesopotamian culture (modern Iraq, Turkey and Syria). Therefore, the 
traces of the Mesopotamian culture in the Christian art are quite natural. 
This first of all concerns relief images and some iconographic schools of 
Minoan Art and the Role of Greek and Roman... 
 
335 
the East (e. g. the images of Christ and Mary executed in the iconographic 
school of Syria and Palestine resembled the images of the Holy Face in 
terms of portraiture and vestment. The catacomb images of beardless 
Christ with a short Roman haircut and of Virgin Mary, with her head 
uncovered, did not quite match the reality. Therefore, the iconographic 
tradition adopted the image of bearded Jesus with dark complexion and of 
Virgin Mary with a veil in a Palestinian manner, which appeared more 
verisimilar and closely resembled the images of the Holy Face. As 
mentioned, the Christian culture was mainly developed by the Romans 
and Greeks, who constituted the greater part of the Roman Empire in the 
1st to 4th centuries and had rich antique culture – painting, relief painting, 
sculpture and architecture. Antique art, the art of ancient Greece and 
Rome, was the successor to the Pre-Greek and Etruscan cultures, adopting 
all the best from their predecessors whose territories they settled. 
In this article, I will dwell on the Minoan art, and specifically, the 
Minoan painting, and its indirect but highly significant role in the 
development of Christian painting. Despite the lack of immediate 
chronological succession, a nation or a unity of peoples may become an 
indirect partaker in the development of a later culture, provided it creates 
a value of foundational significance. To this extent, Minoan art can be 
considered at least an indirect partaker in the development of Christian 
painting and architecture. Though very often the preceding culture does 
not closely resemble the subsequent one but shows greater affinity with 
the next but one, I believe, in this case, the likeness can also be seen in 
terms of chronology. If we look through the history of painting from the 
period of Minoan art – the frescos of the Palace of Knossos and the pain-
tings of the Island of Thera – and compare them with Etruscan painting, 
then have a look at classical Roman frescos (I BC – I AD) and afterwards 
the painting of early Christian catacombs and church mosaic, we will see 
that all of them are interrelated. They make up a wonderful panorama of 
successiveness on the one hand and unique individuality on the other. 
My decision to write this article was motivated by the fact that the finesse 
and colour combinations of floral ornaments and the well-known blue bird of 
Knossos have always stirred in me associations with early Christian mural 
painting. In this respect especially remarkable is the mosaic in Tabgha and 
Ravenna, which abound in floral decoration and symbolic biomorphic images, 
while in terms of fine shapes and colour combination, the Christian mosaic or 
mural paintings are quite similar to the frescos of Knossos even nowadays. 
Though mosaic requires a different technique, it is anyway based on a 
painting, and then smalt pebbles are set in clay mortar. 
Dali Nadibaidze 
 
336 
My immediate interest is the role of Mycenaean painting in the 
formation of the Greek and Roman painting on the one hand, and the 
impact of the latter on the development of Christian art on the other – or, 
in other words, what Christian art inherited from Pre-Greek art, and what 
these three great arts may have in common. 
Looking at Minoan frescoes, one may be under an impression that they 
represent modern painting and not the art created millenniums ago. A 
proof to this is the fact that our contemporary researchers called one of the 
frescoes La Parisienne. According to Prof. Rismag Gordeziani, “the first 
impression that Minoan art leaves is its surprisingly youthful spirit. In 
fact, as if intentionally, all human images depict a young person, and the 
scenes of nature feature the blooming period; elderly age, dormition and 
fading did not apparently attract Cretan painters.”1 
This theme – the youthful spirit, blooming nature in spring and the 
earth in all its diversity – is exactly what is perpetuated in all times and 
what unites Minoan Crete, the island of Thera and the Etruscan painting. 
Besides, the manner of expression is alike, which has been pointed out by 
researchers and has been universally admitted. This theme has been 
discussed at conferences and in important monographs. One of such 
monographs says that despite the affinities, it is difficult to compare 
painting of Thera and Knossos in terms of their architectural background 
as the first consists of palace frescoes and the latter are the paintings of the 
prosperous Cycladic city, subject to a remarkable influence of Minoan art 
...2 However, it has been admitted that the painting of Akrotiri is the direct 
successor of Minoan painting and that their styles are similar. The same 
idea is shared by R. Gordeziani in his above-mentioned work, which is 
both profoundly fundamental and accessible. He writes: “In this case, an 
important point evidently is the historical moment when in the second 
half of the 2nd millennium, Greeks found themselves to be the heirs to the 
great Pre-Greek culture, whose nucleus was Minoan Crete ... 3” In another 
place he argues: “Despite the highly important local characteristics, the 
style is the same.”4 Hence, the Theran painting resembles Minoan art, and 
on the other hand, it is affinitive with Etruscan art. One may even think 
                                                 
1  Gordeziani R., Greek Civilization, I, 32, Tbilisi 1988. 
2  The Thera Foundation, Thera and Knossos: Relation of the Paintings to Their Archi-
tectural Space,  
http://www.therafoundation.org/articles/art/theraandknossosrelationofthepainting
stotheirarchitecturalspace 
3  Gordeziani R., Greek Civilization, I, 17, Tbilisi 1988. 
4  Ibid., 41. 
Minoan Art and the Role of Greek and Roman... 
 
337 
that the plant on the Tarquinian fresco is the same as the lilies from 
Akrotiri, and that the mountains and the birds flying above them are 
identical in both places, which, naturally, is wrong, though the semblance 
is marvelous in terms of artistic style, bright colors and refinement. 
Alberti‟s Window published an article The Minoans as Hippies (and an 
Etruscan Thought), where the author speaks of the parallels between the 
Minoans and the hippies of the 1960s. I will quote an extract: “When I was 
an undergrad, one of my professors liked to compare the Minoans to the 
hippies of the 1960s. My teacher isn't the only one who has made this 
comparison. In fact, recently Minoan lilies were cleverly dubbed "the 
ancient equivalent of flower power."1  
My teacher pointed out that the Minoans were very interested in natu-
re (as evident in their art, which often depicts animals and plants) 
and used opium. And I think one could even (jokingly) say that the bright 
colors in some of the frescoes (like the hills in the Spring Fresco from Akro-
tiri, Thera, before 1630 BC, shown above left) are "psychedelic."2 I don't 
mind the hippie comparison, especially if it can help students to 
differentiate between the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations. I do think 
it's important, though, for students to know that the comparison isn't 
perfect. For example, the fact that the Minoans had fortifications (despite 
what Sir Arthur Evans argued) and were possibly involved in human 
sacrifices suggest, that these people weren't all about love and peace.  
Speaking of Minoans and the Spring Fresco, I was struck today about 
how there some similarities between this painting and a tomb are painting 
from the Etruscan period (Boys Climbing Ricks and Diving, from Tomb of 
Hunting and Fishing in Tarquinia, late 6th century BC). Both paintings 
depict brightly colored hills (with the mounds divided into multiple 
colors). In both cases, the hills are adorned with spindly vegetation 
(the Spring Fresco depicts stylized lilies, but I don't think there is enough 
detail to identify the Etruscan plant). Additionally, the two paintings have 
birds darting about in the air. I know that over 1,000 years separate these 
frescoes (not to mention that they are from different geographic areas – the 
Minoans were on islands in the Aegean Sea and the Etruscans were on 
mainland Italy), but I think the similarities are interesting.”5 
 
                                                 
5  Alberti‟s Window, The Minoans as Hippies (and an Etruscan Thought), 
http://albertis-window.blogspot.com/2010/11/minoans-as-hippies-and-etruscan-
thought.html 
Dali Nadibaidze 
 
338 
 
 
 
 
 
I cannot say whether the Minoan frescoes were truly created under the 
effect of opium, and whether the bright, emotionally charged colors on 
both frescoes (the Spring Fresco from Akrotiri and the above-mentioned 
fresco from Tarquinia) are psychoactive, but it is truly a great art, exerting 
an unforgettable impression on the visitor. One may have a feeling of 
being part of the process – whether it is the scene of boys‟ jumping from 
Minoan Art and the Role of Greek and Roman... 
 
339 
the hill into water or blooming lilies on spring mountains, with swallows 
flying above them, or the fascinating colors of the blue bird and the 
dolphins of the Palace of Knossos. All this is „contagious‟ and delivers a 
strong impression, which may even be considered as imitating the impact 
of intoxication. However, the assumption might even be true. Anyway, 
the frescoes of Knossos, Theran painting and Etruscan art are aligned to 
the same style of painting and, probably, are among the most impressive 
human creations. 
The refined style and the bright colours, which sometimes become 
tender but remain cheerful and combine in perfect harmony, were 
inherited from antique art by Christian painting, as Christianity is the 
religion of life, immortality, and the victory of life over death. As 
commonly known, black colour is not at all used in Orthodox iconography 
to indicate that the divine light shines even in the hell. Therefore, the 
bright colors conveying the life-giving spirit of spring are acceptable in 
Christianity. According to R. Gordeziani, “The spread of the Greek 
civilization was motivated by its unparalleled sublimity.”6 I believe it was 
among the characteristics of antique art that proved acceptable for 
Christian art. If we look at frescoes, we will notice a gradual transition 
from Minoan to Etruscan art and the development of Roman painting 
under the influence of Etruscan and Greek art. Later, the antique tradition 
of painting played its role in the development of an art on Christian 
themes, which on its part fostered the purely Christian art, conveying in it 
Christian spirit and featuring saints.  
 
 
       
 
The Frescoes of the Palace of Knossos  Dolphins, The Frescoes from the Palace  
(Museum of Iraklion, 16th-15th BC) of Knossos 
                                                 
6  Gordeziani R., Greek Civilization, I, 15, Tbilisi 1988. 
Dali Nadibaidze 
 
340 
 
 
      
 
    The Blue Bird, A Fresco from Knossos, 1550 BC 
 
 
The plant and animal images in early Christian painting are mainly 
symbolic though plants may often appear as decorations. After the 
legalization of Christianity in the 4th century, symbol lost its function in 
Christian painting and was banned. Plant and animal images were only 
supposed to have an allusive function or to take part in rendering a plot. 
For instance, rooster used to be depicted on an icon to allude to the 
Apostle Peter‟s disowning of Christ, as had been prophesied by the Lord 
(John 13: 38). Canonical Christian icon painting, started from the 4th 
century, preserved the shapes and colours of antique painting and at the 
same time introduced an altogether new trend, which had a special import 
(see below the comparisons) and served as a window connecting man 
with the Lord, as Father Paul Florensky put it. 
 
Minoan Art and the Role of Greek and Roman... 
 
341 
Early Christian painting, Mosaic Floor in Tabgha  (4th century AD) 
 
       
 
 
 
 
     
 
 
Dali Nadibaidze 
 
342 
 
Church Mosaic Plan 
 
Each epoch contributed to Christian painting in a special way. Greeks 
donated to it, and to art in general, an especially high intellectual spirit, 
while Christianity added to it the grace of the Holy Spirit, which 
distinguishes icon from picture and elevates human heritage, manifested 
in art, to the Heaven and to God. 
Minoan and Etruscan art embodies life, the earth and is beautiful; 
antique art is humane and at the same time is sublime, fascinating and 
intellectual, while in Christian art this beauty is connected to God, to the 
Kingdom of Heavens and conveys its Divine call and supreme nature.  
 
 
Minoan Art and the Role of Greek and Roman... 
 
343 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Primavera A Fresco in Stabiae, Pompeii, 1st century BC 
 
Dali Nadibaidze 
 
344 
       
 
Rublev‟s Trinit;, on the right is the Archangel 
 
         
Europa and the Bull  The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, 15th  
A fresco in Pompeii, 1st century AD  a Russian Orthodox icon 
 


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