Animalistic Code in “The Tale of Macarius of Rome”

Abstract

The article sheds light on the ethical and aesthetic functions of animalistic code in “The Tale of Macarius of Rome,” an apocryphal journey into Paradise of Byzantine origin. In this study, I investigate and compare the Greek 6th-century protographe of the apocryphal work, and Russian (14th century) and Ukrainian (17th century) versions of the text. The main differences between Byzantine (Greek) manuscripts and their translations into Old Church Slavonic, especially in Ukrainian medieval literature,are shown. The images of apocryphal zoomorphic creatures are divided into four groups: literary images of exotic fauna (elephants, leopards, unicorns, onocentaurs, androgyns, and dog-headed people), allegories (lions), symbols (sirens), and effaced allegories (images of zoomorphic psychopomps – onagers, deer, pigeons, snakes). The sources of the poetics for each of them are also highlighted. The transcoding specifics of the biblical zoological code in medieval literary journeys to the earthly paradise are traced. The study emphasizes relationships among cultural representations of the Other and images of literary beasts in both medieval belles-lettres and folklore. Special attention is accorded to the characteristics of animalistic symbol, allegory, and effaced allegory inside the medieval episteme. It is shown that the most frequently used animal images in medieval culture were anchored in a common textual tradition (Greco-Roman geographical treatises, Christian cosmological works, the Bible, bestiaries), functioning in narratives as rhetorical figures. Nevertheless, in “The Tale of Macarius of Rome”, occasional literary images of the beasts are also found.