The shorter version of the apocryph the history of Aphroditian the Persian

Abstract

This paper deals with the apocryph known as The History or The Narrative of Aphroditian the Persian. The topic of his narrative is the coming of the Magi from the East to Bethlehem in order to announce the birth of Christ. Their journey is marked by the miraculous guidance they receive from a star pointing their way. The motives of the journey of the Magi are contained in Chapter Two of the Gospel According to Matthew. The longer variant of the apocryph contains elements of the biblical basis to a considerable degree. In addition to this, it also contains polemical parts about faith originating from the court of the Persian King Arenat, featuring the participation of Christians, heretics and Jews. Aphroditian, as the High Priest and the King?s adviser, was entrusted with the task of deciding on the outcome of their debate. In doing so, he was partial to the Christian participants. A critical view of the apocryph on Aphroditian was expressed by Maximus the Greek in a separate text. This apocryph is known in Serbian copies in two variants, the longer and the shorter one. For the purpose of analysis within this paper, we have used two copies of the shorter version, dating from the 16th and the 17th century respectively; the first one is from the collection of the Archive of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts no. 428, whereas the other is from the Library of the Patriarchate in Belgrade, signature no. 343. In the addendum, we enclose the text of the apocryph.