The Miracles of St Artemios: Literary Techniques and Readers
independent researcher
For citation: Mantova, Yulia B. The Miracles of St Artemios: Literary Techniques and Readers // Graphosphaera. 2023. Vol. 3. № 2. P. 76–94. URL: http://writing.igh.ru/index.php?id=2023-3-2-12-23
DOI: 10.32608/2782-5272-2023-3-2-76-94
Abstract: The Collection of Miraсles of St Artemios is well-known as a unique historical and literary source, but it still seems to offer further opportunities for research in literary perspective. So, the present paper focuses mainly on versatile literary devices which guarantee the gripping character of the tales. The plot of each story manages to maintain a sense of surprise, to hold the reader/listener’s attention, and to convey a sense of believability and compassion for the hero before the final sigh of relief in admiration at the excellence of God. Achieving such an effect is a somewhat challenging task, particularly when we take into consideration the fact that all the stories are based on the same fabula. In almost all tales, a suffering person seeks for healing from Artemios before finally receiving the treatment that he desires. So, from the very beginning we are basically aware of both the problem which triggers the narrative and how the story will end. However, none of the stories repeats the other completely. The effect is achieved due to a number of reasons. In this article, we touch upon the issues of plot construction and intrigue, however, the main attention is paid to the psychological motivation of the characters and how different literary techniques could interact with the reader.
Key words: Byzantine hagiography, miracles collection, St Artemios, healing by a saint, novella, Constantinople, hernia, medieval medicine
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