Narratio Aphroditiani
Standard abbreviation: Leg. Aphr.
Other titles: also known in scholarship as the “Narrative of Events Happening in Persia on the Birth of Christ,” falsely attributed to Julius Africanus
Clavis numbers: ECCA 974; CANT 55
VIAF: 185992517
Category: Infancy Gospels
Related literature: De gestis in Perside, Doctrine of Addai, On the Star by Pseudo-Eusebius of Caesarea, Revelation of the Magi, Sibylline Oracles 8; John Damascene, Homilia in nativitatem Domini
Compiled by Tony Burke, York University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Legend of Aphroditianus.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/legend-of-aphroditianus/.
Posted August 2017. Current as of January 2024.
1. SUMMARY
The Legend of Aphroditianus is a supplement to the pericope of the adoration of the Magi in Matthew 2:1–12. It first explains how the Magi knew about the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem and then describes their journey and their encounter with Christ and Mary in more detail than the canonical account. In its first part (chaps. 1-6), Leg. Aphr. describes a miracle in the temple of Hera in Persia at the time of Jesus’ birth (1). In the presence of the Persian king and a priest, the statues of the temple dance and sing, announcing that Hera has been made pregnant by Zeus and will give birth to a child (2). Then a star appears above the statue of Hera. A voice proclaims the birth, and all the other statues fall down upon their faces (3). The wise men of Persia interpret the miracle as an announcement of the birth of the Messiah in Judah (4). In the evening, the god Dionysus appears to confirm this interpretation and to proclaim the end of the worship of the pagan gods (5). Then the king sends the Magi to Judea with gifts, the star pointing them along their way (6). The second part of Leg. Aphr. (chaps. 7–9) is a report of the Magi about their journey to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, including a discussion between the Magi and the Jewish leaders (7), and their meeting and encounter with Mary and the two-year-old Jesus (8). Of interest here are the precise description of Mary’s appearance (8:4) and the remark that the Magi brought back to Persia a likeness of the mother and child, which they placed in the temple where the star originally appeared. The report of the Magi concludes with the appearance of an angel who, warning the Magi of a plot against them, advises them to return home (9).
Named historical figures and characters: Cyrus, Dionysus, Helios, Hera, Herod (the Great), Jesus Christ, Judah (patriarch), Karia, Magi, Mary (Virgin), Muses, Pege, Prouippus, Tyche, Urania.
Geographical locations: Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Judea, Persia, temple (Jerusalem).
2. RESOURCES
2.1 Web Sites
“De gestis in Perside.” ANR Ctesiphon (introduction to the text and French translation by Pauline Bringel; Greek text from Wirth’s edition).
2.2 Art and Iconography
Two Byzantine manuscripts of John of Damascus’s Homilia in nativitatem Domini include miniatures related to the contents of the text. Reproductions of the Leg. Aphr. images are provided in Heyden, Die “Erzählung des Aphroditian,” 344–52, tabl. 38–48 (with analysis pp. 67–93); see also Jacqueline Lafontaine-Dosogne, “L’illustration du cycle des Mages suivant l’homélie sur la Nativité attribuée à Jean Damascène,” Mus 100 (1987): 208–18.
Jerusalem, Patriarchikē bibliothēkē, Panagios Taphos 14 (11th cent.) ~ (9 illuminations); Pinakes
Mount Athos, Monē Esphigmenou, 14 (11th cent.) ~ (17 illuminations); Pinakes
Bronze portals of Kremlin cathedrals include Aphroditianus among other pagan figures (e.g., Homer, Sibyl) who are said to have announced the coming of Christ. Examples include the north portal of the Blagoveschenskij Sobor and south portal of Usbenskij Sobor. Images in Heyden, Die “Erzählung des Aphroditian,” 304–307, tabl. 1–4.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Armenian
Bratke (Das sogenannte Religionsgespräch, 128) mentions an Armenian version of the text, but this has not yet been published.
3.1.2 Church Slavic (as a reading for December 25)
Slav I: excerpt from De gestis in Perside made, probably in Bulgaria, in the tenth century (58 manuscripts).
Slav II: translation from a different version of De gestis in Perside (the model is Mount Athos, Vatopedi, gr. 10 [14th cent.]) in the fourteenth century probably by Serbian monks of Mount Athos (34 known manuscripts).
Ladder of Jacob 4.37–75 (adaptation); see Christfried Böttrich and Sabine Fahl, eds., Leiter Jakobs, Jüdische Schriften aus hellenistisch-römischer Zeit, Neue Folge 1/6 (Gütersloh: Gütersloher, 2015).
Speech on the Star of Hera (incorporates elements); edition in Jurij K. Begunov, “Новонайденное апокрифическое ‘Слово о звезде Ираны.’” Zeitschrift für Slawistik 28 (1983): 238–57.
Bobrov, Alexander G. The Apocryphal Legend of Aphroditianus in the Literature and Book-making of Old Russia. Dissertation and Edition (in Russian). St. Petersburg: Nauka, 1994 (edition of Slav II, pp. 127–32).
Veder, William R. “The Slavonic Tale of Aphroditian: Limitations of Manuscript-Centred Textology.” Tărnovska knižovna škola 9 (2009): 344–58 (edition of Slav I).
3.1.3 Greek
3.1.3.1 Independent Narrative
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, gr. 61, fols. 313r–316r (ca. 1550) ~ Pinakes; IMAGES
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, gr. 199, fols. 292v–295v (ca. 1550); Pinakes; IMAGES
Aretin, Johann Freiherr von. Beyträge zur Geschichte und Literatur, vorzüglich aus den Schätzen der pflazbaierischen Centralbibliothek zu München. 2 vols. München: Scherer, 1804 (editio princeps of Leg. Aphr. as an independent text based on the two Munich manuscripts, with Latin translation, pp. 49–69).
Migne, Jacques Paul. Patrologiae cursus completus: Series graeca. Vol. 10. Paris: Cerf, 1857 (republication of Aretin’s text, cols. 97–108).
3.1.3.2 De gestis in Perside (BHG 802–806)
The oldest written version is incorporated in an anonymous Greek work entitled De gestis in Perside, a fifth- or sixth-century fictional religious dispute between pagans, Christians, Jews, and a Persian magus at the court of the Sasanian Empire.
Short Recension
J Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. gr. 4, fols. 109r–122r (10th/11th cent.) ~ Pinakes; Heidelberg
Long Recension
A Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 1084, fols. 206r–247r (11th cent.)
C Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, gr. 467, fols. 149v–171r (11th cent.) ~ Pinakes; IMAGES
Mount Athos, Monê Batopediou, gr. 10, fols. 139r–152v (14th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Moscow, Gosudarstvennyj Istoričeskij Musej, Synod. gr. 252 (11th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. gr. 364, fols. 37r–55r, 80r–81v (14th/15th cent.)
Bratke, Eduard. Das sogenannte Religionsgespräch am Hof der Sassaniden. TU N.F. 4/3. Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1899 (comparison of 29 manuscripts of Pers. and a new edition with A as its base).
Bringel, Pauline. “Une polémique religieuse à la cour perse: le De gestis in Perside. Histoire du téxte, édition critique et traduction.” 2 vols. PhD diss., Université de Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, 2007 (comprehensive edition and translation of Pers. drawing on 14 additional manuscripts, with French translation; divided the evidence into two recensions: a short one that is preserved in J and a long one found in all other manuscripts, of which Bringel favored C as the best witness).
Vassiliev, Athanasius. Anecdota graeco-byzantina, pars prior. Moscow: Imperial University, 1893 (editio princeps based on Moscow Synod. gr. 252 and Vatican, Palat. 364, pp. 73–125, with manuscript details pp. xxvii–xxxii.)
Wirth, Albrecht. Aus Orientalischen Chroniken. Frankfurt-am-Main: M. Diesterweg, 1894 (Greek edition based on C, pp. 152–193).
3.1.3.3 John Damascene, Homilia in nativitatem Domini
Kotter, Bonifatius ed. Die Schriften des Johannes von Damaskos. 5 vols. PTS 7, 12, 17, 22, 29. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1969–1988 (the homily, preserved in 58 manuscripts, incorporates Leg. Aphr.; text in vol. 5, pp. 324–47).
3.1.4 Romanian
Translation from Slav II.
Gaster, M. “Die rumänische Version der Legende des Aphroditian.” Byzantinisch-Neugriechische Jahrbücher 14 (1938): 119-28 (German translation from a seventeenth-century manuscript.)
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Heyden, Katherina. “The Legend of Aphroditianus: A New Translation and Introduction.” Pages 3–18 in New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Vol. 1. Edited by Tony Burke and Brent Landau. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016 (translation based on editions of Bratke and Bringel).
Roberts, Alexander, and James Donaldson, eds. “Narrative of Events Happening in Persia on the Birth of Christ.” ANF 6:128–30 (as a work of Julius Africanus).
3.3 General Works
Bringel, Pauline. “Interprétation et réécritures dans la tradition manuscrite du Récit d’Aphroditien.” Pages 285–96 in Entré Actes. Regards croisès en sciences humaines. Réalités et représentations: les pistes de la recherche. Actes du Ier Colloque international des jeunes chercheurs en sciences humaines et sociales de Strasbourg, 10 et 11 mai 2004. Edited by Laurent Angard. Strasbourg: Université Marc Bloch, 2005.
Déroche, Vincent. “La polémique anti-judaique au Vie et au VIIe siècle. Un mémento inédit, les Képhalaia.“ Travaux et Memoires 11 (1991): 275–311.
Heyden, Katharina. “The Legend of Aphroditian.” Pages 116–28 in Early New Testament Apocrypha. Edited by J. Christopher Edwards. Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies 9. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2022.
__________. Die “Erzählung des Aphroditian.” Thema und Variationen einer Legende im Spannungsfeld von Christentum und Heidentum. Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum 53. Tübingen: Morh Siebeck, 2009. (Further bibliography may be found here.)
__________. “Die Christliche Geschichte des Philippos von Side. Mit einem kommentierten Katalog der Fragmente.” Pages 209–43 in Julius Africanus und die christliche Weltchronistik. Edited by Martin Wallraff. TU 157. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter 2006.
Kaufmann, Carl Maria. “La pègè du temple d’Hiérapolis.” RHE 2 (1901): 529–48.
Külzer, Andreas. Disputationes graecae contra Iudaeos. Untersuchungen zur byzantinischen antijüdischen Dialogliteratur und ihrem Judenbild. Byzantinisches Archiv 18. Leipzig/Stuttgart: Teubner, 1999.
Monneret de Villard, Ugo. Le leggende orientali sui magi evangelici. Studi e Testi 163. Vatican: Biblioteca apostolica vaticana, 1952.
Schwartz, Eduard. “Aphroditianos.” PW 1: 2788–93.