Agathangelos (in , in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

"bearer of good news", 5th century AD) is the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

of the author of a life of the first apostle of Armenia,

Gregory the Illuminator Gregory the Illuminator ( – ) was the founder and first official Catholicos of All Armenians, head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He Christianization of Armenia, converted Armenia from Zoroastrianism in Armenia, Zoroastrianism to Chris ...

, who died about 332. The history attributed to Agathangelos is the main source for the

Christianization of Armenia Christianity first spread to Armenia prior to the official adoption of the faith in the early fourth century, although the details are obscure. In the early fourth century, the Kingdom of Greater Armenia adopted Christianity as its state religio ...

in the early 4th century. The "standard" version of Agathangelos' history accepted in the Armenian tradition dates to the second half of the 5th century. This version was soon translated into Greek; on the basis of this Greek translation, a translation into Arabic was made, as well as many secondary Greek, Latin and Ethiopic versions. Another, earlier Armenian version of the history, now lost, was the basis for two Greek, two Arabic, and a Karshuni translation. The earliest surviving manuscript containing text from Agathangelos is a palimpsest kept in the Mekhitarist library in Vienna; the original text on the palimpsest dates to earlier than the 10th century. Other fragments are dated to the 10th and subsequent centuries. The earliest manuscripts containing the complete history of Agathangelos date to the 12th and 13th centuries. He claims to be a secretary of Tiridates III, King of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

in the early 4th century, but the life was not written before the 5th century. It purports to exhibit the deeds and discourses of Gregory, and has reached us in

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

, Georgian, Syriac, Ethiopic,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. The text of this history has been considerably altered, but it has always been in high favor with the Armenians. Von Gutschmid maintains that the unknown author made use of a genuine life of St. Gregory and of the

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

dom of Saint

Rhipsime Hripsime (, died c. 290), also called Rhipsime, Ripsime, Ripsima, Ripsimia, Ripsimus, Arbsima or Arsema (), was a martyr of Roman origin; she and her companions in martyrdom are venerated as some of the first Christian martyrs of Armenia. Biogra ...

and her companions. Historical facts are intermingled in this life with legendary or uncertain additions, and the whole is woven into a certain unity by the narrator, who may have assumed his significant name from his quality of narrator of "the good news" of Armenia's conversion. It has been translated into several languages, and

and

translations are found in the ''Acta Sanctorum Bollandistarum'', tome viii.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * *

External links

Agathangelos in the Digital Library of Armenian LiteratureAgathangelos at Livius.org
{{Authority control Historians of the Caucasus Medieval Armenian historians Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown