Continuity and Discontinuity in Climacus’ Ladder of the Divine Ascent
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Medioevo greco |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Mass media, audiovision |
| Keywords | John Climacus; Ladder of Divine Ascent; Byzantine literature; ascetic literature |
| Description | The paper deals with the position of Climacus’ main work The Ladder of the Divine Ascent in the canon of Byzantine literature. The importance of traits that place the work to the classical literary tradition is evaluated in comparison with features that approximate it to biblical literary tradition and later Byzantine literature. The last part of the article discusses the idea of isangelia which is elaborated in the whole of the treatise and brings elements known from the desert ascetic tradition to the Ladder. John Climacus’ work was created on the edge of two historical epochs - the vanishing classical world and the world of Byzantium, still unclear. It is a unique testimony to the transformation of literary aesthetics in this period of transition. |
| Related projects: |