Physiologus

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In the Physiologus the stag is described as the serpent's mortal enemy and thus equated with Christ who fights the devil - San Pietro fuori le mura (Spoleto)

The Physiologus (Greek Φυσιολόγος ) is an early Christian doctrine of nature in the Greek language . The first records arose in the 2nd to 4th centuries. The original Physiologus consists of 48 chapters, in which plants, stones and animals are described and allegorically interpreted in terms of Christian salvation events. The Physiologus found widespread use in the Christian Orient and medieval Europe and has been translated into many languages.

origin

Physiologus is the Latinized form of ancient Greek φυσιολόγος physiológos , which means 'examining the nature of natural bodies' or 'examining nature in its essence and its reasons and explaining it to others' or specifically 'natural scientist' or 'natural philosopher' . In this sense Physiologus refers to an anonymous source to whom the work refers and whom it cites. In some arrangements he is associated with personalities such as Solomon or Aristotle . In principle, however, the question of historical authorship is secondary, as the author's name may only have been mentioned to legitimize the source of the text without having a real model. The authors usually do not name themselves in the older versions and they rarely appear in later versions. It can therefore be assumed that the Physiologus was regarded as a kind of common property from late antiquity to the Middle Ages .

The original Greek Physiologus was probably created in Alexandria in the 2nd century . It consists of 48 sections that deal mostly with real or fabulous animals, such as the caladrius , but also a tree ( peridexion ) and some minerals. The later Byzantine Physiologus contains six additions. In addition, there is a more moralizing version with 30 sections, which is assigned to the church father Basilius .

The individual chapters are usually structured in such a way that, after an introduction, which names the animal, and the formulaic phrase The Physiologus says of ... statements are made about the behavior of the animal in certain situations. An analogy to Christian salvation history is then made from the described properties, the character and behavior of the animal . Either there are symbolic parallels to Christ , his sacrificial death, his resurrection or redemption (e.g. in the behavior of the pelican mother to awaken her young with her blood) or the animals provide an example of Christian virtues . The aim is less to provide natural history information to the readership, in contrast to the ancient models, in which nature was even more important, than to prove that the visible creation is a sign of a comprehensive Christian plan of salvation. Completed most chapters of the formula Well said, the Physiologus about ... . In the version according to Basilius, a moralizing interpretation follows.

distribution

In the 5th century the Physiologus was translated into Ethiopian , and it was also translated into Syriac several times from the 5th century onwards. In addition, remnants of a Coptic translation, one Armenian and two Arabic versions are known. Georgian and Russian translations have survived from the 15th century . After the Physiologus became known in Romanian in the 16th century, it was translated into Serbian, Bulgarian and Czech.

The Latin Physiologus editions were of great importance . The first translations date back to before 431 AD and the earliest manuscripts are from the 8th / 9th centuries. Century preserved. In the end, two Latin versions were created: Dicta Chrysostomi and Physiologus Theobaldi . These were the templates for the German arrangements from which the later medieval bestiaries developed.

The oldest Germanic translation is an Anglo-Saxon poetic adaptation from the 9th century. Two more English versions followed later, as well as a Flemish and an Old Icelandic translation (in two fragments around 1200). Old French bestiaires from the 12th century onwards closely follow the Physiologus , and the influence of the Physiologus is also unmistakable in the Libro de los Gatos , which originated in Spain in the 14th century. In addition, bestiaries influenced by the Physiologus emerged in the region of today's Italy. Overall, the Physiologus is one of the most widespread works in Europe during the Middle Ages.

Armenian Physiologus

The Armenian translation of the Physiologus was made around the year 600. With a number of animal fables, such as those by Aesop , which were translated from Greek, the work is included in the Baroyakhos (“Moralist”) collection. Motifs from the Physiologus found their way into the religious tradition of the Armenian Apostolic Church and are part of the iconography of Armenian miniature painting . In the Armenian depictions of the crucifixion of Christ there is a lion sleeping under the cross, which is missing in the four Gospels . The Physiologus states that a lioness gives birth to a dead cub. On the third day the male lion comes by and blows and screams over the dead cub until it comes to life. In the crucifixion scene, the lion symbolizes Christ, who, with God's will, rises from the dead on the third day.

In the miniature of the baptism of Jesus in the Etchmiadzin Gospel from the end of the 6th or beginning of the 7th century, pink pelicans appear on the edge of the sacrament chalices, a motif unknown in Byzantine art . According to the Physiologus, the pelican pecks in its chest and brings its dead cub back to life with its own blood. According to the Armenian faith tradition, he behaves like Christ sacrificing himself on the cross.

German Physiologus editions

German "Physiologi" were translated from Latin by the 15th century. One Old High German and two Early Middle High German versions from the 11th and 12th are preserved. Century, as well as some “Physiologi Theobaldi” of the 15th century.

Old High German Physiologus

The “older” or Old High German Physiologus is the translation of a Latin Dicta version and was created around 1070. Of the original 27 chapters, 12 are preserved, those in a Viennese manuscript (Cod. Vind. 223) as a “stop-gap” between a writing by Eugenius by Toledo and a piece of Virgil commentary have come down to us. The Hirsau Monastery is believed to be the place of origin of the manuscript . The text breaks off after the first 12 animals in the lizard chapter. All in all, like the original, it has been greatly shortened, and the few quotations from the Bible include two Latin citations.

Text example hyena

A tîer heizzit ígena un íst uuílon uuíb, uuîlon mân,

unde durih daz is ez vile impure: solihe uuarin di

the erist Crist petiton, un after diu abbot begin.

Daz bézêichenet di der neuuedir noh unloved noh rehtgelubige nesint.

From diu chat Salomon:> Dídir zuivaltic sint in irro heart,

dîe sint ôuh zuivaltic in iro uuerchin. <

An animal is called a hyena and is sometimes a woman, sometimes a man,

and therefore it is very unclean: so were they

who first worshiped Christ and then worshiped idols.

This means those who are no longer unbelievers or orthodox.

Solomon speaks of this: 'Those who are twofold in their hearts,

they are also twofold in their works. <

Early Middle High German Physiologus issues

The Wiener-Prosa-Physiologus and the rhymed Millstätter Physiologus have been preserved from the early Middle High German period . Both go back to a common model, a Latin Dicta version, and are each passed down in collective manuscripts between the Old High German Genesis and the Old High German Exodus story. The younger or prose physiologus consists of 27 chapters and is dated to 1200. It is written in the Bavarian-Austrian dialect with Swabian sprinkles. In contrast to the Old High German Physiologus , all biblical quotations are Germanized, which could indicate that this version was intended for presentation to laypeople . The Millstätter Physiologus is a version implemented in simple rhymes from the Bavarian-Austrian language area. The text is illustrated with simple line drawings. In addition to these two traditions, there is also a fragment in a 12th century manuscript. However, this so-called Schäftlarn fragment is too small to be classified.

Late medieval Physiologus editions

Three German versions of the Physiologus Theobaldi have survived from the 15th century : the Physiologus Theobaldi deutsch , the Indersdorfer Physiologus and the Physiologus Theobaldi in pairs. The Melker Physiologus also dates from this time. These are 20 lines on three stone tablets in Daniel's Church in Celje (Slovenia). So far, however, this could not be assigned to any template and differs from the traditional Physiologus in terms of both the chapters and the names and descriptions of the animals. Its transmission ends with the tradition of the Physiologus in the 15th century. After 1500 the animals and their interpretations still live on, but the Physiologus no longer exists as an independent, literary work.

effect

The Physiologus had a lasting effect on the visual arts and literature of the Middle Ages and modern times. Because of its widespread use, it is believed to be the source of many animal stories, but this cannot always be proven. Specific references can be found in both spiritual and secular texts. The reports of unicorns , phoenixes , beavers and turtledoves can still be found in Don Quixote .

The Physiologus had its greatest impact in the area of ​​Christian iconography . Particularly legendary motifs of the Physiologus z. For example, in the depiction of the lion who animates his cubs by breathing on them, the pelican who uses his blood to bring his cubs to life, which he himself had killed (the version that he feeds the cubs with his blood is a later version Downplaying history), but also the unicorn and the phoenix are often depicted. According to Otto Seel , animals are not treated in the sense of biology, but as an ideogram . It's about symbolic outlines that remain transparent towards the mystical and offer contours without filling.

The Physiologus even leaves its mark on scientific zoology. Thus one finds in the Historia animalium by Conrad Gessner still mid-16th century references to the story of the lion.

See also

Text editions and translations

  • Theobaldus Episcopus: Physiologus de naturis XII animalium. Heinrich Quentell, Cologne around 1490. Digitized
  • Francis J. Carmody (Ed.): Physiologus latinus. Editions préliminaires, versio B. Paris 1939.
  • Francis J. Carmody (ed.): Physiologus latinus versio Y. Berkeley and Los Angeles 1941 (= University of California Publications in classical philology , 12.7).
  • The Physiologus. Transferred and explained by Otto Seel , Munich 1970; 4th edition ibid 1984.
  • Dimitris Kaimakis (Ed.): The Physiologus after the first editing. Meisenheim am Glan 1974 (= contributions to classical philology , 63).
  • Dieter Offermanns: The Physiologus after the manuscripts G and M. Meisenheim am Glan 1966 (= contributions to classical philology , 22).
  • The Physiologus - Animals and their symbolism , Anaconda, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-938484-01-2
  • Physiologus Greek / German , translated and edited by Otto Schönberger. Reclamverlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-15-018124-0 .
  • Christian Schröder: The Millstätter Physiologus . Text, translation, comment. Königshausen and Neumann, Würzburg 2005, ISBN 3-8260-2736-1 .
  • Friedrich Maurer (Ed.): The old German Physiologus: The Millstätter rhyme version and the Viennese prose (along with the Latin text and the Old High German Physiologue). Tübingen 1967 (= Old German Text Library , 67).
  • Physiologus. Early Christian animal symbolism ; translated and edited by Ursula Treu. Union Verlag, Berlin (East) 1981 ( DNB 810706830 , with a detailed afterword).

literature

  • Stavros Lazaris, Le Physiologus grec , t. 1. La réécriture de l'histoire naturelle antique (Firenze, 2016, Micrologus Library 77) [1]
  • Klaus Alpers :  Physiologus . In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie (TRE). Volume 36, de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2004, ISBN 3-11-017842-7 , pp. 596-602.
  • Horst Brunner: History of German literature in the Middle Ages and the early modern period at a glance . Reclam, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 3-15-009485-2 .
  • Marco Dipetri: The Younger Physiologus. A linguistic investigation . [Early Middle High German / New High German] (=  Philologia series of publications . Volume 153 ). Kovač, Hamburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-8300-5414-6 (dissertation, Uni Bamberg 2008).
  • Wernfried Hofmeister: Narrated animal world between belief and experience . In: Wernfried Hofmeister (Ed.): Medieval knowledge stores . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 2009, ISBN
  • Stavros Lazaris: Quelques considérations sur l'illustration du Physiologus grec. In: B. van den Abeele (ed.): Bestiaires médiévaux. Nouvelles perspectives sur les manuscrits et les traditions textuelles. Actes du XVe colloque international de la Société Internationale Renardienne, Louvain-la-Neuve, 18-22 août 2003 (= Textes, études, congrès. Volume 21). Louvain-la-Neuve 2005, pp. 141-167 ( online ).
  • Werner Seibt et al., "Physiologus". In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages. Artemis, Artemis-Winkler, LexMA-Verlag, Munich / Zurich, Vol. 1–10, here Vol. 7, Munich 1993, Sp. 2117–2122.
  • Meinolf Schumacher : The beaver - an ascetic? On a metaphorical motif from fable and 'Physiologus'. In: Euphorion 86 (1992), pp. 347-353 ( online )
  • Christian Schröder: "Physiologus". In: German-language literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon . (Vol. 1-14), ed. by Kurt Ruh et al., Walter de Gruyter, 2nd edition. Berlin / New York 1978–2008, here Volume 7, 1989, Col. 620–634.
  • Nikolaus Henkel: Studies on the Physiologus in the Middle Ages (=  Hermaea . Volume 38 ). Niemeyer, Tübingen 1976, ISBN 3-484-15034-3 (dissertation, University of Munich 1974). ISBN 978-3-631-57464-5 .
  • Peter Gerlach, “Physiologus”. In: Lexicon of Christian Iconography , Vol. 1–8. Herder, Rome et al. 1968-1976, here Vol. 3, 1971, Col. 432-436.
  • Ben E. Perry: Physiologus. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XX, 1, Stuttgart 1941, Sp. 1074-1129.

Web links

Commons : Physiologus  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Text output

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilhelm Pape , Max Sengebusch (arrangement): Concise dictionary of the Greek language . 3rd edition, 6th impression. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig 1914 ( zeno.org [accessed November 25, 2019]).
  2. ↑ See already Emil Peters: The Greek Physiologus and his oriental translations. Berlin 1898; Reprint Hildesheim 1976.
  3. ↑ Vrej Nersessian: Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Christian art. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles 2001, p 71, ISBN 978-0-89236-639-2
  4. ↑ Thomas F. Mathews, The early Armenian iconographic program of the Ējmiacin Gospel (Erevan, Matenadaran Ms 2374 olim 229) . In: Nina G. Garsoïan, Thomas F. Mathews, Robert W. Thomson (Eds.): East of Byzantium: Syria and Armenia in the Formative Period. A Dumbarton Oaks Symposium. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington (DC) 1982, pp. 211, 213
  5. ^ Physiologus. Transferred and explained by Otto Seel, Munich 1970; 4th edition ibid 1984; P. 98
  6. ↑ See Horst Schneider: Review (PDF; 192 kB), Göttinger Forum für Altertumswwissenschaft 5 (2002), pp. 1019-1034.