Abstract:
The importance of “The Life of St. Ilarion Kartveli” for the history of the
Georgian literature is defined by several factors: a) St. Ilarioni is the first monk
after Petre Iberi out of those well-known Georgian monks in the history of
Christian church who moved abroad to Western Christian countries and laid the
foundation for monastic life there. He has gained great reputation among
religious community and wider society due to his intensive theological practice
that was marked with great honor by the Byzantine emperor after his death. In
the 9th century St. Ilarion Kartveli was the first monk who pioneered going West
that became more intensive from the 10th century and in fact ended by
establishing Georgian monasteries at Mountain of Athos and Black Mountain;
b) “The Life of St. Ilarion Kartveli” is the first religious work, where Georgia is
mentioned as being under special protection of Holly Mother.
Compositional and typological aspects of different editions of “The Life
of St. Ilarion Kartveli” and the hymns dedicated to the Saint are discussed in the
article. The study aims at depicting the image of St. Ilarion by hagiographic
writer, at the exepctional skill of the latter to grasp the details of the spiritual life
of the Saint, on the one hand, and literary and typologocial principles, on the
other hand. When telling his story, the author uses biblical allusions, and
figurative and expressive language.
