2 94. CHURCH POETRY. 405
hymns, buried in a vast mass of monotonous, bombastic and tasteless laudations of unknown confessors and martyrs, and wonder- working images. l
The Greek church poetry begins properly with the anonymous but universally accepted and truly immortal Gloria in Excelsis of the third century.2 The poems of Gregory of Nazianzus (d. 390), and Synesius of Cyrene (d. about 414), who used the ordinary classical measures, are not adapted and were not in tended for public worship. 3
The first hymuist of the Byzantine period, is ANATOLIUS, patriarch of Constantinople (d. about 458). He struck out the new path of harmonious prose, and may be compared to Venantius Fortunatus in the West. 4
We now proceed to the classical period of Greek church poetry.
In the front rank of Greek hymnists stands ST. JOHN OF DAMASCUS, surnarned Hansur (d. in extreme old age about 780). He is the greatest systematic theologian of the Eastern church and chief champion of image-worship against iconoclasm under the reigns of Leo the Isaurian (717-741), and Constantiuus
1 Even Neale, with all his admiration for the Greek Church, admits that the Mencca contain a *' deluge of worthless compositions : tautology repeated till it becomes almost sickening; the merest commonplace, again and again decked in the tawdry shreds of tragic language, and twenty or thirty times presenting the same thought in slightly varying terms." (Hymns E. Ch. p. 88 eq., 3d ed.)
2 See vol. II. 227, and add to the lit. there quoted : Christ, p. 38-40, who gives from the Codex Alexandrinus and other MSS. the Greek text of the morning hymn (the expanded Angelic anthem Adfa EV vipiarot^ #e<p) and two evening hymns (AivEirs, TraZJef, nvpiov} and 4>cJf I7.apuv dyiaq dof^f) of the Greek church.
3 See vol. III. 581 and 921. Christ begins his collection with the hymns of Synesius, p. 3-23, and of Gregory Nazianzen, 23-32.
4 See the specimens in vol. III. 583-585. Neale begins his translations with Anatolius. Christ treats of him p. XLI, and gives his ortxripa. avacrdaiua and three M;<5//£/la (hymns with their own, melody), 113-117. More than a hundred poems in the Men&a and the Octoechvs hear the name of Anatolius. but Christ conjectures that on^r/pa dvarohiitd is a generic name, like KaravvKTiK.6. and
406 FOUETH PERIOD. A. D. 590-1049.
Copronymus (741-775). He spent a part of his life in the con vent of Mar Saba (or St. Sabas) in the desolate valley of the Kedron, between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea.1 He was thought to have been especially inspired by the Virgin Mary, the patron of that Convent, to consecrate his muse to the praise of Christ. He wrote a great part of the Octcechus, which con tains the Sunday services of the Eastern church. His canon for Easter Day is called " the golden Canon " or " the queen of Canons," and is sung at midnight before Easter, beginning with 'the shout of joy, "Christ is risen," and the response, " Christ is risen indeed." His memory is celebrated Decem ber 4.2
Next to him, and as melodist even above him in the estimation of the Byzantine writers, is ST. COSMAS OF JERUSALEM, called the Melodist. He is, as Neale says, " the most learned of the Greek poets, and the Oriental Adam of St. Victor." Cosmas and John of Damascus were foster-brothers, friends and fellowmonks at Mar Saba, and corrected each other's compositions. Cosmas was against his will consecrated bishop of Maiuma near Gaza in Southern Palestine, by John, patriarch of Jerusalem.
1 See a description of this most curious structure in all Palestine, in my book Through Bible Lands (N. Y. 1879), p. 278 sqq.
2 The poetry of John of D. in his Opera ed. Le Quien (Par. 1712), Tom. I. 673-693; Poetce Graeci veteres (Colon. 1614), Tom. II. 737 sqq.; Christ, Anthol. gr. Prol. XLIV. sqq., p. 117-121, and p. 205-236. Vormbaum, in Daniel, III. 80-97, gives six of his odes in Greek ; Bassler, 162-164, two (and two in German, 21, 22) ; Neale nine English versions. The best of his hymns and canons are Eif T?JV %pioTov yivvrjCLv (or eif TTJV tfeoyovmv), E<f ra &eoc>6,VKiat Eif rrjv Kvpia.Kr/v TOV Tlda^a, Eif T?JV TrevTEKOGTfjv, Elf TTJV avaTiqipiv TOV Xpicrov, Ei*;^, 'IfiiopeAa tv aKoA,ov9ia TOV ^odiaoTiKov, Eif rr/v Koiftqatv rrj<; #eord/coi>. The last begins with this stanza (Christ, p. 229) :
' Avoi^u TO GT6fj.a fiov,
Kal Tr%ijp(j$r/aeTa
not "Xoyov kpsvt-ofiat Ty
itdi you yrj&6[Ji£vos TO.VTTJS ra