1 The Reading PhD Colloquium on Late Antiquity 2018 ἠikὁlaὁὅ Kälviäiὀeὀ, Uὀivέ ὁf ωὄete 4/5/2018 Searching for the historical context of the genesis of the Greek premetaphrastic Passion of St. Marina of Antioch (BHG 1165-7c) 1 Like certain other saints highly popular from the Middle Ages onwards, the martyr Marina of Antioch (usually known as Margaret in the Western tradition) presents us with something of a conundrum when trying to pinpoint the origins of her cult. To put it briefly, the accurately datable historical evidence is all but non-existent, with only a few possible but uncertain exceptions: a veil of darkness stretching all the way to the period around the end of the 8 th century. That is when St. Marina suddenly makes her appearance in the form of the first known manuscripts transmitting the Latin and Greek versions of her Passion text. 2 The text itself clearly belongs in the orbit of the so-called “epic” Passions and is accordingly almost devoid of any reliable historical information, clearly not a contemporary product of the persecutions but part of a genre which is known to have flourished from around the fifth century onwards. 3 My research into the textual history of the Passion is still ongoing, but I am quite confident that comparative analysis will be able to demonstrate the earliest Greek version 4 to be the original, which was followed by another, intended to purge the text of certain theologically awkward elements; 5 both of these formed the basis for translations into other languages. As for the Coptic tradition, St. Marina is not attested in the relatively rich evidence available for Late Antique Egypt 6 and appears for the first time only in the medieval Arabic Synaxarium compiled during the 12 th to 14 th 1 I wish to thank my supervisors Marina Detoraki and Bernard Flusin for their help in preparing this presentation, especially in terms of bibliography (it goes without saying that any inaccuracies are my responsibility), as well as my respondent Arietta Papaconstantinou and the chair, Rev. Mark Laynesmith, for the interesting discussion which followed and for their valuable comments. 2 Turin, Biblioteca Nazionale D. V. 3, late 8 th cent. (see Clayton, M. – Magennis, H. 1994. The Old English Lives of St. Margaret. Cambridge, p. 9) and Sinaiticus ȃǼ ȂΓ 66, 8 th – 9 th cent. (see Ἱİȡὰ ȂȠȞὴ țαὶ ἈȡȤȚİπȚıțȠπὴ ΣȚȞᾶ. 1998. ȉὰ ȃȑα ΕὑȡȒȝαIJα IJοῦ ȈȚȞᾶ. Athens, p. 153). In addition, an ancestor of the text in Paris. gr. 1470 was copied in Rome in 815-20 by the future patriarch Methodius (see Usener, H. 1886. ActἉ Sέ εἉrinἉe et Sέ Christophoriέ Festschrift zur fünften SäculἉrfeier der CἉrl -Ruprechts- Universität zu Heidelberg. Bonn, p. 4-5 and 47). 3 See Delehaye, H. 1966. δes PἉssions des εἉrtyrs et les Genres δittérἉires. (2 nd ed. – 1 st 1921). Paris, pp. 171-226 for a somewhat outdated estimate of the epic PἉssions’ literary qualities but a still very functional exposition of their typology. 4 BHG 1165-6, edited by Usener, Acta S. Marinae, pp. 15-47. 5 BHG 1167(c). I recently presented some preliminary conclusions arguing for the derivative nature of this version and the primacy of BHG 1165-6 in a paper delivered at the 2 nd (9 th ) Meeting of Greek Byzantinists (Univ. of Patras 13-15.12.2017), titled “Ἡ ȤİȚȡȩȖȡαφȘ παȡȐįȠıȘ IJȠ૨ ȝαȡIJυȡȓȠυ IJોȢ ਖȖȓαȢ ȂαȡȓȞαȢ țαὶ IJὸ πȡȩȕȜȘȝα IJોȢ ıȤȑıȘȢ IJ૵Ȟ παȡαȜȜαȖ૵Ȟ BHG 1165-1166 țαὶ 1167(c)”. 6 See Papaconstantinou, A. 2001. δe Culte des SἉints en Égypteέ Des ByzἉntins Ἁux AbbἉssidesέ δ’Ἁpport des inscriptions et des papyrus grecs et coptes. Paris.