Akathistos

DIMITRI CONOMOS

The most famous of all surviving Byzantine kontakia. This anonymous work, which celebrates the annunciation of the Virgin and the nativity of Christ, consists of two prooemia (introductory hymns) and 24 strophes bound by an alphabetic acrostic. The Akathistos (Gk. “not seated”) was, and still is, performed while the con­gregation stands. The even-numbered stanzas carry an alleluia refrain, whereas the odd-numbered oikoi include a set of Salutations to the Virgin: 12 lines in metri­cally matching pairs, each line beginning with “Hail!” Each oikos ends with the refrain “Hail, Bride Unwedded!”

Metrically, this poem is unique, as its cen­tral part is formed of alternating strophes of two different lengths. The texts of the first 12 oikoi elaborate on the incarnation and the infancy of Christ, whereas the last 12 alternate praise of God with praises to the Virgin. The whole coalesces to create a subtly interwoven tapestry of images that is one of the high points of Byzantine poetry. Syriac elements are evident in the deliberate use of rhyme found in the pairs of lines of equal length of the longer strophes. This and the kontakion On Judas, attributed to Romanos the Melodist, are the only examples in the whole of Greek poetry of the use of rhyme before the conquest of Greek lands by the Franks during the Fourth Crusade (1204–61).

Like most Byzantine kontakia, the Akathistos draws extensively on the Scrip­tures and on a number of famous prose sermons, but it retains a striking individu­ality. With bold similes the poet succeeds in blending the overwhelming mystery of the incarnation of the Word with the softer note of praise to Mary; the varied and intri­cate rhythms employed are enhanced by the music of the words.

This was originally a chant for the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25), but is now sung at the vigil of the fifth Saturday in Great Lent. According to the Synaxarion, it was chosen by Patriarch Sergius as the thanksgiving hymn to the Mother of God for saving the city of Constantinople from the Avars in 626. The entire work was thus turned into a hymn of victory and deliverance, and it is repeatedly used as such to this day. The literary qualities of the poem and the wide popularity of veneration to the Virgin in the East explain the far-reaching influ­ence that the hymn has had upon subsequent Greek (and indeed worldwide Orthodox) literature. It was quoted to sati­ety, copied and recast in iambic trimesters and political 15-syllable lines; modern Greek paraphrases of it exist; and it even influenced Byzantine and post-Byzantine art, especially between the 14th and 16th centuries, as is evident from the paintings of Mistra, Mount Athos and even frescoes as far north as Moldavia. It is possible that

Romanos wrote the Akathistos hymn, but its authorship has, in the past, also been ascribed to Sergios, Germanos, and even Photios the Great.

The Akathistos existed in a Latin version by the late 8th or early 9th century; thereaf­ter, its rhetoric and imagery appear as the inspiration for a considerable repertory of Latin hymns.

SEE ALSO: Kontakion; St. Romanos the Melodist (6th c.)

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Carpenter M. (ed.) (1970–3) Kontakia of Romanos, Byzantine melodist, 2 vols. Columbia: University of Missouri Press.

Chrestou, P. (1974) “He genesis tou kontakiou,” Kleronomia 6: 273–349.

Conomos, D. (1984) Byzantine Hymnography and Byzantine Chant. Brookline, MA: Hellenic College Press.

Turilov, A. A. et al. (2000) “Akafist,” in Pravoslavnaia Entsiklopediia, vol. 1. Moscow: Pravoslavnaia entsiklopediia, pp. 371–81.

Wellesz E. (ed.) (1957) The Akathistos Hymn. Monumenta Musicae Byzantinae, Transcripta 9. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.