Theoria and Optasia in the Old Church Slavonic Translations of the “Life of St Anthony the Great”

Abstract

The focus of the present paper is the terms θεωρία and ὀπτασία presented in the Greek text of Life of St Anthony the Great by St Athanasius of Alexandria and their translation representation in the Old Church Slavonic versions of the text. The terms are approached diachronically, i.e. in through history of Classical and post-classical Greek literature, thus providing the necessary cultural background for their usage and context. Each term, then, is commented in its exact attestation in the Life, providing also the corresponding translations and their wider context. The translation renderings are further analyzed in perspective of the lexical material in the classical Old Church Slavonic corpus as well as with material from texts and sources, thus aiming at contextualizing them in wider lexicological perspective.