«ANGELIC HYMN» AS AN EXAMPLE OF COPTIC HYMNOGRAPHY

The article is devoted to the philological analysis of poetic passage from the apocrypha «The Investiture of Archangel Michael», which wasto be read on the feast day in honour of the Archistratigus. Coptic hymnography, although derived from Greek, has become distinctive; several collections of ancient hymns are known. The peculiarity of the so-called «angelic hymn» is the fact that it is not included in any collection, but is included in a literary text. The article provides the first Russian translation of this hymn. It differs in style from the entire narrative of «The Investiture». It is sung by Michael himself with the angels. The hymn is framed by references to the righteous and consists of eight stanzas. It, like the text itself, is preserved in three versions, two in Sahidic dialect (manuscripts of the 9th century) and one in Fayymic (manuscripts of the 9th-11th centuries). Anaphora, lexical repetition and parallelism are used in hymn. The three versions identify the following themes: feast, meal and mercy. Analyzing the structure of the hymn, one can conclude that it was preserved in all three versions. However, a study of the themes and literary devices involved shows that in each version of hymn the accents are set in an original way. The inner link between the parts of the hymn can be traced. The passage itself is also logically integrated into the overall narrative. The main distinguishing feature of all the hymns is that some phrases are so brief that the listener is left with a great deal of room for interpretation and conjecture. For a more accurate understanding it is necessary either to know other versions of the hymn, or to refer to the stories in «The Investiture». The apocrypha also stresses the importance of hymn singing. It suggests that the congregation participated in the singing of the hymn during the reading of the text on the feast day.