Continuity and Discontinuity in Climacus’ Ladder of the Divine Ascent

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Authors

SARKISSIAN Alena

Year of publication 2014
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Medioevo greco
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
Field Mass media, audiovision
Keywords John Climacus; Ladder of Divine Ascent; Byzantine literature; ascetic literature
Description The paper deals with the position of Climacus’ main work The Ladder of the Divine Ascent in the canon of Byzantine literature. The importance of traits that place the work to the classical literary tradition is evaluated in comparison with features that approximate it to biblical literary tradition and later Byzantine literature. The last part of the article discusses the idea of isangelia which is elaborated in the whole of the treatise and brings elements known from the desert ascetic tradition to the Ladder. John Climacus’ work was created on the edge of two historical epochs - the vanishing classical world and the world of Byzantium, still unclear. It is a unique testimony to the transformation of literary aesthetics in this period of transition.
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