The Reception of Byzantine Hagiography During the Ottoman Period: The Neon Leimonarion and the Martyrdom of Saint Isidore as Examples of Post-Byzantine Metaphrasis

The Neon Leimonarion (Νέον Λειμωνάριον) is a collection of hagiographical and hymnographic texts printed in Venice in 1819. The book includes Martyrdoms, Lives and Miracles of Saints, who lived during the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Period. Most of them are abbreviated versions of older hagiographical texts, which were recomposed and translated into Modern Greek mainly by the lead author, Macarius Notaras of Corinth (1731-1805). Macarius gathered the necessary material having access to rich manuscript collections, such as those of Mount Athos and Patmos. The paper will analyze the process of metaphrasis in the Neon Leimonarion taking as an example the Greek Martyrdom of Saint Isidore (BHG 960-961f), a soldier in the Roman navy who was sentenced to death for his Christian faith during the second half of the 3rd century on the island of Chios.