Epistula VIII ad Demophilum monachum in the Arabic Tradition

The dissemination of Arabic translations of texts attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite is primarily due to the popularity of the collections in which they are found. These collections include, on the one hand, synaxaria, lives of the saints, and collections of homilies read on specific Church occasions; and on the other hand, canon law or popular dogmatic florilegia. The texts of the Corpus Dionysiacum are only preserved as excerpts in Arabic, with the exception of the Letter to Demophilus, which appears in complete form. I have found at most five manuscripts, and in three of them, the Letter to Demophilus is not part of the Corpus Dionysiacum. Smaller apocryphal texts, not belonging to the Corpus Dionysiacum but attributed to Dionysius, were much more popular and thus more widely distributed than the Corpus writings. They seem to have had an impact not to be underestimated on understanding the texts of the Corpus Dionysiacum. It is therefore interesting to consider the various headings of Dionysius’ letter to Demophilus in different textual contexts, because traditions in which these smaller apocryphal texts are naturally attributed to Dionysius appear in the background.