Britt Dahlman: Collecting the Apophthegmata Patrum

The richness of Greek manuscripts containing the Apophthegmata Patrum and the complexity of the collections, compilations and redactions is well known. Previous research has mainly focused on the large alphabetic-anonymous and systematic collections, where different stages in the process of incorporation of small dossiers of various origins and dates have been identified. "Non-standard" collections, such as the so-called derived alphabetic-anonymous and systematic ones and the Sabaitic, have received less attention. However, as they often display structural and textual parallels with early collections in other languages such as Latin and Syriac, they are important for the study of how apophthegmata were transmitted, formed and re-formed.