Viacheslav Lytvynenko: The Writings of Athanasius of Alexandria in the Slavonic Tradition

In contrast to the attention patristic scholars have given to the Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, and Latin translations of Athanasius’ texts, there has been scarcely any effort for identifying the Old Slavonic translations. To address this situation, our communication will seek to share about the existing texts ascribed to Athanasius in the Slavonic tradition, covering both the earliest translations made in the ninth century and more recent texts created in the seventeenth century. More specifically, we will first present the list of the existing texts in the Slavonic Athanasiana (both genuine and pseudo-Athanasian writings) and discuss the nature of their textual transmission. We will then give a brief description of the content and genre of the existing texts and will finish with a few suggestions regarding the way patristic scholarship could make use of the Slavonic translations in light of what we can know about the reception of Athanasius' thought among the Slavs.