Plato in Ancient Armenian: Who Translated the Extant Dialogues, and When?

Requérante responsable: Irene Tinti

Instrument d'encouragement: Ambizione

Durée du projet: 3 ans (septembre 2016 - août 2019)

FNS base de données de recherche: http://p3.snf.ch/project-168147

Résumé du projet

Doctrines based on the teachings of Plato (5th-4th century BCE) played a major role in the history of Armenian philosophy, which was influenced by Greek sources since its beginnings (5th century CE). However, only five translations of Platonic or Pseudo-Platonic dialogues are attested in ancient Armenian (Timaeus, Euthyphro, Apology of Socrates, Laws, and the spurious Minos), and, despite a bicentennial scholarly debate, it is still unknown by whom and when they were realised. The matter is further complicated by the lack of reliable critical editions for the complete dossier, which means that any analysis of the texts still needs to be chiefly based on the extant manuscript witnesses.

Relevant similarities have been detected between the language of one of the translations (the Timaeus) and that of Armenian author Grigor Magistros (11th century CE). However, it is by no means certain whether the other translated dialogues can be attributed to the same person, or even to the same timeframe and milieu, because there is no compelling external evidence pointing towards a common attribution (or indeed to the contrary). Furthermore, no comparative linguistic analysis has ever been conducted.

The present project aims to finally address this issue in a systematic fashion, by comparing the language and translation technique of the five extant dialogues with each other and with Grigor Magistros's epistolary (which also includes literary quotations translated directly from Greek). The inquiry will combine the methodologies of Philology and Linguistics (notably, Contact Linguistics, Translation Studies and Special Languages). The analysis of the language will focus on the presence of non-Classical morphological and syntactic features (especially those influenced by Greek), and of shared and otherwise rare vocabulary; the data will then be checked against lexical repertoires and inventories of linguistic structures, in order to ascertain how significant any similarity might be. The translation technique will be assessed by verifying how closely (and accurately) each version follows its Greek source at all levels of the linguistic analysis – taking into account any relevant variant readings attested in the manuscript tradition – and how technical terms are rendered.

The results will allow the proponent to reach a motivated conclusion in favour or against the common authorship of the entire Armenian Platonic dossier on the one hand, and of the attribution to Grigor Magistros on the other. Thus, the research will have further implications for the history of Armenian philosophy and literature, since it will shed light on the position of the dossier within the wider group of Armenian philosophical translations from Greek, and develop a methodology that could be applied to other texts. Furthermore, while confirming or disproving Grigor's authorship, the new data will be instrumental in reaching a better understanding of his profile and stature as a scholar operating in a late and comparatively little known phase of the Armenian cultural tradition.

On a broader scale, the project will also be relevant for the reception of the Classics in the Christian Near-East, and for the study of Ancient Philosophy per se. Indeed, while investingating the variety of techniques adopted in order to transfer specialised texts into a geographically and culturally different milieu, it will contribute to our understanding of one of the ways in which Platonic themes and ideas could enter Oriental traditions, that is, through the transposition of entire dialogues (alongside commentaries and secondary literature). This in turn will shed light on the actual circulation of (some) Platonic dialogues in peripheral areas, and thus tie in with the wider topic of the transmission and survival of philosophical texts from Greek antiquity.

Finally, the project's import will also exceed its scholarly dimension: while addressing cultural sharing between Europe and the Near-East, it will contribute to a better understanding of the Armenians' cultural past, and draw attention to the common heritage that links modern Europe to its Eastern neighbours.