Armenian Version H

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The Armenian Seven Sages narrative is variously titled Պատմություն Եօթն իմաստասիրացն (Patmut’yun Yeot’n imastasirats’n, The History of the Seven Sages) or Գիրք պատմության կայսերն Փոնցիանոսի եւ կնոջն եւ որդվույն Դիոկղետիանոսի եւ յոթանց իմաստասիրաց (Girk’ patmut’yan kaysern P’vonts’ianosi yev knojn yev vordvuyn Diokghetianosi yev yot’ants’ imastasirats, A book of the history of the emperor Pontianus  and his wife and his son Diocletian and of the seven sages). It survives in eight manuscripts primarily from the 17^th century, and ten prints from the late 17^th to 19^th centuries.

The oldest surviving manuscript dates from 1616, but colophons in several other manuscripts cite a composition date of 1614, when a translator named Hakob Tʽoxatʽcʽi ( )) living in Zomość, Poland, translated a Latin Historia Septem Sapientum text into Armenian. Scholarship has not firmly identified one specific Latin source text. However, according to Akinean (1921), the Armenian version of the narrative bears striking similarities to the Polish version, translated by Jan z Koszyczek, including an anomalous episode in the introduction of both narratives, in which the prince has a distinctive dream that foretells his fate (rather than reading it in the stars). This appears in some early Latin versions (Mussafia p. 86), but not the later Latin texts. Akinean suggests there are also some clear similarities between both the Polish prints, the Armenian text, and that of the Strasbourg 1512 print edition, inferring that the Polish and Armenian redactions might have shared a Latin source text, similar to that of the Strassburg print.

According to Akinean, all but one of the manuscripts may be understood to be part of a single redaction, following the Hakob Tʽoxatʽcʽi translation.  The exception is Paris Sup. Arm. 51 (Macler no. 309); this manuscript, produced in 1696, represents a distinct redaction of the narrative, and the print tradition follows this text’s model. One of the key changes is that the emperor is anomalously named Modolos (Մոդոլոս), and Pontianus seems to be his commander-in-chief. The 1847 Russian translation of the Armenian text comes from this redaction.

The Armenian text was also translated into Armeno-Turkish (Turkish rendered in Armenian script), Ottoman-Turkish in Arabic script, and Georgian.

Identification & General Information

Title

Պատմություն Եօթն իմաստասիրացն (Patmut’yun Yeot’n imastasirats’n, History of the Seven Sages)

Author

Hakob Tʽoxatʽcʽi (Յակոբ երեցս Թոխաթեցի)

Tradition & Lineage

Branch of the tradition

Seven Sages of Rome

Adapted from (version)

Latin Version H, Polish Version H

Recorded Secondary Versions

• H (Historia Septem Sapientum)
  • Armenian Version H
  • Czech Version H: Kronika sedmi mudrců
  • Danish Version H
  • Dutch Version H
    • Dutch Prints (H)
    • Dutch Prose Version H
  • English Version H
    • English Prints (H)
      • Conyers Version
      • Pynson Version
  • French Version H
  • German Version H
    • Aventewr von Diocleciano
    • German Sieben Weise Meister
      • German Prints (H)
      • Prosafassung / Prose Version
        • Redaction A
        • Redaction B
        • Redaction C
        • Redaction D
        • Redaction E
        • Redaction F
        • Redaction G
      • Versfassung / Verse Version
        • Anonymous Verse Version
    • Hans von Bühel, Dyocletianus Leben
    • Hystorij von Diocleciano
    • Sebastian Wild, Ein schoͤne Tragedj (Stage adaptation)
  • Hungarian Version H: Pontianus tsaszar historiaia
    • Hungarian Prints
  • Icelandic Version H
    • Icelandic Prose: Sjö meistara saga
      • Group A: Sjö meistara saga
      • Group B: Alexander og Lúðvík
    • Icelandic Verse: Sjö meistara saga
      • Group C: Rímur
      • Group D: Vinaspegill
  • Latin Version H
    • Latin Historia Septem Sapientum
      • Excerpts in Gesta Romanorum
        • Continental Group w
        • Continental Group x
        • Insular Group u
      • Group I
      • Group II
      • Group III
      • Group IV
      • Lost Latin Version H Manuscripts
    • Ludus septem sapientum. De Astrei regii
  • Lithuanian Version H
  • Polish Version H
  • Russian Version H
  • Scots Version H: Rolland, Seuin Seages
    • Scots Prints (H)
  • Spanish Version H: Los Siete Sabios de Roma
    • Spanish Prints (H)
  • Swedish Version H: Sju vise mästare
    • Old Swedish Redaction C
    • Swedish Prints (H)
  • Yiddish Version H
    • Yiddish Version H Manuscripts
    • Yiddish Version H Prints

Language & Composition

Language of version

Armenian

Translated into (languages)

Russian, Georgian, Armeno-Turkish

Place of composition

Zamość

Date of Composition

1614