Romanos Melōdos

Japanese: ロマノス･メロドス（英語表記）Rōmanos Melōdos

A 6th-century church poet and a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Dates of birth and death unknown. It is said that he left behind 1,000 sermon poems accompanied by music, called kontakions, but only 85 of them have been handed down, and the music itself has not been passed down. He was born in Syria (one theory is that he was Jewish). His works are considered masterpieces of world literature, making full use of abundant metaphorical expressions, bold oppositional propositions, and theatrical excitement. He was a deacon at the Church of the Resurrection in Beirut, and according to legend, on the night of the Christmas feast in the Church of the Virgin Mary in Constantinople, he was given a scroll by the Virgin Mary herself in a dream, which he drank and began to sing "This Day the Virgin Mary..."

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

6世紀の教会詩人。東方正教会の聖人。生没年不詳。コンタキオンkontakionと呼ばれた，音楽を伴った説教詩を1000残したといわれるが，そのうち85が伝わるのみで，また音楽そのものは伝えられていない。シリア出身(一説にユダヤ教徒)。作品は，豊富な比喩的表現，大胆な対立命題，演劇的な高揚を駆使した世界文学の傑作とされる。ベイルートの復活教会の輔祭で，伝説によれば，コンスタンティノープルの聖母教会でキリスト降誕祭の夜，夢で聖母自身から巻物を与えられてそれを飲み，〈この日聖母は〉を歌いはじめたという。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

<<: Romanov Dynasty

>>: Roman Holiday - Roman Holiday