www.byzcath.org Forums Mysteries: The Life of Worship Vespers, Matins & the Divine Liturgy The Revised Divine Liturgy Is Theodore of Tyre also "the Recruit"?

For me this was a unique thread that I intended to return to at the time, but the forum was an especially busy place then and other topics took over. Also for me, the next step would have been to check some references that were given, both pro and con, and this required access to a good theological library, doable but not very convenient. Since then many of those references are now, rather incredibly, available online. In particular the complete Latin and Greek Patrologia of Migne, Mansi, Denzinger and more ( link to patristica.net [patristica.net] ) and Lampe’s Lexicon ( link [ia600503.us.archive.org]), are available. Having them so easily accessible is, I would think, a scholar’s feast.

I had thought the point of the thread was straightforward: “Is it then that Theodore the Recruit is just another name for Theodore of Tyre”? Perhaps I should have asked it the other way around. The obvious answer is yes. The intent was not to directly challenge the new translation “the Recuit” but that the old “of Tyre” designation was not wrong in actual usage and, therefore, was not significant as a point for needing “another translation” in the sense that Fr. David indicated (see initial post). I had not expected the strong feelings expressed on the subject; these resulted in part because the topic expanded to considerations of the appropriateness of the use of Tyre itself as a designation. This is certainly legitimate but is a different issue. The acrimony in the opinions expressed surprises me to this day. Sadly this thread contains the last post by Fr. David who did us a service as the only member of the IELC to publicly engage in open dialog about the RDL on the forum and probably in general.

So Theodore of Tyre and Theodore the Recruit refer to the same person and both designations are in use. That is the point. Further legitimate questions, however, do arise:

(1) What is the correct translation of the Slavonic text? (Rome’s Greek just has Theodore, so no help there.)
(2) Does (1) even matter since the RDL departs at will from the Recension and even Rome’s Greek?
(3) How are the designations Tyre or Recruit supported as being appropriate or intended?
(4) How, when and in what form(s) did the designation(s) in (3) enter into the liturgy, into the liturgical text?

As a contemporary example of a designation that is correct but conveys a less obvious, even misleading, intrinsic meaning, consider the US Army command nicknamed Tropic Lightening based at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii (of Pearl Harbor 1941 notoriety). Certainly that’s tropical. But presently its 3d Battalion (Airborne), 509th Infantry Regiment is stationed at Fort Richardson, Alaska, not what one would designate at all as tropical. Yet its GI is of Tropic Lightening. That Tyre is a city, however, the “of Tyre” designation can convey a sense of a direct geographical connection that is most likely not the case for this St. Theodore.

What then is the original or proper designation and what is its meaning? For instance, what is the Slavonic’s тíрѡна - tirona intended to convey. Is it just a transliteration of a Greek version leaving the meaning unspecified. What Greek is it based on? What is the Greek spelling and what does it mean: the city of Tyre, an adjective like Tyronian or Tironian, or a Greek transliteration of the Latin word tiro meaning recruit? If the latter, why does the Greek here use a borrowed Latin word? A further complication is that there are a multitude of different spellings in the Greek.

By checking available references given in previous posts, it is now possible to give more focus to these questions even though not answering them definitively.

(To be continued)

Fr. David gives three references in support of the translation “the recruit.” For one he says

That he was a recruit is not questioned but how was he called at the time given, “the Byzantine Empire”; also, how was he first known after his martyrdom in ca. AD 306? I presently do not have access to this reference.

Fr. David also says
Again I don’t have access to this reference but the title would seem to provide the answer that he is “the Recruit.” Consider, however, this reference in a blog:
link [goudenhoorn.com]

So Halkin has “Théodore le Conscrit” but it is based on the Greek “Theodôrou tou tèrônos” and it is not clear what this Greek in the genitive, “tou tèrônos.” that is, of teronos, is wanting to convey. Halkin’s interpretation is “le Conscrit.” The BHG, unfortunately, seems not to be available (yet?) online and it should be checked since the footnote’s “Recruit (BHG 1764)” is the blog’s English rendering and interpretation and not necessarily what may be found in the original text.

Fr. David’s Lampe reference gives a definition of the (borrowed from Latin) Greek τίρων and several further references for its occurrence, p 1394:


All but one of these are available online and give a sense of how this term is used..

(to be continued)

Lampe’s references first give the best critical source followed in parentheses by the Migne reference. I only have access to Migne and the examples that follow are from Migne or other online sources as noted.

Mac. Aeg. hom. is homily 43 of Mark of Egypt ca. AD 390, PG34.777A, on the progress/potential of the Christian man (male) and has the Greek form οἱ τίρωνες, (Latin in the parallel translation, tirones) nom. pl., as one presumably lower-class group that is mentioned along with the poor and unskilled (οἱ ἰδιῶται). In the same volume PG34.832B, cust. cor., his writing Concerning the Care/Keeping of the Heart has τίρων, (Latin, tiro) singular.

Cod. Afr. is the Codex Canonum Ecclesiae Africae in Conciliorum Collecto Regia Maxima, Acta Conciliorum I.914; Canon XC, Concerning the Bishops of Numidea, has the two forms, τοῦ τιρωνάτου gen. sing. (Latin gen. pl., tironum) and τιρώνων (Latin gen. pl., tironum). I presume the genitive form τιρωνάτου is given in Lampe as the nominative τιρωνᾶτος, ὁ.

M. Eust. is martyrum Eustathii, PG.105.376, by Nicetae Paphlagonis, AD 890-900, a later work. In addition to the Greek with Latin translation along side, each page is split horizontally with his Oration XVIII in the top and S.Eustathii et Sociorum Acta Antiqua in the bottom section. Two forms are found on page 404, one in each of the two sections: τήρωνας (Latin, tirones) in the Oratio and τυρωνάτον (Latin, tironum) in the Acta.

The remaining example is Lampe's reference V. Pach. Φ, a vita Pachomii, and is not available online as a file.

These are general references, as Lampe indicates, to recruits or a recruit. And these are, as expected, examples of the Latin word tiro transliterated into the Greek with Greek inflections, and clearly demonstrate that this usage occurs, thus supporting the translation recruit. It was necessary to check these, however, to verify what they do not provide, viz., any direct link to Theodore, that is, they are good examples of general uses of the term but they are not actual examples forming a possible naming or designation of Theodore as "the Recruit." As will be seen Theodore certainly was know to be a recruit, so the designation is correct in general but the question remains, was this the intended meaning for how he was designated as, for example, in the Greek or Slavonic of liturgical texts, iconography, Patristic writings etc...

Some interesting examples directly linked to Theodore are given in the references provided in a previous post #303180 in this thread. In part:

This summarizes the conclusion of the article in the Catholic Encyclopedia that is based on references and commentary in Nilles and these now need to be examined further and critically as was done with Lampe's references.

(to be continued)

Similar to Lampe, Nilles provides a number of references to Patristic sources. Nilles' work, however, is not a lexicon as is Lampe but a commentary on the liturgical calendar, and is actually addressing St. Theodore and how he is called and why. Nilles may not necessarily get it right and so his sources and interpretation need to be evaluated. For convenience, here is the relevant text, my redaction of page 105 from Nilles:


The entry is to Theodore toũ Tḗronos or Túrōnos, the toũ denoting a genitive giving Theodore of Teronos or Turonos. These are two of the several spellings and would just indicate Nilles' judgment or preference. He first mentions that Theodore is known by three names, of Amasea, of Euchaita, and the surname in question Tironis or Tyronis , derived from the Latin that may be written Tyro.

(to be continued)

Nilles says "Tiro quidem, non quod virtute tiro miles modo conscriptus esset" -- Tiro, indeed, not by way of being a soldier as a raw recruit -- and he then references the words attributed to St. Gregory of Nyssa in his panegyric (ἐγκώμιον) of the Holy and Great Martyr Theodore, giving the relevant text on which he bases his conclusion above, in the Greek, οὐκέτι νεόλεκτος ἦν τὴν ἀνδρείαν (no longer a neophyte-recruit he was being manly - ?) as in the referenced PG 46.741. The parallel Latin version of the PG here differs from Nilles' translation into Latin of the Greek text but similarly has "non jam amplius virtute tyro modo conscriptam gerens." Gregory (~AD 380) here uses the Greek word for conscript or recruit, νεόλεκτος, not the borrowed Latin tiro or tyro and he says nothing about how this relates to any surname for Theodore derived from tiro, tyro or Tyre etc.. Nilles, however, then conflates Gregory's comment with a much later text from a synaxarion (a lives of the saints) known as the Menologion of Basil II [en.wikipedia.org] (Byzantine Emperor, ~AD 1000), that does say the surname for Theodore is related to his membership for a brief time in the unit of the Turonaton. Nilles further references Nicephor Callistus [en.wikipedia.org](~AD 1320), his Hist eccles., PG146.473 which echoes the description in the Menologion though referring to the designation of the unit as of the Teronikou.

Here again there are differing spellings and the intended meaning of the designation is not clear to me. Theodore is a recruit, νεόλεκτος, but is that why he is said to be of Teronikou or Turonaton. Could the unit designation mean that this is a unit of recruits and the name is based on the Greek borrowing of the Latin tiro meaning novice, beginner, young man or recruit? How does the location of the source condition the usage and, therefore, intended meaning? For instance, in Lampe's examples from the Code of Canons of the African Church, the borrowing of a Latin word in Greek might be expected, parts of north Africa having a strong connection to Rome. Recall the canon where the use of tiro in the Greek text, as a Greek word, is found: Concerning the Bishops of Numidea, the locale that includes Hippo and (at a later time) the preeminent Latin father and bishop, Augustine.

As I said before, it would be very relevant to find out how and where the surname in question entered the liturgical text. The Menologion is not a liturgical document, however, it is a book prepared for the Byzantine Emperor and, I would think, reflects the understanding of the surname at the time, the late tenth century. This is much later but it does solidly document the usage and interpretation and even evolution of the term. It is the best attested of all the references given in the two sources (Lampe and Nilles) for the context and meaning of the surname as it was associated with Theodore directly, and this in a prominent and official manner. The original document is in the Vatican Library but is actually available in facsimile online Ms. Vat. gr. 1613 [digi.vatlib.it] !

Nilles' reference to pages 317-318 is misleading, and odd in being two pages since the Menologion devotes one page per saint, and it turns out those page numbers are not for Theodore in the Menologion. I did find him there, eventually, on page 407 (of 434). Here is the top part of the page showing the title and relevant text to be examined:



I find this text hard to read because of the particular calligraphy. Fortunately Nilles gives the relevant text, and with it as an aid, I believe it corresponds to the third line after the picture. It can be rendered, as Nilles also provides in his translation into Latin, ...

(to be continued)

Tiro ... since for a time he served in the cohort they called Tyronum (τυρωνάτον). Was there such a cohort (cohorte, τάγμα = regiment or brigade) at the time of Theodore? There was a Roman auxiliary regiment somewhat before Theodore's time called Cohors I Tyriorum [en.wikipedia.org] that was linked to Tyre, the city; I mention it here only as an example of a not implausible type of naming. Nilles is here giving the Greek transcription of the Menologion manuscript that is actually found in PG117.317, which I suspect is his source for this Greek text. This reference is not given by Nilles, however, but it is where his curious citation "pp. 317-318" comes from, and there in PG117(index) it is noted that it is the transcription of the Basilianum Menologiuim, "ex editione cardinalis Albani." Again, as best as I can make out, this -- Nilles' quote taken from PG117.317 as the text in the Menologion -- is an accurate, though not exact (see below) transcription of the text as given in the facsimile of the original in the Vatican archives.

In the title the reference to Theodore in the facsimile, again as best I can make out, looks like Θεοδώρου τόυ τήρωνος but it is slightly different in the PG transcription where it is Θεοδώρου τοῦ τύρωνος. In the first line of each Theodore is designated Θεόδωρος ὁ τύρων, and in the Latin of the PG, Theodorus Tyro, Theodore (the) Tyro. Then the text from the Menologion, νεωστὶ ... etc., however, as quoted by Nilles, explains that he is recently in the military in the regiment they call Τυρωνάτον (PG Latin: Tyronum). The similar explanation of Nicephor Callistus that Nilles footnotes as further corroboration has it even more explicitly that Theodore from the Tēron regiment is named Tirōn.

There is one further source available online, mentioned previously, Hippolyte Delehaye's Les Légendes Grecques des Saints Militaires [ia800503.us.archive.org], for consideration before summing up and trying to come to a conclusion based on the references considered.

Well it has turned out the conclusion must be delayed since, besides Delehaye, two more works have become available that provide additional insight.

Delehaye's work had been mentioned in a previous post of mine that quoted a footnote in a blog saying:
I had commented that the BHG was not available online but only later found that Delehaye's work is available, the link given in my previous post. (The blog footnote incorrectly identifies the BHG abbreviation as the Bibliographia Hagiographica Graeca when it is actually the Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca link [ia800309.us.archive.org].) The blog footnote first mentions the work of Halkin. This is the same Halkin and reference brought to our attention by Fr. David in this thread Post303104, as I noted in Post418387. After some digging I found Halkin's article available online for viewing here page 308 [scribd.com]. Having this helps to clarify the content of the blog reference, what it is saying. It also illustrates the difficulties of interpreting Theodore's given surname because of presumptions that become attached as part of his name, presumptions that may be understandable but also can germinate a bias. For instance as I noted in a previously referenced posts, Fr. David says

.
Here at face value it seems Theodore is obviously called "the Recruit." But the blog gives it as The main title is about an "opuscule inconnu," an unknown/obscure booklet of Magister Nicephore Ouranos and it is only a parenthetical subtitle that has, in the original Greek (see below) in French translation, Théodore le Conscrit, and that thus becoming Theodore the Recruit, the Conscript, a designation that is an interpretation and designation of Halkin. This may already seem convoluted but there is even more to it as the blog footnote correctly gives a further detail.So, this article of Halkin is about Nicephorus Ouranos and it is Nicephorus as the author that Halkin writes about in pp 308-313. Then the actual Greek text of the "opuscule inconnu" of Nicephorus is on pp 313-324; the title on 313 is:

This is the actual title and it is not an unambiguous naming of Theodore as the Recruit/conscrit but analogous to the designation of the author as Nikephorou magistrou tou Ouranou, that is, Nikephor magister of Ouranos or Nikephor magister Ouranos, it is, applying in an analogous manner, Theodorou tou tērōnos, that is, Theodore of tērōnos or Theodore tērōnos.

To reiterate, this reference gives the 10th c. Greek of Nicephorus Ouranos' hagiographic work about Theodore (from a 13th c. manuscript), and Halkin is writing in 1962, not about Theodore per se, but about Nicephorus Ouranos.

Who then is this Nicéphore Ouranos [en.wikipedia.org]? A nice, short description is give in the body of the blog article with the much discussed footnote. That blog article [goudenhoorn.com], BTW, is entitled Fainting fits and their causes: a topos in two Middle Byzantine metaphraseis by Nicetas the Paphlagonian and Nicephorus Ouranos; it is authored by Dirk Krausmüller who writes:Nicaphorus/Nikephoros then was a magistros / μάγιστρος [en.wikipedia.org] of the same Emperor Basil II whose Menologion was discussed previously. Of the several different spellings for Theodore's surname, in both this Passio by Nicaphorus, as transcribed from a 13th c. Athonite Monastery codex, and the actual 10th c. Menologion of his emperor Basil II, the name/designation is essentially the same Θεοδώρου τόυ/τοῦ τήρωνος.

(to be continued)

I wanted to offer a conclusion but got diverted so do so now to not leave a "(to be continued)".

Going through the various Greek documents on Theodore it is usually noted that he was a tiro, a recruit or young soldier. None of these documents, however, title him as such. Where and why a designation for him enter common usage or the liturgy requires further study. That designation is itself open to interpretation. The closest such designation I found is from the Menologion: Θεόδωρος ὁ τύρων. This is reflected in the Recension's Slavonic тíрѡна - tirona, that is, a form of transliteration not translation. Rome's 1950 Greek liturgicon, favored by the RDL, gives only the name with no designation. This makes me want to see some further commentary and documentation on whether assigning the two feast days to Theodore "тíрѡна" is really a mistake -- since it is found in both the Apostol and the Služebnik -- or rather an intentional bypassing the issue, raised by recent scholars, that the two Theodores overlap to some extent.

So, in conclusion, Theodore was a recruit or young soldier but was not given a title as such in the primary documents I discussed. There is no evidence that he was from Tyre although he is know as "of Tyre" because of his presumed links to a military unit, also as I noted above, "recently in the military in the regiment they call Τυρωνάτον (PG Latin: Tyronum)." He is know that way, "of Tyre", and while I would not recommend it as a translation, it is one of those designations that we encounter and accept without questioning the literal designation: September through December are NOT the seventh through tenth months respectively; who would insist that GI Joe really means and should be called Galvanized Iron Joe. G.I. (military) [en.wikipedia.org]

Based on what I have discussed, there is no unqualified English translation of the Recension's тíрѡна, or the Greek manuscripts' forms of ὁ τύρων. English versions that transliterate are properly disinterested, neutral, in not forcing a translation.

Deacon Tony,

Your research and considerations are well presented. This could very easily be turned into a publishable article. Logos or St. Vlad's Quarterly or another publication would likely welcome a 2-3 page article.

John

John, thanks, I'll keep your recommendation in mind. -- DT