Saint
Romanos Melodos: The Lyric Poetry and Drama of Great
Friday
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by
Reader Gregory Dobrov
For
my first, and best, teachers of Greek -- Dr. Melvin
Mansur and Fr. Ioannikios (Abernathy)
The
Orthodox Church exhorts us "to sing with understanding"
(Ps. 46:8, I Cor. 14:15), that is, to be more than
passive spectators or consumers of "sacred culture."
A wonderful education awaits us if we actively seek
out and study its resources for the spiritual life
- patristic writings, lives of saints, church history,
iconography, and Divine services. The faithful are
invited to own these treasures, including church music
and hymnography, which are often wrongly regarded
as belonging only to certain "experts."
In the attentive participant, the wealth of liturgical
verse inspires many questions: When and by whom were
the texts of the various service books composed? What
are the genres of verse (troparion, irmos etc.) and
how are they distributed in services of different
types? How did the poetry and music of the Church
develop and how do they differ from secular arts?
No account of this subject would be complete without
mention of Saint Romanos Melodos, whom many scholars
consider to be not only the preeminent poet of the
Byzantine period but the greatest poet of the early
Middle Ages in any language. He was the recipient
of a poetic tradition that looked back to Saints Ephraim
of Syria, Proclus, and Melito of Sardis. His heirs,
in turn, were the great hymnographers of the following
centuries: Saints Andrew of Crete, John Damascene,
Germanos and Cosmas among them. His prominence in
this choir of Orthodox hymnographers is emphasized
in many icons of the Protection of the Theotokos,
such as the Novgorod example printed here. In what
follows, I introduce Saint Romanos' art as a Christian
appropriation of ancient "lyric" and "dramatic"
concepts for which his Lament of the Theotokos supplies
a vivid illustration.
I
At
many points throughout the various cycles of services,
the Church looks back to sixth-century Byzantium for
a fragment of the extensive oeuvre of Saint Romanos.
When we sing his kontakia of the Nativity, "Today
the Virgin Gives Birth," or of Pascha, "Though
Thou Didst Descend into the Tomb," we but graze
the surface of a rich legacy that is today little
known and appreciated. It would be hard to overestimate
the importance of Saint Romanos as a cantor, composer,
and interpreter of the Orthodox world-view. His beautifully
crafted poems set a standard for all time as art that
clearly and accurately communicates the teaching and
spirit of the ‘cumenical Councils and ascetic
instructors. (Later termed "kontakia," these
cantica are not to be confused with the designation,
"kontakion," for short verses in current
usage.)
Even
from the modest number of surviving kontakia (about
sixty out of over a thousand), one marvels at the
wide range of dramatic representations devoted to
prayerful remembrance, instruction, and edification.
Biblical events, lives of saints, and the spiritual
life are illustrated in lively narratives distinguished
by remarkable poetic technique. The Oxford text of
P. Maas and C. Trypanis, for example, presents thirty-four
kontakia on feasts of the Lord, five on major feasts
such as the Annunciation and Nativity of the Theotokos,
seven on Old Testament subjects, three devoted to
martyrs, and ten on other topics such as fasting,
repentance, and the monastic life. One of the most
influential hymnographers of the Church, Saint Romanos
was celebrated above all for his glorious music (which
has not survived). He is Melodos, "the Melodist,"
to the Greeks and Sladkopevets, "Sweet-singer,"
in the Slavic tradition.
Saint
Romanos was born in Syrian Emesa some twenty-five
or thirty years after the Council of Chalcedon (451)
and came to Constantinople around the turn of the
century. From references in his compositions On the
Ten Virgins (II) and On Earthquakes and Fires, we
know that he was - perhaps as a "court"
deacon and cantor -- in Constantinople to witness
the Nika riots of January 532. There is also mention
in the kontakia of the earthquakes of the mid 'fifties
(July 552, August 555), and apparently even the collapse
and rebuilding of Hagia Sophia (May 558 - December
562). His life offers an inspiring example of a man
who, despite humble beginnings and natural limitations,
brought forth great fruit through piety and perseverance
(For details see Orthodox America Vol. XV, No. 3 [135],
September-October 1995, p. 5).
The
Greek language had undergone fundamental changes since
the Classical period and, by the sixth century A.D.,
had long been the vehicle of Christian theology and
prayer. The departure from Latinity accompanied an
aggressive suppression of pagan traditions. Still,
the classical legacy in literature, science, philosophy
and art haunted "contemporary" Greeks then,
as it does now, by being both spiritually alien and,
yet, seemingly unsurpassable. The lyric poetry of
Alcaeus, Pindar and other "stars" of the
genre had enjoyed a special prestige as did the dramatic
classics of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Ancient
inventions of particular beauty and sophistication,
the lyric marriage of music and words and the theatrical
fusion of poetry, song and dance were competitive
arts requiring considerable learning and skill.
Significantly,
Saint Romanos has been hailed the "Byzantine
Pindar" and a "spiritual dramatist,"
that is, a Christian composer whose poetry was in
the same league as that of the ancients, technically
and aesthetically. It is important to note, however,
that he helped forge a new and authentic Christian
idiom that was not tied directly to the language and
forms of the pagan past. Indeed, unlike classicizing
authors such Saints Clement of Alexandria and Gregory
of Nazianzus, Saint Romanos was not bound by the strait-jacket
of ancient expression and versification. His Greek
is a rich blend of scriptural phraseology, traditional
hymnographic patterns, and even contemporary speech.
The
ancient concepts of "lyric" and "drama"
are fundamental to Saint Romanos' kontakia, to be
sure, but in a new transformation, that is, elevated
and sanctified in the context of Divine service. The
mythology and socio-political competition of festivals
such as the Pythian games and City Dionysia were replaced
by Scripture, theology and prayer offered "with
one mouth and one heart" by the Church. Thus
Saint Romanos' art reflects the cultural transformation
of ekklêsia from "civic, legislative assembly"
(in classical Athens, for example) to "assembly
of the Christian faithful," the Church. The kontakion,
in its developed form, was a lyric homily in which
instruction of the faithful was bound to a strong
narrative ("story-line") and realized as
a play of sorts with characters and commentary. Towards
the end of the seventh century, the kontakion was
replaced by the familiar form of the kanon, a non-dramatic
and non-narrative hymn of praise consisting of odes,
each with many stanzas and each having a different
rhythmic and melodic form. In the kanon, the lyric
of praise prevailed over the kontakion's dramatic
and edifying mode of story-telling as practiced by
Saint Romanos.
The
performance of a kontakion in itself illustrates well
the appropriation of ancient lyric and dramatic concepts.
The lyre, flute, and play-acting of the ancient festivals
gave way to stately interaction between a soloist
and a choir in a temple of God. The kontakion would
be sung in place of a spoken homily after the reading
of the Gospel at one of the services comprising the
daily cycle, such as Vespers or Matins. While we cannot
be certain of details, it is reasonable to assume
that a cantor, occupying a central position in church,
would alternate with antiphonal choirs in the delivery.
Following a unique introductory verse (prooimion)
each strophe of a kontakion was sung to the same elaborate
melody and concluded with a refrain that remains constant
throughout. As we shall see below, the dramatic symmetry
of a kontakion is strictly articulated by the strophic
unit - clearly the basic module of performance - which
is, in turn, asserted throughout by means of a melodic
and rhythmical identity similar to classical lyric
in complexity and variety, and every bit as disciplined.
In a likely distribution of roles, the main narrative
portion of each strophe would be chanted by a virtuoso
cantor, while the choirs sang the refrains. It was
an annual tradition, for example, to perform the Nativity
kontakion in the Emperor's palace with two choirs
(with, perhaps, less emphasis on the soloist). Consequently,
a "dramatic" kontakion involving patterned
dialogue could be divided between choirs with the
cantor serving more in the capacity of moderator or
director. From a glance at the metrical schemata in
the Oxford or Budé editions, it is clear that
the kontakia employed complex melody and rhythm. The
performance dynamic outlined above suggests that Saint
Romanos' dramatic "vision" was directed
at bringing divine events and personages to life in
choral dialogue that was as delightful aesthetically
as it was effective intellectually and spiritually.
Let us consider this latter, "dramatic,"
aspect in the example of a kontakion of Passion Week,
Thrênos tês Theotokou (Lament of the Theotokos:
quite clearly a major inspiration for the similarly
titled but later composition still current in parish
and monastic practice today.)
II
The
kontakion of Great Friday, "Come let us sing
praises of Him Who was crucified for us," and
its oikos are the tip of a poetic iceberg drawn from
Saint Romanos' full composition. In current editions
(e.g., Maas-Trypanis 19) this composition consists
of a four-line prooimion and seventeen ten-line strophes,
making it roughly comparable in length to the well-known
Akathistos Hymn. There can be little doubt that it
was an important contribution on the part of Saint
Romanos to depict the suffering of the Mother of God
before the Crucifixion. Hers is the main voice amidst
those of the women who "bewailed and lamented"
Christ along the sorrowful way to Golgotha (Luke 23:27-31).
The poet uses this context, which mirrors the language
of lamentation, to depict Her natural humanity and
motherhood: At these words, the All-Pure Mother, /
still more afflicted in spirit, cried out thus / to
the One Who was ineffably made flesh and born from
her; / "Why dost Thou tell me, Child, that I
be 'not carried away with the other women?' / Just
as they [had children] in their bellies, I carried
Thee, my Son, in my womb, and gave Thee milk from
my breasts. / How then dost Thou wish for me now not
to weep for Thee, Child, / as Thou hastenest to endure
death unjustly? / Thou Who raised the dead, / my Son
and my God" (Strophe 6b).
Inconsolable
weeping emerges as the leading mood of the poem. The
first strophe begins with the Theotokos "following
wearily with the other women, crying 'Where art Thou
going, Child?'" Throughout, down to the final
exchange, she continues to weep, overwhelmed by love
and sorrow: "I am vanquished by loving grief,
Child," she cries in the fifteenth strophe, and
repeats her very first request: "Truly I cannot
endure to be in my chambers while Thou art on the
Cross; I at home, while Thou art in the tomb."
An important, if overlooked, aspect of Saint Romanos'
teaching in this kontakion concerns proper mourning
in a Christian context. Here, like many Church fathers
before him, he connects a discourse on the Passion
with a lesson on the Christian attitude towards death.
In this connection, the poet represents the Saviour
as instructing the Virgin not to be "carried
away with the other women," and to reject pagan
traditions of lamentation. The faithful, in other
words, now have the Resurrection, whereby Christ "trampled
death by death," once and for all invalidating
desolate and hopeless displays of grief. Addressing
a contemporary situation, Saint John Chrysostom had
written: "What are you doing woman? .... [W]ould
you tear your hair, rend your garments and wail loudly,
dancing and preserving the image of Bacchic women,
without regard to your offense to God?" (PG LIX
346; see also St. Basil the Great PG XXXI 229c). In
a gentler, but similar tone, Saint Romanos has the
Saviour say:
Lay
aside thy grief, Mother, lay it aside. / Lamentation
does not befit thee who hath been named 'Blessed.'
/ Do not obscure thy calling with weeping. / Do not
liken thyself to those who lack understanding, All-Wise
Maiden. / Thou art in the midst of My bridal chamber
(Strophe 5). Saint Romanos' Thrênos tês
Theotokou is devoted to visualizing the via dolorosa
through a dramatic dialogue rooted in the concept
of Mary as Birth-Giver of God (Theotokos). Herein
is another important theological point of the kontakion:
to reinforce the formulation of the (Third) Ecumenical
Council at Ephesus identifying the Virgin as the Birth-Giver
of God (Theotokos). The refrain of the hymn, "My
Son and My God," as well as its structure are,
accordingly, informed by the polarity of the human
and divine aspects of Christ's relation to His All-Pure
Mother. As in all kontakia, the theological program
here is framed by the prooimion and concluding strophe.
In the former, the Mother of God simultaneously asserts
her natural motherhood and acceptance of the Crucifixion
as having transcendent significance. The clause concluding
the proem emphasizes the paradox of the Passion: "Even
though Thou dost endure the Cross, Thou art [remainest]
my Son and my God" (God cannot be put to death;
a mortal son would be taken from his mother by death).
In
the final strophe, similarly, the Saviour is addressed
as "Son of the Virgin, God of the Virgin,"
both to summarize the doctrine of redemption and to
underscore that, as a woman and mother, the Theotokos
required divine support to find the courage (parrhêsia)
to accept the harsh paradox of Golgotha. Between these
two bookends is a series of direct exchanges of increasing
frequency, organized by the pious narrator's commentary
into symmetrical groups of strophes. The Virgin holds
forth for the first three strophes and is answered
in as many. The Virgin speaks again for two strophes
to which Christ responds in two. The Virgin then has
a single strophe that inspires the poem's climax:
a theological speech in which the Saviour presents
the redemption, the healing of our "ailing"
forefathers, by means of a medical metaphor. The instruments
of the Passion are transformed to be a healer's tools:
"Like a doctor, I will strip down and reach where
[the ailing Adam and Eve] lie / and treat their wounds.
/ I will perform surgery on their sores and calluses
with the spear. / I will also use vinegar to staunch
their wound. / Having explored their ulcer with the
surgical probe of the nails, I will apply My cloak
as a dressing. / And then, carrying My Cross as a
medicine chest / I will make (full) use of it that
thou mightest sing with understanding, / 'Through
suffering, He destroyed suffering / my Son and my
God'." (Strophe 13)
Thus,
through his song - an emotional drama set on Great
Friday - Saint Romanos leads us to an understanding
of three specific, interrelated points: 1) the reality
and significance of regarding the Virgin as Birth-Giver
of God; 2) the salvation wrought for all mankind as
an act of healing by Christ in His Passion; and 3)
the consequent need to adopt and practice a new, Christian,
attitude towards death. The simple and deep images
of the Thrênos make a strong impression that
is not easily forgotten. What better way to communicate
the exalted theology of Passion Week to an urban flock,
many of whom were illiterate and uneducated? As we
come to appreciate the richness and wisdom of the
texts handed down by the Church in its services, it
is instructive to remember a teacher of recent times,
Saint John Maximovitch: More than any modern theologian,
he used the services of the Orthodox Church as an
inexhaustible patristic resource for works such as
Mary, the Birth-Giver of God. His profound and authoritative
studies of tradition and theology are frequently supported
by, and illustrated from, the Divine services. In
this, Saint John, like Saint Romanos fourteen centuries
before him, reveals the Church to be the most effective
and direct education for those who wish to learn to
"sing with understanding" to their God!
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