Source: Wikimedia Commons
In the tenth century, Symeon Metaphrastes was commissioned by Byzantine Emperor Basil II with the task of creating an expansive menologion collecting lives of saints for reading in the monasteries. Symeon’s menologion is a mix of rewritten and newly-written texts. Fifteen of them focus on the lives of apostles and other first-century figures. Unfortunately, little attention has been paid to this corpus. None of them have been treated to a full critical editions—a difficult task, given that they exist in close to 100 manuscripts—and only two have been translated into a modern language (the Acts of Cornelius by Tony Burke in English and the Hypomnema of Thomas by Sergey Ivanov in Russian). The goal of the Apocrypha of Symeon Metaphrastes Project is to prepare English translations of the corpus using, for the most part, the Greek texts published by Jacques Paul Migne. The translations are expected to be published in 2027 in a volume edited by Tony Burke. Leading up to that publication, contributors to the project will present their preliminary work at three conferences: the Society of Biblical Literature (Christian Apocrypha Section) 2025 and 2026 and a workshop to be hosted by Beyond Canon in Regensburg in the summer of 2026. This page will be updated with news of the project’s progress.
Plan of the Volume
On the Acts of Peter by Clement (Pseudo-Clementines, epitome) (ECCA 638; CANT 209.7), by Joshua King
Hypomnema on Andrew (ECCA 433; CANT 234), by Andrej Vinogradov
Hypomnema on John, Son of Zebedee (ECCA 191; CANT 221), by Janet Spittler
Hypomnema on Philip (ECCA 808; CANT 251), by Julia Snyder
Hypomnema on Thomas (ECCA 228; CANT 248), by Sergey Ivanov
Hypomnema on Matthew (ECCA 768; CANT 271), by Tony Burke
Hypomnema on Luke (ECCA 153; CANT 290), Emanuela Valeriani
Hypomnema on James, Brother of the Lord (ECCA 144), by Christos Karakolis
Hypomnema on Timothy (ECCA 928; CANT 296), by Scott Robertson
Hypomnema on the Virgin (ECCA 805; CANT 93), by Christian Høgel
Martyrdom of Thecla (ECCA 206), by Ángel Narro
Hypomnema on John the Baptist (ECCA 537; CANT 182), by James McGrath
Martyrdom of Ananias (ECCA 484), by Tobias Nicklas
Martyrdom of Longinus the Centurion (ECCA 730), by Nathan Hardy and Kelly Holob
Society of Biblical Literature Session 1 (Boston, November 2025)
Introduction by Christian Høgel
Presentations by Tony Burke, Nathan Hardy, James McGrath, Scott Robertson, and Janet Spittler
Bibliography
Burke, Tony and Witold Witakowski. “Acts of Cornelius the Centurion.” Pages 337–61 in New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Vol. 1. Edited by Tony Burke and Brent Landau. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016 (translation of the Martyrdom of Cornelius).
Dressel, Albert Rud., ed. Clementinorum Epitomae Duae. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1859 (edition of the Pseudo-Clementine epitome, pp. 138–220).
Høgel, Christian. Symeon Metaphrastes: Rewriting and Canonization. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2002 (an introduction to the work of Symeon Metaphrastes).
Ivanov, Sergey A. “‘The Apostolic Siren’: Symeon Metaphrastes’ Hypomnema to St. Thomas, BHG 1835” (in Russian). Vizantijskij Vremennik Rossijskoj Akademii Nauk 65 (2006): 309–24 (Greek edition based on four manuscripts, pp. 311–18; Russian translation, pp. 319–24).
Latyšev, Vasilij V. Menologii anonymi byzantini saeculi X quae supersunt. 2 vols. St. Petersburg: Tipografija Imperatorskoj Akademii Nauk, 1911–1912 (editions of the Hypomnema of John the Baptist, vol. 2, pp. 384–408; and the Hypomnema on the Virgin, vol. 2, pp. 346–83; based on 3 manuscripts).
Migne, Jacques Paul. Patrologiae cursus completus: Series graeca. 161 vols. Paris: Imprimerie Catholique, 1857–1866 (edition of the Pseudo-Clementine epitome, vol. 2, pp. 469–604; editions of other Hypomnema throughout vols. 114–16).
Vinogradov, Andrej. Greek Legends about St. Apostle Andrew (in Russian). St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg University Press, 2005 (edition of the Hypomnema on Andrew based on three manuscripts, pp. 230–43).
Volk, Robert. “Symeon Metaphrastes – ein Benutzer des Barlaam-Romans.” Rivista di studi bizantini e neoellenici n.s. 33 (1996): 67–180 (edition of the Hypomnema on Thomas based on 13 manuscripts, pp. 156–67).