Euthymius the Athonite
Euthymius the Athonite (also known as Euthymius of Mount Athos, 955–1028) — translator, theologian, and leading cleric; founder of the Athonite literary school and abbot of the Iviron Monastery on Mount Athos (1005–1019).
Euthymius’s father, John the Athonite, was the founder of the Georgian monastic colony on Mount Athos. After his father took monastic vows, Euthymius was raised under the care of his uncle and a monk named Papas. At that time, the Byzantine emperor granted “the Upper Lands” to the Georgian Prince David Kuropalates and demanded noble children as hostages — among them was Euthymius. His father, with the emperor’s permission, retrieved him and together they settled in Athanasius’s Lavra on Mount Athos.
After his father’s death, Euthymius became the abbot of the Iviron Monastery. He was entrusted with the administration (epitropy) of the Lavra, the care of about 300 monks, extensive construction work, and the establishment of non-Georgian monastic communities. Fourteen years later, he stepped down from leadership. His life and work were described by George the Athonite.
Euthymius began his literary activity around 975–977. From childhood, he had mastered Greek perfectly and translated not only from Greek into Georgian but also from Georgian into Greek. He even wrote in Greek himself, including a treatise on the monastic way of life. Through his work, Georgian literature first entered the international arena, and he successfully guided the spiritual life of his compatriots abroad.
Among the Old and New Testament books, he translated the Gospels, the Revelation of John the Theologian, the Psalms, and others. From exegetical writings, he translated Andrew of Crete’s Interpretation of John’s Revelation, John Chrysostom’s Interpretation of Matthew’s Gospel, and Basil of Caesarea’s Interpretation of the Psalms. He also translated many ascetic and mystical works — those of Gregory the Theologian (of Nazianzus), Gregory of Nyssa, and John Chrysostom — and homiletic anthologies such as The Pearl and The Anthology of Flowers.
Euthymius compiled liturgical collections essential for worship, including the Short Synaxarion and a small corpus of works by Gregory the Theologian. For the Iviron Monastery, he composed The Rule and Ordinance, the first Georgian typikon (monastic rule), which spread not only on Athos but to all Georgian monasteries.
He also compiled an index of apocryphal books, unlike any other known index — a truly original work. Likewise, his Minor Nomocanon (a concise code of church law) has no analogue in Byzantine or other Eastern legal history. His treatise The Spiritual Leader (Ts’inamdzghvari), based on several sources, stands out as a unique theological manual in Christian literature.
Euthymius translated both kimenic and metaphrastic hagiographical texts, as well as works by John of Damascus, Cassian the Roman, Symeon of Mesopotamia, Macarius of Egypt, and others. He, by his style of work, resembled Byzantine scholars, commentators and encyclopedists. Euthemius was the first to insist categorically that texts should be translated directly from the original Greek. His translations are distinguished by their simplicity, elegance, and natural flow.
A great spiritual and literary figure, Euthymius was canonized by the Georgian and the Greek Orthodox Churches as Venerable Euthymius. His feast day is celebrated on May 13 (May 26 in the modern calendar).
Sources: გიორგი მთაწმიდელი, ცხორებაჲ იოვანესი და ეფთჳმესი, წგ.: ძველი ქართული აგიოგრაფიული ლიტერატურის ძეგლები, წგ. 2, ილ. აბულაძის რედ., თბ., 1967.
Liyerature: ბასილი კესარიელის სწავლათა ეფთვიმე ათონელისეული თარგმანი. გამოსაცემად მოამზადა, გამოკვლევა და ლექსიკონი დაურთო ც. ქურციკიძემ, თბ., 1982; კეკელიძე კ., ეტიუდები ძველი ქართული ლიტერატურის ისტორიიდან, [ტ.] 2, თბ., 1945; მისივე, ქართული ლიტერატურის ისტორია, ტ. 1 – ძველი მწერლობა, თბ., 1960; მეტრეველი ე., ნარკვევები ათონის კულტურულ-საგანმანათლებლო კერის ისტორიიდან, თბ., 1996; ჭელიძე ი., უძველესი ქართული საღვთისმეტყველო ტერმინოლოგია, თბ., 1997.
V. Baakashvili
N. Chikvatia
