E07797: The Greek Martyrdom of *Catherine/Aikaterina (martyr of Alexandria, S00765) recounts the marvellous tale of a young woman who defied the emperor Maxentius, defeated the finest orators of the realm in a public contest of knowledge, escaped being tortured on a giant wheel and was finally martyred gloriously. The text was perhaps written sometime around the 6th-8th century, either in the context of the monastery on Mount Sinai or elsewhere in the Greek-speaking East.
Creators: name: Nikolaos
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2019
Subjects: History

description: Martyrdom of Aikaterina (BHG 30)<br><br>Brief summary:<br><br>1-8. Emperor Maxentios commands all the people of the world to come to Alexandria to sacrifice to the pagan gods, and a great multitude gathers bringing forth manifold animals for sacrifice. In the city there lives alone in her late father's palace the daughter of a king, Aikaterina, who is not only exceedingly tall and beautiful, but has learned all the literature of rhetoric, philosophy and poetry, and is fluent in the seventy-two languages. A Christian, she is dismayed to see the people being led into perdition, and confronts the emperor, who has her seized and brought to him for questioning. Unable to stand his ground in a theological argument with her, the emperor announces she will engage in a public contest of words with the most learned orators.<br><br>9-21. Fifty orators are summoned and they promise to defeat the virgin, but an angel appears to Aikaterina and reassures her she will be victorious. The most prominent of the rhetoricians tests her with many questions from Plato and Aristotle, but she always knows the answer; when at last he can think of no more questions, Aikaterina turns the tables on him, proclaiming the wisdom of God which renders useless the wisdom of the world. The rest of the orators refuse to even attempt to beat her, and as they are being led to their deaths by an angry Maxentios, they turn to the God of Aikaterina and die as martyrs, on 17 November. The emperor, exasperated at being unable to sway Aikaterina, has her lashed and imprisoned to await her fate.<br><br>15-22. As she lies in a cell, the emperor's spouse, Augusta, approaches the saint through the faithful general Porphyrion, and is converted, as is the general, together with two hundred soldiers. Aikaterina lies in her cell for twelve days and is fed by a shining dove. Finally Christ appears to her, flanked by angels, and promises her he will be with her. The emperor summons Aikaterina and tries to win her over one last time; when he fails, he orders the construction of a set of four great wheels, furnished with spikes and rotated by mechanical means, initially in an attempt to intimidate her and then to torture or slay her; however, an angel rescues the saint and the wheels spin out of control, killing fourteen thousand pagans. The empress Augusta and the general Porphyrion with his soldiers both confront the emperor in turn and are martyred, the empress only after violent torture, on 23 November [in text B Porphyrion and the soldiers on 24 November].<br><br>23-27. The emperor finally commands that the saint be beheaded. Aikaterina prays at length to God, requesting, since many expect to obtain a part of her body, that no part may be found on the earth, but that anyone invoking her name in prayer should receive healing and protection from evil, absolution from sins, as well as protection against poor harvests. The Lord answers her, confirming His acceptance of the saint's request and welcoming her to Heaven. Aikaterina is then beheaded and four angels take her body to mount Sinai. This account was composed by the saint's personal slave and tachygrapher Athanasios. Saint Aikaterina was martyred on Friday 24 November.<br><br>Text: Viteau 1897, 5-23.<br>Summary: N. Kälviäinen.