Култ и иконографија Светог Полиеукта Мелитинског у Србији са посебним освртом на помен и молитвено обраћање Светог Саве овом мученику у Хиландарском типику (1199)

Abstract

У раду се представљају култ и иконографија Светог Полиеукта Мелитинског у српској средњовековној држави у време државне независности (1168–1459), али се разматрају и познији примери његових представа, које се византијском традицијом у приказивању овог светог ослањају на ранија раздобља. Реч је о младом ратнику пореклом из јерменског града Мелитине, који је, неодступно исповедајући хришћанство погубљен мачем 259. године. Истраживање култа овог светитеља уопште скопчано је са бројним потешкоћама, које потичу од самих извора и доступне грађе, о чему са опрезом сведоче ранији истраживачи. Како култу Светог Полиеукта у средњовековној Србији није до сада посвећена засебна студија, овај рад има за циљ да анализом хагиографских и иконографских извора, као и различитих средњовековних књижевних састава поближе расветли култ Светог Полиеукта у српској средњовековној средини – појаву лика овог светитеља у монументалном живопису, као и разлоге и особености његовог штовања. Поменута анализа предузета је у циљу разматрања и бољег разумевања једног одељка Хиландарског типика (гл. 39) у којем Свети Сава уз Христа и Богородицу помиње овог светитеља, молећи му се на специфичан начин да заштити Хиландар и његово братство од зла

The following paper investigates the cult and iconography of Saint Polyeuktos in medieval Serbia (1168–1459) on the basis of hagiographical and iconographical sources. Saint Polyeuktos was a soldier under the emperor Decius (249–251). Though pagan at first, he later suffered for Christ under the emperor Valerian (253–259), being the first Christian martyr of the ancient Armenian city of Melitene and the third christian martyr in general. During the persecution against Christians, he went to the city square, tore up the edict of Decius which required everyone to worship idols. A few moments later he met a procession carrying idols through the streets of the city and dashed the idols to the ground. Therefore he was executed with a sword in the year 259 and baptized in his own blood. As the cult of Saint Polyeuktos in medieval Serbia has not been the subject of an individual study so far, this paper aims to analyze hagiographic and iconographic sources (fig. 1–7), and other medieval sources in order to shed more light on the cult of this martyr in Serbian medieval milieu, and on the reasons and specificities of his worshp. The mentioned analysis is undertaken in order to examine more closely one specific passage of the Chilandar typikon (Ch. 39) in which Saint Sava of Serbia mentions Saint Polyeuktos along with Christ and the Mother of God, praying for help in the battle against evil. It is concluded that the data from hagiographic sources and the life of Saint Polyeuktos can explain the reasons behing such an intention of Saint Sava of Serbia. This citation is at the same time the oldest mention of the name of Saint Polyeuktos of Melitene in Serbian sources. This paper also deals with the cult of Saint Polyeuktos in Constantinople, due to the fact that it is most probably in the Byzantine capital that Saint Sava became acquintained with the cult of Saint Polyeuktos of Armenia. In this sense, the paper indicates possible ways of interprating the scene of Baptism of emperor Constantine the Great, once present in the church of Saint Polyeuktos in Constantinople, from the point of view of the character and the symbolic essence of the cult of Saint Polyeuktos of Melitene. It emerged from this research that the crucial events in the lives of Saint Polyeuktos and of Byzantine emperor Constantine the Great match. The verses of the Saint Polyeuktos epigram (AP 1.10: 70–73) describing the scene of Constantine the Great’s Baptism testify to this: “Thence, it is possible to see above the rim of the hall a great marvel of sacred depiction, the wise Constantine, how escaping the idols he overcame the God-fighting fury, and found the light of the Trinity by purifying his limbs in water”. These verses are analyzed in the theological (hymnographical) context of the feast of Saint Polyeuktos. They inform the reader that by receiving baptism Constantine the Great escaped idols, which is the same message conveyed by the life of Saint Polyeuktos. Bowing his head beneath the executioner’s sword, Polyeuktos of Melitene was baptized in his own blood. These and similar motifs concerning the Baptism are variated in the church service dedicated to Saint Polyeuktos (January 9). Apart from the motif of Baptism, symbolically linked to the cult of Saint Polyeuktos not only by the deeds of his life, but by the position of the Polyeuktos commemoration day in the church calendar, the second important motif in the life of Saint Polyeuktos common to the life of first Byzantine christian emperor is the motif of idols. As Constantine the Great, the armenian saint too escaped the idols – by dashing them and trampling them underfoot. There are several iconographical types of this saint in the Serbian milieu. He was portrayed as an old old man with white beard falling to his chest (fig. 1), as a gray-haired old man (fig. 2), or as an old man with curled dark hair and light beard (fig. 3a). He could also be portrayed as a middle-aged man with a gray hair, or as a very young man (fig. 4). He s sometimes depicted as an individual full lenght figure (fig. 2, 3) or in a bust (fig. 1). He was also portraiyed as an individual figure in the Menologion cycle (January 9), while he is in one monument depicted at the the moment of the beheading by the sword (fig. 6).