Th. Otkhmezuri. - The Manuscripts of Classical Authors in the Byzantine World: Ephrem Mtsire and the "Books of Pagans". - ANAΘESIS (Philological-Historical Studies, dedicated to Academician Tinatin Kaukhchishvili). – Tbilisi. - 1999.- In Georgian.
The article of Th. Otkhmezuri presents the analysis of the colophons of the famous 11th-century Georgian translator Ephrem Mtsire. The colophons include valuable information about the intellectual life in the monastic centres of Antioch region.
In the colophon to the Georgian translation of John of Damascus Dialectics Ephrem relates that the Patriarch of Antioch, Theodoros III Laskaris (1034-1042) had delivered 420 "pagan and ecclesiastical" Greek books to the monastery of St. Symeon. He pays attention to the explanatory marginalia and the different signs which are placed in the margins of these manuscripts. He found them to be practical and advises the Georgian scholars to utilize them in the Georgian manuscripts. In the colophon to the Georgian translation of the Commentaries on the Psalms Ephrem writes that "pagan and ecclesiastical" books are often preceded by the Lexicon, according to Ephrem, the collection of the difficult words in the order of the alphabet which need explanation. Following these Greek books Ephrem himself composed and attached the Lexicon to the introduction of the Commentaries on the Psalms. It is clear that the library of the monastery of St. Symeon includes pagan books in addition to those of an ecclesiastical nature and they were employed as models by Ephrem.
By the analysis of Ephrem's colophons it becomes also evident that he was well acquainted with one of the crucial problems of the Byzantine world - the relation between classical heritage and Christian doctrine. Ephrem's attitude toward the classical culture was tolerant and he was conscious about the importance of studying pagan authors as a propaedeutic to theology.
Thus, Ephrem Mtsire gave a start to distinct, it might be said, to new attitude toward classical heritage in the Georgian culture which later was developed in the translation activities of Gelati scholars and, especially, in the works of Ioane Petritsi. This process, by itself, was connected with the forming of the hellenophile outlook in the eleventh-century Georgian literary thought.
Th. Otkhmezuri. - Ambigua ad Iohannem by Maximus the Confessor in Georgian Translation Tradition. - Mravaltavi - Tbilisi. - 1999. - N 18. – In Georgian.
The article of Th. Otkhmezuri gives the analysis of the Georgian translation of the Commentary on Oratio 38 by Gregory of Nazianzus. The Commentary is presented in the XI-XIII centuries Georgian collections of Gregory of Nazianzus' sermons translated by a famous Georgian scholar Euthymius the Athonite. In the title Maximus the Confessor is named as the author of the Commentary. The study of the translation reveals that the writing is of a compilatory character, its basic constituent being a part from Ambigua ad Iohannem by Maximus the Confessor (P.G. 91, col. 1273 D 5 - 1297 C). The rest of the explanations come from the Commentary on Oratio 38 by the tenth-century commentator of Gregory's works Basilius Minimus and also from the work(s) of the anonymous commentator(s). The author of the compilation could be a Greek scholar who knew the Greek tradition of the commentaries on Gregory's works very well. It is not also excluded that this work was carried out by Euthymius himself, as the technique of compiling was often used by him in translating Greek texts.
The translation of the Commentary is reader-oriented. The method employed in translation is of dynamic equivalence, although some passages and especially the technical terms are rendered by the literal style of translation.
Th. Otkhmezuri. - On the Peculiarity of the Manuscripts of Ephrem Mtsire's Translations. - Philological Researches II. – Tbilisi. 1995.- In Georgian.
The article by Th. Otkhmezuri presents the study of the marginal signs of the Georgian manuscripts including the translations of Ephrem Mtsire's translations. The marginal solar sign is found in the margins of the autograph (S-1276) of Ephrem written at the end of the 11th century. This sign marks the most theological passages in Gregory of Nazianzus writings, because "in the Holy Scripture God is called the Sun of Righteousness" (the frequent explanation of the sign in the Greek manuscripts of Gregory of Nazianzus' works). Ephrem who translated St. Gregory"'s writings into Georgian and who knew the manuscript tradition of this author transferred the sign into his autograph using it for the same purpose.
Th. Otkhmezuri. - The Influence of the Commentaries on the Georgian Translations of the Works by Gregory of Nazianzus. - Philological Researches II. - Tbilisi. - 1995.- In Georgian.
The article of Th. Otkhmezuri "The Influence of the Commentaries on the Georgian translations of the Works by Gregory of Nazianzus" presents the analysis of the influence of the Commentaries by the tenth-century Byzantine author Basilius Minimus (X c.) on the Georgian translations of the works by the fourth-century well-known Byzantine author Gregory of Nazianzus.
The sermons of Gregory of Nazianzus were translated into Georgian twice: first, at the end of the tenth century by the famous Georgian translator Euthymius the Athonite, and for the second time, at the end of the eleventh century by the well-known Georgian scholar of the Black Mountain Ephrem Mtsire. He also translated the Commentaries by Basilius Minimus.
Euthymius' had translated the sermons of Gregory of Nazianzus by a free, reader-oriented translation method. While translating Gregory of Nazianzus' sermons, Euthymius took explanatory information from Basilius Minimus' Commentaries and inserted it in his translation. Thus he used the Commentaries of Byzantine author to make clear some difficult passages of Gregory's prose.
Ephrem Mtsire who rendered Gregory's liturgical homilies by a literal translation method used the information about the rhetorical style of Gregory of Nazianzus which is in the Commentaries, to make his translation closer to the Greek original. By the help of the Commentaries he tried to preserve the peculiarities and different nuances of Gregory of Nazianzus' style in his translation.