ABSTRACT
Hagiographical texts might be written in any of a great variety of different literary genres, in both prose and poetry, the choice being largely dependent on the context and purpose for which they were written. In prose, works written for general edification (such as the beautifully narrated Life of Abraham of Qidun and his niece
Maria, dating from ca. 400) take on a more consciously literary character than do those whose aim is primarily to inform (such as many of those concerning Persian martyrs under Shapur II). In prose Lives of the fifth to the seventh century, when theological controversy was at its height, an element of propaganda was rarely absent. This applies to the biography of Rabbula, bishop of Edessa (412-435; BHO 1023),1 as well as to the more overtly partisan sixth-century Life of John of Tella (BHO 524) by Elia of Dara (W), or seventh-century Life of Marutha of Tagrit by Denha (W). The same feature is of course found in Greek Lives of this period translated into Syriac (and sometimes preserved only there), such as that of Peter the Iberian (W; BHO 955).2 On occasion the propaganda element could end up in a hostile Life, as in the Syrian Orthodox Life of Nestorios and the Monothelete Life of Maximos.
