This volume is dedicated to the Church Slavonic version of the Dioptra of Philippos Monotropos. It focuses on the transmission of the Slavonic text. Furthermore, a critical edition of the prefaces and the first book of the poem, together with a Greek parallel text, is given. Dioptra is a voluminous didactic poem written by the Byzantine monk Philip (later known as Monotropos - “Hermit”) in 1095 and consists of five books present a real guide to the theological and philosophical knowledge of the time. Church Slavonic translation was created around the middle of the fourteenth century. in one of the centers of Central Bulgarian writing and enjoyed great popularity throughout the "Slavia orthodoxa", as evidenced by more than 200 manuscripts. Most of this volume is devoted to the history of the Slavic translation and its handwritten history. |