The Library and the Mystagogia. Genetic Pathways Compared.

The article focuses on the similarities in the genesis of Photius' Library and Mystagogia: after recalling the results of the most recent studies on the first and proposing some new hypotheses on the nature and origin of its chapters, it analyses the structure of the Mystagogia, showing that this work derives from the transcription of a composite dossier-prototype prepared by Photius from very heterogeneous sources. Some similarities in the contents of the two works suggest using the same set of materials to compose some sections of both, at different times in the scholar's life. This reconstruction seems to confirm the late dating of the Library (proposed in previous works) and implies a radically new dating for some parts of the Mystagogia, which will be the subject of a further contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]