Ancient Armenian literature

V century – «Golden age» of ancient Armenian literature

V century, later called golden, was marked by the translation of the Bible from the Greek language. French scientist La Croz called the Armenian translation of the Bible «The queen of translations». The theological works of Ephraim the Syrian, Gregory of Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, the ancient philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato, Porphyry were translated. In the V century, the Armenian philosophical school was formed. The work of Eznik Kokhbatsi, the first Armenian philosopher, «Denial of heresy» is distinguished by its author's rhetorical skills and figurative language. The representative of philosophical thought was the Armenian philosopher- neo-platonist David Anhaght (Invincible).

Many works of ancient philosophers and historians, whose originals were lost, were preserved only in Armenian translations: the works of Zeno, Eusebius of Caesarea, and John Chrysostom. Aristotle's and Plato's works translations into the Armenian are considered to be the closest to the original.

The genres of ecclesiastical literature were developed - canons, epistles, and speeches. Unique kinds of hymns were created: taghs, meghedis and sharakans. Outstanding works of hagiographic literature are the following: Life of St. Grigor the Illuminator, the Martyrdom of the Apostle Thaddeus and Virgin Sanduht.

The first historical work is considered to be «The life of Mashtots», written by Koryun in approximately 443-450 AD. It is closer to the antique biography genre than to that of hagiographic literature. It tells the story of finding the lost letters from Bishop Daniel. For two years, Mashtots taught children this alphabet, but it turned out that it was not enough to express «the completeness of the Armenian language» (Koryun). It was decided to equip the group, led by Mashtots, to create the Armenian alphabet. For two years they traveled from country to country, trying to find ancient Armenian, earlier existing letters, study other languages letters, but none fit the phonetic structure of the Armenian language. Thus, Mashtots created Armenian letters that fully «correspond to the sound of the Armenian speech», and, finally, as Koryun writes, «God spoke Armenian».

A special role in the history of the Armenian artistic expression belongs to the work by Agatangehos: «The History of Armenia», dedicated to the adoption of Christianity. The basis of the work is the life story of one of the first Armenian preachers - Grigor Lusavorich (Illuminator), the legend of the martyrdom of virgin Hripsime and her friends. In the center of the narrative there is the story of Grigor's persecution, who was imprisoned in the pit by king Trdat.

In conditions of foreign enslavement (the country was divided into two parts between Byzantium and Persia in 451), the patriotic orientation was the distinguishing feature of Armenian authors' historical works. In Yeghishe’s work (410 / 415- 475/480) «About Vardan and the Armenian War» (or «Vardanank»), the idea of erving the homeland becomes central. The work is devoted to the most important events of its time - the war against the Persian domination, the decisive battle between Armenians and Persians - the Avarayr battle of 451, led by Sparapet Vardan Mamikonyan.

The rise of the Armenian literature of the 5th century can be defined by the work of Movses Khorenatsi – «father of the Armenian historiography», «father of poets», «father of grammarians». The pupil of Mashtots - Khorenatsi received a versatile education in Alexandria, most probably, he was a member of the group of the Neoplatonists of Olympiodorus, he called his teacher «the new Plato». «History of Armenia», written by Khorenatsi on the instructions of Prince Sahak Bagratuni, is a work based on original sources. Khorenatsi highlights the history of Armenia from ancient times to the end of the 5th century. Thanks to this work, many monuments of epic and folklore cultural heritage of the Armenian people were preserved such as legends about Hayk and Bel, Aram, Ara and Shamiram, Vahagn.