The hymns of Gregory of Nazianzus and their place in the history of Greek and early Christian hymnography.

The present research concerns some hymns attributed to Gregory
Nazianzen: carm.1.1.29-1.1.38 and 2.1.38 (M.37. cols 507-22 and 1325-29). The primary aim in the examination of these poems is to see their position in the Greek and early Christian hymnographical tradition. To fulfil this in the best possible way it seemed necessary to spend the first part of the Introduction on surveying very briefly: a) the definition of the term ϋμνος as this is used in Greek literature
and the various types of Greek pagan hymns, b) the extant examples of them in a chronological order with particular emphasis on the hexameter hymns, and c)the form and content of these hymns. To these I have added a very brief history of the extant early Christian hymns, placing particular emphasis on hymns written in quantitative metres.
The second part of the Introduction is spent on general observations with regard to the language, style, content and metre of the hymns under discussion, in order to give the reader a general view of these hymns as a group and allow him to see the degree of the poet's conformity to traditional Greek practice, particularly with regard to his usage of the hexameter.
The text of the hymns in the form it appears in the Migne edition is unreliable in a number of cases, and so I decided to attempt to produce a critical edition based on the extant MSS.
The main body of the research consists of a commentary on these hymns since I considered a commentary to be the best way to analyse these poems and show their place in the literary genre to which they belong.
Since the authenticity of some of these hymns is disputed, I
place particular emphasis in the commentary on parallel expressions and ideas from genuine Gregorian works in order to support their authenticity.