The Legend of Euphratas: Some notes on Its origins, development, and significance

Abstract

The mysterious Euphratas, as G. Dagron has called him, is a literary figure who features prominently in the Byzantine legend of Constantine the Great. He would have emerged during the ninth or tenth century -precisely the time in which the legendary traditions concerning Constantine underwent a major development- and remained popular throughout the middle Byzantine period and even beyond. Euphratas was never detached from the imaginary Constantine, yet the character gained such significance that a legend of Euphratas or, as G. Dagron and S. Lieu have called it, a Gesta Euphratae, can be identified within the wider context of the fictional accounts devoted to the first Christian emperor. As such, it deserves to be a subject of study.