Dragon-Slayer Saints: Theodore Tiron, Theodore Stratelates and George the Victory-Bearer. South Slavic Medieval Tradition

The victory over a dragon is a common motif in medieval hagiography, as well as in biblical and classical literature, and in folklore. Although traditionally associated with the Life cycle of St. George, the episode about the killing of a monster is part of the hagiographic narratives about two other well-known warrior-saints - St. Theodore Tiron and St. Theodore Stratelates. Indeed, as Ana Stoikova convincingly shows, the dragon-slaying episode is first attested among the miracles of St. Theodore Tiron. Later on, it strongly influenced the hagiographic tradition of St. Theodore Stratelates. In the Life of St. George it appears rather late, only after the 12th century. Stoikova summarizes the information about the cult of each of these three early Christian martyrs examining various historical, archaeological and iconographic sources. She makes a very concise overview of the emergence and interpretation of the dragon-slaying motif in Greek hagiographic, homiletic and hymnographic tradition about them outlining the time of its occurrence, its enrichment with additional elements, and its diffusion in various types of manuscripts, both as a part of the saint’s Life and as a self-standing miracle. Against this background, the South Slavic manuscript material is introduced.