'The Bird Who Sang the Trisagion' of Isaac of Antioch

“Clearly a must for all parrot-lovers.” —Sebastian Brock, Fellow of the British Academy, Emeritus Reader in Syriac Studies and Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, UK “In this polished volume, the authors show Isaac’s homily on the parrot to be a sophisticated, multilayered text that will appeal both to scholars of Christian antiquity, as well as to contemporary readers, especially those interested in animal studies.” —Patricia Cox Miller, The Bishop W. Earl Ledden Professor of Religion, Emerita, Syracuse University, USA “Isaac of Antioch is a mysterious figure of late antique Syriac Christianity, prolific yet understudied. There is much to learn here, and much to enjoy – whether of Isaac’s world or our own. Partnering meticulous scholarship with imaginative insight and depth, this is work that instructs and delights at every turn.” —Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Willard Prescott and Annie McClelland Smith Professor of History and Religion, Brown University, USA This book provides close historical, theological and cultural analyses of an important, but neglected, Late Antique writer, Isaac of Antioch, who was active during the second half of the fifth century. This book is the first English-language monograph on this key figure and also includes the first translation (without the Syriac) of this compelling metrical homily into English, which has at its heart the public pronouncement by a parrot of theological truths. The authors situate this remarkable text in the wider fields of performance studies, animal studies and media studies, all areas that can illuminate essential meanings and implications of the homily. Robert A. Kitchen is a retired minister of the United Church of Canada, who has extensive experience in teaching the Syriac language and publishing on theology related to this tradition. Glenn Peers is emeritus professor at the University of Texas at Austin and Syracuse University, USA; his field is Byzantine and East Christian art and culture.