CYRIL OF TURIV

Sometimes Turov, bishop of the princedom of Turiv (a principality of the Kievan Rus'), preacher, writer, and poet; b. c. 1130; d. 1182. A scion of an old patrician family, Cyril entered the monastery at an early age, already as an established writer. He was very popular among his contemporaries and was consecrated bishop in the second half of the 12th century, upon the request of the citizens of Turiv. His extant works include eight collections of sermons written for various Church feasts, two parables, 22 prayers, and a Canon of the Mass. His works abound with metaphors, similes, antitheses, and other literary devices. The rhythmic language and the dramatic style of his works characterized by the use of dialogues carried an appeal both to the mind and to the heart. Many of his works are strongly influenced by the writings of Byzantine theologians, whom he was able to read in the original. Cyril's writings exerted considerable influence on Russian, Ukrainian, and Byelorussian literatures, and on the literatures of the Balkan nations.

Bibliography: d. cisevsky, Istoriia Ukrainskoi literatury (New York 1956); Geschichte der altrussischen Literatur (Frankfurt 1948). c. a. manning, Ukrainian Literature (Jersey City, NJ 1944). o. ohonovskyi, Istoriia literatury rus'koï, 3 v. in 4 (Lvov 1887–93). a. n. pypin and v. d. spasovich, Geschichte der slawischen Literaturen, v.1 (Leipzig 1880). v. p. vinogradov, V pamjat' stoletija Moskovskoj Duchovnoj, 2 v. (Moscow 1915).

[g. luznycky]