Hør hva jeg er, for jeg er den du ser! – Maria-fremstillinger i Akathistos-hymnen og Romanos’ Bebudelseshymne

This article presents a reading of two Greek Marian hymns written in the centuries after the Ephesus Council: the Annunciation Hymn by Romanos the Melodist, which is the earliest extant Annunciation hymn we have, and the well-known Akathistos Hymn. Many scholars believe the latter to be a fifth century composition, and not – as have been claimed by such important scholars as Constantinos A. Trypanis – a work by Romanos, who wrote his poetry in the sixth century. This article is based on the same assumption. By contrasting the Marian images in these pieces of poetry it is able to conclude that the ideas of the Virgin are inherently different. Thus it is highly unlikely that the two compositions come from the same hand. The reading further complicates the notion that the development in Mariology has gone from “low” to “high”; on the contrary the older hymn seems to represent a more elevated view of the Virgin than does the younger one. Romanos rather brings the Virgin down to dwell among his congregated listeners