I. Agat'angeghos
Information on dayeakut'iwn in
fourth century Armenia is found in a fifth century compilation,
Agat'angheghos' History, which describes in epic style
Armenia's conversion to Christianity. According to Agat'angeghos,
it was thanks to dayeaks that the lives of the future king Trdat (Armenia's first Christian king, ruled ca. 303330) and the future Gregory the Illuminator or Grigor Lusavorich were saved. Both Grigor and Trdat were rescued in their infancies from extermination attempts directed against their clans. Agat'angeghos narrates how the shah of Iran plotted the murder of Trdat's father, King Xosrov, in the late third century. The shah sent to Armenia an Iranian noble named Anak the Parthian
who vowed to endear himself to King Xosrov and then to kill him
at an opportune moment. When that moment presented itself some
months later, Anak assassinated Xosrov. But, with his dying breath,
Xosrov
ordered that [Anak's] clan be exterminated. Then (the Armenians) began to destroy and kill them, not even sparing the children who did not yet know their right from their left. They also put the women to the sword. Only two infant sons of [Anak] the Parthian were saved by someone who rescued them by means of their dayeaks. They took [the babies] and fled, taking one to Iranian territory, and the other to Greek [Byzantine] territory (6).
The son of Anak who was spirited away
to the city of Caesarea was baptized Grigor and given a Christian
education. As for the future king Trdat, the shah of Iran searched
for this heir of his old adversary:
But someone saved and rescued from destruction
one of the sons of [the slain] king Xosrov of Armenia, an infant
named Trdat. His dayeaks took hlm and fled to the court of the emperor in Greek territory (7).
By a twist of epic fate, both Trdat
and Grigor grew up in the same geographlcal area. According to
Agat'angeghos, when Grigor's dayeaks informed him of his
true parentage, Grigor sought out Trdat wishing to enter his service,
to expiate for his father's crime (8). Grigor concealed his past
and his religion from Trdat for some time. But eventually Trdat
learned that Gngor's father was the regicide Anak. It was then
that the imprisonment of Grigor began (9).
Who were the dayeaks mentioned
in Agat'angeghos? Later Armenian tradition has supplied probably
fictitious names for Grigor's dayeaks (10). As for the saviors
of baby Trdat, the dayeaks may have been Mamikoneans, a
family with which the royal Arsacids of Armenia subsequently had
dayeak relations. Trdat's personal guardian may have been
the sparapet (commanderinchief) Artawazd Mamikonean
(11).
In Agat'angeghos, the institution of
dayeakut'iwn, though seldom mentioned, has a crucial importance.
Not only do dayeaks prevent the annihilation of the royal
clan and the Parthian clan of Anak/Grigor, but they educate both
of their wards to recognize their responsibilities--atonement
for Grigor, vengeance for Trdat.
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