ABSTRACT
The lyricism of the classical Byzantine hymns was a preparation for an explosion of lyrical poetry. More important still, such an extended hagiographical romance as the Balahvariani introduced to literature the idea of fiction with narrative suspense, with a quest for the heart's desire its central structural element. All that had to happen was for this quest to switch from spiritual to other goals and a secular literature was born. The gtoundwork for Rustaveli's The Knight in the Panther Skin (3D'lJbou6:.!,')CTJu,')6o) was in place. Two major epic prose works of the early twelfth century, however, are reflected, paralleled, and mentioned in Rustaveli's great poem: they may be all that survives of a far more extensive courtly, chivalrous, half-epic, half-romantic literature. One is the Amirandarejaniani (,')aoM.'J6f.!?.'JMD:;<,')6o.'J6o, The Tale of Amiran Son of Darejan'); the other the Georgian version of the Persian 'Love of Vis and Ramin', the Visramiani (30UM,')ao,')6o).
