Genre composition and typology of ancient octoechoi

In this article we study the typology and the genre composition of ancient Greek Octoechoi dated to the 12th c. Thirty-six manuscripts are investigated, among them: twenty-one belong to the library of the Sinai monastery, eight are from the library of the Grottaferrata monastery, five belong to Athos monasteries, and two belong to the library of the University of Messina (Sicily). We show that the Octoechoi are divided into three types according to their mode of formation. The earliest Octoechoi follow the genre (systematic) order, in which the hymns are arranged according to their genre relationship. New type of the Octoechos with the liturgical (cyclic) order appears in the 12th c., which is well-known due to the similar structure of the modern printed Octoechos. At the same time an another, transitional type of the Octoechos arises. This combined or genre-liturgical type of the Octoechos shows the liturgical order of formation for the Sunday hymns and retains the genre order for the ferial hymns...