Hymnale Ambrosianum. The structural background of a paleochristian hymnological modelThe monograph covers exhaustively all aspects of the structural material of Ambrose’s hymnological prototype. Given that the locating of the structural material is identified with its semiological understanding in the researcher’s language, the translation-related elaboration of the texts could not be excluded from this study.At its beginning the book comprises: the Table of Contents (pp. 9- 11), the Foreword (pp. 13-14) and Abbreviations (pp. 15-19). The following parts are: 1. Introduction (pp. 21-65). The first paragraph entitled Foreword (pp. 22-30), focuses on the significance of Ambrose’s Hymnologion. It focuses on the fourteen authentic hymns by Ambrose, as an aspect constituting common knowledge in the two ancient liturgical traditions, those of West and East. The next paragraph is entitled References of the Research of Ambrose’s Hymnology (pp. 30-39), which is a presentation of hitherto literary studies and publications of Ambrose’s Hymnologion with critical observations. The title of the next paragraph is The Hard to Explore Structural Dimension of Hymnale Ambrosianum (pp. 39-47). This paragraph locates the gaps in the research of Ambrose’s hymnography as a spiritual creation. It does this through the prism of the question of whether as a prototype of the hymnological development Ambrose’s hymnography fits within the structural basis of the treasury of the tradition of worship of the Church universally and whether, as such, it could point to a desirable balance between the creative freedom and the required adherence to the treasury of the Holy Tradition of worship. The fourth paragraph is entitled The Translational Gap of Ambrose’s Hymns in Greek Bibliography (pp. 47-62). The fifth and last paragraph entitled The Translational Approach of the Present Publication (pp. 62-65) is divided into three subsections: the ad litteram translation (literal, word by word translation), the ad sensum translation (translation according to meaning) and lastly, the translations where Latin alphabet is used for writing in Greek. 2. Chapter I (pp. 67-154) entitled The Ambrosian Context is divided into two parts. The first part, entitled The Mystic and Teacher (pp. 67-90), offers a portrayal of Ambrose while focusing on the aspects that are significant for the topic of the present study. The second part, entitled Divine Mystagogy (pp. 90-154) deals with the three basic components of Ambrose’s pedagogy: (a) the fishing of souls through preaching (liturgical Evangelism), (b) the passing on of the Eucharistic theology and its embrace by the faithful and (c) the formation of an appealing and complete prototype of the mystagogical performance. These three components place the regular presence of the faithful inside the Church and the creation of a live, participation-loving and zealously pulsating community at the epicentre of Ambrose’s pastoral aim. 3. Chapter II (pp. 155-179) bears the title The Dogmatic Reading of Ambrose’s Hymns. This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part is entitled Confession of Faith (pp. 155-170), whereas the second part is entitled Confession of Martyrdom (pp. 170-179). In the first part, the commentary on the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed with verses from Ambrose’s hymns demonstrates that Ambrose’s hymns are a vehicle for transmitting and consolidating of the foundational dogmas of orthodoxy. In the second part, we make use of the translations included in the publication part of this study (ad litteram, ad sensum and 19th century Greek texts with Latin characters) in order to demonstrate Ambrose’s position in relation to those dogmatic teachings which are not included in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. The main axis of that second part of Chapter II is the teaching regarding the Martyrdom. It is upon that teaching that Peter’s primacy is constructed, as a primacy of the Confession of Faith. The equality between Peter and Paul in terms of the Martyrdom, the honouring of the memory of the Martyrs by the Church and the veneration of their relics by the faithful within the context of Divine Worship are aspects which are also established. 4. Chapter III (pp. 181-230) is entitled Ambrose’s Hymnological Prototype. The Introduction (pp. 181-188) is followed by the section entitled Melopoetic and Performative Method (pp. 188-212), where within three separate paragraphs, three prototypes of the hymnological development are presented and analysed, based on the research sources. These prototypes are presented and analysed according to the chronological order of the epochs to which they belong and not according to the epoch of the source’s writer. More specifically, these are: the prototype of Antiochians Flavian and Diodoros, the prototype of Ambrose and the prototype of Chrysostom. In the fourth paragraph a common historical provenance of these three prototypes is located. The similarity between Ambrose’s prototype and other prototypes which are collectively of Eastern provenance provides an answer to the crucial question posed in the Introduction, meaning that Ambrose’s is a prototype of hymnological development which fits within the structural basis of the treasury of worship of the entire Church. The third part of Chapter III bears the title Poetic Art (pp. 213-230) and it relates to the idiosyncratic aspect of Ambrose’s poetic art, which was imitated by later hymnographers of the Western Church. The monograph locates these aspects and includes them by paying attention to that which is particular as distinct to that which is general. It does this while paying attention to the simplicity of the texts, the density of the narrative meanings and the dominating lyricism. Accordingly, the monograph conducts the analysis of the content of the sources which is arranged into three subsections with following titles: The Oikonomia of the Depicting Word (pp. 213-219), The Perspective of the Verbal Image (pp. 219-227) and Ambrose’s Lyrical State (pp. 227-230). The last part of the monograph is the publication part (pp. 233-319) which includes: (a) the threefold publication of the text of the fourteen authentic Ambrosian Hymns (the Latin original, the Greek ad litteram translation and the Greek ad sensum translation), (b) the publication of the Latin original and the equivalent Greek text with Latin characters of five hymns which have been attributed to Ambrose in the past and which fit within the broader category of imitations of Hymnale Ambrosianum - the texts confirm the position supported in this monograph, that Ambrose’s orthodoxy was crystal clear and undeniable and that his status was such that translators who re-wrote hymns in Greek with Latin characters which were considered Ambrosian respected their dogmatic precision, (c) the publication of one hymn in Latin and its equivalent Greek text with Latin characters which was never attributed to Ambrose and which, contrary to the category of translated hymns mentioned in point ‘b’, manifests serious dogmatic alterations which occurred during the translation from Latin to Greek, despite the fact that its prototype does not deviate from the orthodox dogma. The Abstract in English is then included, followed by the Bibliography, the Translation Index, the Index of Excerpts from the Bible, the Index of Names and the Index of Terms