Rhetors at the wedding

1979 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 104-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Russell
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Second Sophistic ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
High Class ◽  
Main Motive ◽  
Greek Rhetoric ◽  
Early Byzantine

In Lucian's Symposium, one of the wedding guests is a philosopher and another is a grammatikos. The grammatikos provides a bad elegiac epithalamium; the philosopher, who is called Ion, improves the occasion with a speech in which he declares that pederasty offers the best way of life, and the system of communal wives, as recommended in Plato's Republic, is the next best thing.This fantasy, of course, tells us nothing about what went on at weddings. Lucian's main motive is literary parody, of Plutarch's Erotikos or something of the kind. But it may serve to recall something of which we have evidence enough in Greek rhetoric, namely the practice of delivering speeches of some literary pretention at high-class weddings. The educated classes of the cities of the eastern provinces evidently cherished this habit: a display of culture, as well as of wealth, was admired, and elaborate orations took their place, alongside abundance of food and wine, music and song, elaborately decorated bridal chambers and beds, as concomitants of a wedding that was to do both families credit. This is true of the period of the ‘Second Sophistic’, and of its fourth-century and early Byzantine continuations. How far the practice was common before, say, the Antonine age is much less clear.

scholarly journals LATE ANTIQUE OR EARLY BYZANTINE? THE SHIFTING BEGINNINGS OF BYZANTINE LITERATURE

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panagiotis A. Agapitos
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Structural Break ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Greek Literature ◽  
Methodological Problems ◽  
The One ◽  
Early Byzantine

The aim of the paper is twofold. On the one hand, it examines the epistemological reasons behind the shifting beginnings of Byzantine literature, a shift that covers a period of four centuries (AD 300-700), as well as the methodological problems for the study of Byzantine literature resulting from the rise of Late Antiquity as a new historical period and a new field of studies. On the other hand, the paper proposes a series of four textually immanent criteria and seven internal operative principles by means of which a different methodological approach to the «beginning» of Byzantine literature can be reached. For this purpose Eusebios of Caesarea and Lactantius will be used as the textual basis for establishing a structural break in literary production in the first two decades of the fourth century. For the purpose of controlling this proposal a comparison with an important but highly debated monument (the Arch of Constantine in Rome) will be made and some final conclusions as to the course of Greek literature in early Byzantine times will be made.

Cosmopolitanism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel S. Richter
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Second Sophistic ◽  
Human Community ◽  
The World ◽  
Rhetorical Constructions ◽  
As If

This chapter describes the how various intellectuals active in the Second Sophistic conceived of the unity of the human community, a problem with philosophical, social, political, and, perhaps most importantly, ethnic implications. Intellectuals of the period inherited a rich conceptual vocabulary with which to think about human unity; ironically, fifth- and fourth-century Athenian rejections of aristocratic privilege provided a means for later intellectuals to debunk the importance of ethnic birth. As well, the Hellenistic Stoic idea of oikeiôsis is developed by intellectuals of the Second Sophistic as the basis of a philosophically oriented cosmopolitanism. The chapter discusses late Stoic cosmopolitan thought and rhetorical constructions of the Roman oikoumenê (inhabited world) as a single polis, and then turns to the figure of the exile as peculiarly suited to inhabit the world as if it were a single city.

V. The Second Sophistic and Imperial Greek Literature

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 74-89
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Literary Culture ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
The Self ◽  
Greek Literature ◽  
Second Sophistic ◽  
Roman Greece ◽  
Fourth Century Bce

This book has focused so far upon the extraordinary popularity of epideictic oratory in the first three centuries of the Roman empire, the ‘Second Sophistic’ in Philostratus’ sense (notwithstanding its distant roots in the fourth century BCE). We have seen that these declamations were performance pieces, and that issues of identity were explored through the observation of the sophist’s body; that language and style were heavily theorized, but also highly experimental; and that the interpretation of these ingenious, mobile texts demands considerable resourcefulness and attentiveness. What I want to explore in this final chapter is the points of intersection between these aspects of sophistic literature and the wider literary culture of Roman Greece. I shall focus particularly on two areas, which are central to both oratorical declamation and wider literary culture: ‘the self and exotic narrative.

Byzantine castrati

2002 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Moran
Keyword(s):  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Professional Singers ◽  
John Chrysostom ◽  
Sistine Chapel ◽  
Hagia Sophia ◽  
Byzantine Church ◽  
Hymn Singing ◽  
Early Byzantine

The employment of castrati in the Byzantine Church can be traced back to the choirmaster Brison in the fourth century. Brison was called upon by John Chrysostom to organize the antiphonal hymn-singing in the patriarchal church. Since eunuchs were generally considered to be remnants of a pagan past, castrati are seldom mentioned in early Byzantine sources, but beginning in the tenth century references to eunuchs or castrati became more and more frequent. By the twelfth century all the professional singers in the Hagia Sophia were castrati. The repertory of the castrati is discussed and the question is raised whether the introduction of castrati to the Sistine Chapel was influenced by the employment of castrati in Italo-Greek cloisters.

scholarly journals The Chickpea (ἐρέβινϑος; Cicer arietinum L) as a Medicinal Foodstuff and Medicine in Selected Greek Medical Writings

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 99-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maciej Kokoszko ◽  
Krzysztof Jagusiak ◽  
Jolanta Dybała
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Diet ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Byzantine Period ◽  
Medical Theory ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Culinary Uses ◽  
Early Byzantine ◽  
Medical Writings

Leguminous plants were a crucially important element in the Mediterranean diet, and, as such, these plants were second only to cereals. It is also important to note that according to medical writings preserved from antiquity and the early Byzantine period they were considered to be an accessible source of substances which could be applied in therapeutics. One of the most commonly mentioned legumes was the chickpea. The source material demonstrates that the medicinal properties of the chickpea and its therapeutic use were discussed by Greek physicians as early as in the fourth century BC. It seems that the plant was a readily accessible medicament and thus used in therapy also by those who could not afford costly medicines. The authors argue, however, that the medical theory concerning its role in therapeutics evolved into a fully developed form only in the first century AD (thanks to Dioscorides) and was not modified by Galen. The doctrine of these two physicians became part of the medical encyclopaedias of the early Byzantine period. The presented material also illustrates the fact that a significant number of medicinal Recipes which involved using the chickpea were formulated between the second century BC and the second century AD. Byzantine physicians avidly used these formulas in their practice, but failed to develop them in a significantly innovative way. The surviving medical writings make it possible to conclude that the chickpea was believed to be a highly effective medicine and as such worthy of cultivation, which only testifies to the general popularity of the plant. Medical writings may serve as a proof that the chickpea remained a key element in the Mediterranean diet throughout the period from the fourth century BC to the seventh century AD. The analysed material demonstrates the use of the same basic varieties of the erebinthos throughout the period, even though some local variants were also identified. The consistency of the data also suggests that the scale and methods of cultivation of this plant remained unchanged. The culinary uses of the chickpea must also have been the same throughout the period, given that the writers discussed similar uses of the plant as a foodstuff.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Morwenna Ludlow
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Human Soul ◽  
Second Sophistic ◽  
Concepts Of God ◽  
Literary Techniques

Christian authors, like their classical forbears, compare writing to painting. This chapter explores the implications of this analogy, especially relating to the concept of mimēsis—representation, emulation, or imitation. It then examines the literary techniques of ekphrasis and prosōpopoeia: they both involve the representation of reality, through an appeal to the audience’s visual or aural imagination. In using these techniques authors also emulate various literary models. Christians appealed to concepts of God as craftsman and Christ as artist of the human soul. Recent re-evaluations of mimēsis are also examined in relation to the concepts of the ‘Second Sophistic’, ‘Atticism’, and ‘Asianism’. Finally, this chapter examines the ancient concept of technē (art, craft, skill), defining it in terms of knowledge, a good end and learning by example. Fourth-century authors saw verbal composition as a craft, defined in these terms.

Reading the Panarion as Collective Biography: The Heresiarch as Unholy Man

2010 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 382-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Richard Kim
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Composite Image ◽  
Collective Biography ◽  
Power And Authority

AbstractThis article proposes a reading of the Panarion, a fourth-century heresiology, as a collective biography, a genre that compiled shortened biographical snapshots of prominent individuals who together embodied an idealized way of life. Epiphanius, the defender and model of orthodoxy, augmented his power and authority through his writing and heresy-hunting activities. The Panarion included miniature biographies of heresiarchs in many of the entries, and together these biographies constructed the composite image and character of the heresiarch and collectively portrayed the unholy life.

A monument of early Byzantine Sardis: architectural analysis and graphic reconstruction of Building D

2012 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 115-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolaos D. Karydis
Keyword(s):  
Central Area ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Careful Analysis ◽  
Original Form ◽  
Urban Centre ◽  
Architectural Analysis ◽  
Western Asia ◽  
Byzantine Period ◽  
The City ◽  
Early Byzantine

AbstractSardis constituted a major urban centre during the early Byzantine period, an era marked by the gradual transformation of the city into a Christian metropolis. From the fourth to the sixth century AD, Sardis maintained an important commercial, industrial and administrative role that sustained high-quality monumental construction. Yet, the major architectural types that emerged during this crucial period in the centre of the early Christian city are largely unknown to us. The unexcavated remains of the monument known as ‘Building D’ offer the best opportunity to shed light on this enigmatic aspect of the history of the city. Indeed, these remains display a late fourth century reused inscription as well as construction details typical of the early Byzantine period. They also lie in what must have been a central area of the city during this time. At first sight, this building seems hopelessly dilapidated and largely inaccessible. Still, the current paper demonstrates that a closer examination of the fabric of Building D reveals invaluable clues for its original form and function. This new exploration of the building includes the graphic recording, careful analysis and interpretation of the remains, thus providing the evidence required for the first substantiated reconstruction of a major part of the monument. The exploration reveals the articulation and structure of the primary load-bearing elements, as well as the form of the enormous vaulted canopy that covered one of the most imposing and towering spaces of early Byzantine Sardis. The article uses this reconstruction as a basis for the identification of those architectural features that help to interpret the function of the building, its role in the development of late antique Sardis as well as its position in the evolution of early Byzantine architecture in western Asia Minor.

Aristoxenus’ Pythagorean Precepts

2020 ◽  
pp. 700-712
Author(s):  
Carl A. Huffman
Keyword(s):  
Characteristic Feature ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Ethical System ◽  
Fourth Century Bce

“Aristoxenus’ Pythagorean Precepts: A Rational Pythagorean Ethics” examines neglected evidence for Pythagorean ethics and the Pythagorean way of life as it existed in the late fifth and early fourth century BCE: the Pythagorean Precepts by Aristoxenus of Tarentum. The most characteristic feature of the ethical system found in the Pythagorean Precepts is its distrust of untutored human nature and its insistence on the necessity for supervision of all stages and aspects of human life. The emphasis on structure in life is so extreme as to value order even over correctness. The Precepts represents a much more rational ethical system that the earlier Pythagorean acusmata and suggests a level of development similar to that of the ethical fragments of Democritus.

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