What Is Byzantine Literature?

The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Literature ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199351763.013.37 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. xviii-18

Author(s):

Stratis Papaioannou

Keyword(s):

Byzantine Empire ◽

Greek Literature ◽

Literary Traditions ◽

Greek Tradition ◽

Byzantine Period

The chapter raises the question of what is “Byzantine literature” and introduces the contents of the Handbook. In the context of the volume, “Byzantine literature” refers to “Literature in Greek, during the Byzantine period (330 ce–1453 ce),” which, however, raises a series of problems. (1) While “literature,” for a modern audience, signifies primarily fiction and poetry, a wider understanding of the term is needed so as to appreciate the manifold textual and discursive culture of Byzantium as we can recover it from the thousands of manuscripts and inscriptions in which it has been preserved (relevant statistics are also offered). (2) While “Byzantine” has been conventionally used in order to focus on Greek literature (in the predominantly Greek-speaking “Byzantine” Empire), this should not make us forget that Greek was only one among many “Byzantine” languages (e.g., Latin, Coptic, Syriac, Georgian, and Arabic) and that the relation of the Greek tradition with the literary traditions in these other languages is fundamental for understanding Byzantine literature in its totality.

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„MOWA DO MŁODYCH” ŚW. BAZYLEGO WIELKIEGO WSPÓŁCZESNE PRÓBY OCENY, INTERPRETACJE ORAZ INSPIRACJE ZAWARTYCH W N

Colloquia Litteraria ◽

10.21697/cl.2010.1.06 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 8 (1/2) ◽

pp. 107

Author(s):

Elżbieta Szablewska

Keyword(s):

Late Antiquity ◽

Young Men ◽

Greek Literature ◽

Modern Times ◽

Different Types ◽

Greek Tradition ◽

Byzantine Period ◽

Byzantine Era ◽

General Meaning ◽

Successive Generations

St. Basil’s Address to Young Men.Modern evaluations and interpretations of its pedagogical concepts St Basil’s famous Address to Young Men, on How They Might Derive Benefit from Greek Literature from the time of late antiquity through the Byzantine period up to the modern times has attracted the attention of successive generations of moralists and scholars of different types. While in the Byzantine era and later in Renaissance Europe the treatise was highly estimated for its appreciation for the classical Greek tradition, nowadays the issue of the general meaning of St Basil’s essay is still under discussion. There are still many questions pertinent to this text, e.g. the issue of date and addressees, that can raise doubts among many scholars. Besides, the issue on where to find the source of inspiration for his pedagogical ideas is also a matter of profound importance. The close examination of the treatise done in recent times, first an foremost, by M. Naldini and A. Pastorino reveals that this essay (written probably in the years of his episcopate) can be derived from the spirit of Origen’s paideia.

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"Akritas" – Nikos Kazantzakis' Little-Known Unrealized Epic Project

Classica Cracoviensia ◽

10.12797/cc.20.2017.20.02 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 20 ◽

pp. 45-54

Author(s):

Michał Bzinkowski

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Byzantine Empire ◽

Greek Literature ◽

Modern Greek ◽

Epic Poem ◽

Magnum Opus ◽

Modern Greece ◽

Different Sources

Kazantzakis’ Odyssey – apart from the abundance of philosophical as well as ideological influences of many different sources which the writer tried to unify into a universal cosmotheory – constitutes a large-scale attempt by a Modern Greek writer to respond to Homeric epic. Yet, the author of Zorba the Greek sketched another epic composition that, according to his vision, aimed at reaching further than his magnum opus. His ambition was to encompass the long-lasting period between Ancient and Modern Greece, namely that of the Byzantine empire and its radiating influence on Greek consciousness and identity. He entitled his project Akritas, thus directly alluding to the only epic poem in Byzantine Greek literature, Digenes Akritas, and its protagonist as well as to acritic songs from Cyprus, where the latter’s name appears. In the present paper I would like to shed some light on Kazantzakis’ approach to Byzantium and its significance in defining the Greek identity through this unfinished sketch that the writer in fact never began.

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DIRCE AT THEBES

Greece and Rome ◽

10.1017/s0017383507000022 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 54 (1) ◽

pp. 18-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

DANIEL W. BERMAN

Keyword(s):

Flowing Water ◽

Careful Attention ◽

Greek Literature ◽

Greek Tradition ◽

One To One ◽

The City

In Boeotian Thebes, the simplest thirst for topographical detail will turn up a reference to Dirce. Whether depicted as a nymph, a spring, a river, or simply as flowing water, the name represents an integral, perhaps indispensable, part of the Theban landscape. But of course it is more than that. A narrative surrounds this watery place, telling of Theban kings and queens, of founding twins, and of odd and cruel tortures and torments. It is my goal in this article to understand these varying traditions surrounding Dirce by means of an examination of the interplay between mythic narratives and Theban topography. Narratives of Dirce grow and develop in relation to the physical landscape of the city, but this relationship is seldom reducible to a one-to-one correlation of story and place. The early Greek tradition has much to say about Dirce, some of it contradictory. But superficial contradiction is the norm in this realm, and some sense can be made of what we have with careful attention to the changing contexts surrounding appearances of Dirce as they are expressed and understood in early Greek literature, and to the changing ways the city of Thebes is described in the Greek mythic tradition.

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A contribution to the technology and sources of lead in Byzantium: lead isotope analysis of ten Byzantine seals

Byzantinische Zeitschrift ◽

10.1515/bz-2021-0058 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 114 (3) ◽

pp. 1161-1203

Author(s):

Olga Karagiorgou ◽

Stephen Merkel ◽

Marcin Wołoszyn

Keyword(s):

Late Antiquity ◽

Regional Differences ◽

Lead Isotope ◽

Eastern Mediterranean ◽

Isotope Analysis ◽

Byzantine Empire ◽

Western Turkey ◽

Lead Isotope Analysis ◽

Starting Point ◽

Byzantine Period

Abstract This article presents the results of lead isotope analysis of ten Byzantine seals from the sigillographic collection of Robert Feind (Cologne). The report is preceded by an overview of pre-existing studies on lead use in the Byzantine Empire and a presentation of the investigated seals datable to the Early Byzantine (4 specimens), Middle Byzantine (5 specimens) and Late Byzantine period (1 specimen). Three seals are of imperial issue. The results of the analysis of lead are compared against the results of isotope analysis of other silver and lead artefacts from Late Antiquity and the Late Byzantine period. The isotop analysis leads to the following conclusions: (a) Many of the seals have isotope ratios consistent with Aegean-Bulgaria-Western Turkey sources; (b) Reused lead was also employed in the manufacture of seals; (c) There appear to be significant chronological and regional differences in the lead used for casting blanks in the eastern Mediterranean. The number of lead seals subjected here to analysis is admittedly too small for the results to be fully representative; still, they provide a starting point for more similar studies which will preferably include excavation finds with known and secure provenance.

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Indo-European Roots of the Helen of Troy

Studia Ceranea ◽

10.18778/2084-140x.08.01 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

pp. 11-22

Author(s):

Maciej Jaszczyński

Keyword(s):

Comparative Perspective ◽

Final Part ◽

The Sun ◽

Literary Traditions ◽

European Culture ◽

Helen Of Troy ◽

Female Deities ◽

Greek Tradition ◽

The Subject ◽

Ritual Practices

As a part of the series on female deities and demons in the Indo-European culture, the article begins by establishing Helen’s divine character in the Greek tradition and religion. The first area where the Indo-European character of Helen is displayed concerns the etymology of her name, which has been the subject of discussion and controversy throughout several decades. The most prominent theories are presented, including the concept of Pokorny and West to explain her name as ‘Lady of Light’ from the Proto-Indo-European root *swel- or *swelh1-, the idea of Skutsch to connect Helen with Vedic Saṛanyū, the etymology by Clader relying on the local Greek ritual practices and finally the new etymology provided by Pinault explaining the name as ‘having a year like a thread’ from Proto-Indo-European *suh1-l̥-h1eno. The second part of the article deals with the cultural, literary and religious attributes of Helen which connect her with the Indo-European world, especially with the Vedic tradition. The most interesting aspects include the issue of Helen’s parenthood and her birth, her relationship with her brothers – the Dioskouroi – the prototypical Indo-European Divine Twins, as well as similarities with Vedic goddesses Uṣās – Dawn and Sūryā́ – the Sun Princess. The final part of the article establishes Helen as the Greek representation of the Indo-European myth of an abducted wife. Relying heavily on the analysis of Jamison, it draws on the similarities between the passages in the book III of the Mahābhārata and the book III of the Iliad, which from the comparative perspective explains well the inclusion of this scene in the Homeric epic and Helen’s role in it as well as sheds more light on the Indo-European practices regarding marriage. Lastly, the article mentions a connection between Helen and Vedic Saṛanyū by the story of eidolon – a phantom, which both characters created at certains points in some literary traditions.

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Greek Literature in the Byzantine Period

10.4324/9780203616901 ◽

2014 ◽

Keyword(s):

Greek Literature ◽

Byzantine Period

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The Jewish-Greek Tradition in Antiquity and the Byzantine Empire

Journal of Jewish Studies ◽

10.18647/3315/jjs-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 68 (1) ◽

pp. 201-204

Author(s):

Fergus Millar

Keyword(s):

Byzantine Empire ◽

Greek Tradition

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Oriental Motifs in the Alexander Romance

Antichthon ◽

10.1017/s006647740000071x ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 26 ◽

pp. 95-113 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Richard Stoneman

Keyword(s):

Direct Influence ◽

Greek Literature ◽

Alexander The Great ◽

Near Eastern ◽

Art And Literature ◽

Greek Tradition ◽

Alexander Romance

Over the centuries, the fabulous adventures of Alexander the Great have become as prominent in art and literature as his historical achievements. Medieval artists in particular are frequent sources of depictions of the hero in such adventures as the search for the water of life, the flight into the air in a basket borne by eagles, the descent into the sea in a diving bell, the interview with the talking trees of India and the visit to the dwellings of the gods. Familiar as these episodes are—or were—it is easy for us to forget how completely new a thing they represent in the tradition of Greek prose writing. With the decipherments of cuneiform some one hundred years ago, a number of scholars concluded that they could not have been developed entirely within the Greek tradition, and posited direct influence from one or more Babylonian or other near eastern sources or traditions to explain the occurrence in Greek literature of these curious tales. Despite the antiquity of these arguments, they have been accepted without examination by many more recent writers on the Alexander Romance.

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Στρατός και κοινωνία στο ύστερο Βυζάντιο: το μεταρρυθμιστικό πρόγραμμα του Γεωργίου Γεμιστού Πλήθωνα

BYZANTINA SYMMEIKTA ◽

10.12681/byzsym.1149 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 263

Author(s):

Eυστρατία ΣΥΓΚΕΛΛΟΥ

Keyword(s):

Economic Conditions ◽

Byzantine Empire ◽

Font Size ◽

15Th Century ◽

Reform Program ◽

The Social ◽

Byzantine Period ◽

Political Economic ◽

The Military

Army and Society in Late Byzantium: the reform program of George Plethon Gemistos In the early 15th century the Byzantine state was surrounded by the Ottomans, whereas the Peloponnese was the last defensive stronghold of the Byzantines in the Greek area. There, the need of defense became a major social issue and provided matter for discussion about the institutional and social function of the army. Plethon’ s proposals for the establishment of local professional army, as formulated in his texts addressed to the emperor Manuel II Palaeologus and the despot Theodore are associated with the social and economic reformation of the region and reflect the general need for the political reorganization of the Byzantine Empire. This paper examines Gemistos’ reform program regarding the military and political-economic conditions of the era. The thoughts of the philosopher of Mystras on the Byzantine army, which have occupied scientific research from time to time, re-evaluated in order to emphasize the role of the army in the society of the late Byzantine period. The latter remains as powerful as necessary in the contest of a revived Byzantine state.

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Byzantine Kythera

Margins and Metropolis ◽

10.23943/princeton/9780691153018.003.0006 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Judith Herrin

Keyword(s):

Fourth Century ◽

Tenth Century ◽

Historical Background ◽

Byzantine Empire ◽

Rule Following ◽

Fourth Crusade ◽

Early Christian ◽

The Status ◽

Byzantine Period ◽

Byzantine Era

This chapter offers a historical background on the island of Kythera during the Byzantine period. During the early Christian and Byzantine era, Kythera maintained the same close connection to the mainland that had existed from the time of the Argive–Spartan rivalry. The introduction of Christianity in the fourth century AD was allegedly due to Hosia Elesse, and its tenth-century revival was almost certainly the responsibility of Hosios Theodoros. Settlers from the mainland repopulated Kythera after its devastation or abandonment. The chapter describes the status of Kythera, first between the fourth and seventh centuries, and then from the mid-tenth century to 1205. It also examines how Kythera came under Venetian rule following the signing of the Partition Treaty of 1204 that divided the Byzantine Empire between the Venetians, the Franks, and the pilgrims of the Fourth Crusade. Kythera remained a stronghold of Byzantine Orthodoxy long after the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

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