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The article offers a complex view of the poetic letter of Gregory of Nazianzus II, II, 3 Ad Vitalianum, which has not yet been the subject of modern criticism. The letter is a plea by Vitalianus’ banished sons for their father to take them back. Based on the manuscript tradition, the article’s author concludes that the fictional author of the letter is the son Phocas rather than Peter. The disrupted relationship between father and sons is reflected in both the content of the poem and the forms of salutations used: the seemingly positive epithets φέριστε, μακάρτατε, and φίλε; forms of address which directly express a certain distance and coldness (μέγα φέρτατε, ὦ ἄνα), or even animosity towards the father (ὀλοώτατε δαῖμον, ὦ κακόβουλε). The poetic letter has a concentric structure (A; B; C; D; E; F; G; F´; E´; D´; C´; B´; A´), with individual com­ponents linked for the most part thematically. The letter is written in dactylic hexameter. The most frequently used metre in the verses is the holodactyl, and the most frequent caesura is the caesura post tertium trochaeum. As far as the breach of Hermann’s bridge in verses is concerned, and based on the understanding of the term ‘word’ in metrics, the author of the article concludes that in the majority of cases the breach is only ‘visual’, and cannot be detected when listened to. Gregory did not avoid three true hiatuses; and in two verses, in order to keep the rhythm of dactylic hexameter, it is essential to measure a long syllable as a short one. However, metric errors may be related to prosodic licence., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 2 (2012)

This study offers a reappraisal of Nikolaos Mesarites’ Description of the church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople, by providing new insights into its genre and the context of its composition. By concentrating on the text’s encomiastic features, the first part of the study retraces its carefully carved rhetorical construction. The second part analyses the so far neglected concluding section of the Description, in which the author, by hinting at the current historical juncture – the very years preceding the fourth Crusade – would seem to disclose a specific purpose for its composition. Finally, an hypothesis for dating the Description is also suggested, with the intention of defining it further in a forthcoming dedicated article., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 6 (2016)

THE EMPHATIC ABANDONMENT OF HOLY FIGURES ON BYZANTINE SEALS WITH METRICAL INSCRIPTIONS There is only a small number of Byzantine seals inscriptions laying emphasis on the abandonment of representations of the Theotokos, of Christ or of saints; instead they offer special verses. In some cases they argue this deviation from the standard repertoire with “piety” (εὐλάβεια). The majority of these bulls stem from the second half of the XII century and were issued by members of the high military or civil aristocracy; by using curious expressions they outstrip the usual tradition. Three of them use formulas found already in the later XI or early XII century; they cannot stem from the same historical context, as shortly was assumed in a quite anachronistic way. The princess Anna Komnene (the eldest daughter of Alexios I) and her husband Nikephoros (Bryennios) used such verses for their seals. That has nothing to do with the anathema against Eustratios, the metropolitan of Nikaia, by the synod on April 26, 1117, nor with the familiar conflicts concerning the succession of the emperor Alexios. If the content of this couple’s seals inscriptions was really intending theological-political propaganda, then that should be interpreted as support for the emperor and his principal advocate Eustratios, the metropolitan of Nikaia, against Leon, the metropolitan of Chalkedon (and his followers), who had accused the emperor of treating icons without the necessary piety (in the years 1081/1082-1095). A more plausible and logical explanation for the deliberate omission of holy figures on seals results by their short function: as soon as they were detached from the document or letter they were thrown away without any regard to the holy images on the obverse., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 6 (2016)

This paper focusses on an unedited florilegium on the Holy Communion which is attributed in certain manuscripts to the ascetic author John of Karpathos. Past scholarship had suggested and/or argued that this is a pseudonymous work derived from the respective florilegia of John Oxeites. The comparative examination of the three manuscripts allegedly containing the florilegium, as well as of certain Athenian manuscripts of Oxeites’ Hypothesis has led to a number of observations on the florilegium, including the confirmation of the older hypotheses with fresh evidence. It has also allowed the determination of the exact presence and placement of Karpathios’ passage(s) in what prove to be distinct versions of the florilegium and, at the same time, of Oxeites’ work., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 6 (2016)

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The author of this paper examines the validity of Emidio Martini’s old assumption (1896/1900) that Andronicus (Comnenus Ducas) Palaeologus, who lived in the first half of the 14th century, was the author of the verse romance Callimachus and Chrysorrhoe. Methodologically, the author employs the “cryptosphragis” system, which he discovered several years ago. He finds out that at the beginning and the end of this romance there exist the following relevant cryptosphragides: at vv. 4-22 Ο ΑΝΔΡΟΝΙΚΟΣ Ο ΔΟΥΚΑΣ Ο ΠΑΛΑΙΟΛΟΓΟΣ ΣΟΥ, and at vv. 2592-2605 Ο ΑΝΔΡΟΝΙΚΟΣ Ο ΚΟΜΝΗΝΟΣ ΣΟΥ.

Some emendations to the text of the recently published anonymous commentary to the Categories of Aristotle, preserved in the so-called Archimedes Palimpsest, are proposed.

This article highlights challenges involved in understanding and interpreting Byzantine epistolary literature, and suggests that we pay closer attention to the transmission of letters and its hermeneutic ramifications. The letters penned by the late Byzantine court official Nikephoros Choumnos are a case in point. The author assembled, revised and arranged his letters, which were originally composed and dispatched mostly for pragmatic purposes (e.g., letters of request). By embedding these missives into the framework of a collection, he created an autobiographical narrative that was to promote and perpetuate his multi-faceted persona., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 2 (2012)

The article (a) presents the identification of the priest Georgios, owner of the manuscript Princeton, Garrett MS 14 (a. 955) and author of a poem to the Virgin (f. 295) with the priest Georgios Lolenos who wrote an invocation on Serd. Dujčev, Cod. D. gr. 221, f. 67v (10th century), and (b) identifies the last folio of the two missing bifolia in codex Laur. 9.21 (14th century), the only containing the Vita and the Akolouthia of SS David, Symeon and George of Mytilene, with f. 1 of codex Laur. 10.28 (16th century)., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 5 (2015)

The heading Parekbolaia palaiographika is used for short notes on Greek Palaeography, accompanied by images where possible., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 1 (2011)

Vorliegender Beitrag bietet Addenda und Corrigenda zu meinen im Jahr 2005 erschienenen Initia Carminum Byzantinorum (ICB); es enthält: a) Gedichte, die aus verschiedenen Gründen dort nicht verzeichnet worden waren, b) Gedichte, deren Initia in den ICB erfasst wurden, aber hier aufgrund einer neuen kritischen Ausgabe verzeichnet werden, und c) Gedichte, die in den ICB als unediert aufgenommen und inzwischen herausgegeben wurden. Einträge zu manchen Texten, die in den ICB mehr oder weniger mangelhaft registriert wurden, werden im vorliegenden Supplement möglichst vervollständigt., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 1 (2011)

L’étude comprend la présentation et l’édition critique de l’éloge que Constantin Acropolite a écrit en l’honneur de saint Eudocime qui a vécu et œuvré en Cappadoce pendant la deuxième phase de la période iconoclaste. La tradition manuscrite de l’oraison et ses similitudes avec la version antérieure de la vie d’Eu­do­cime, attribuée à Syméon Métaphraste (BHG 607), ou les autres éloges de l’auteur en l’honneur de saints divers sont étudiées dans l’introduction. Les diver­ses graphies des manuscrits, mais aussi les fautes ou les corrections de la prémière édition figurent dans l’apparat critique de l’édition, tandis qu’un détaillé apparat de sources est également ajouté., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 3 (2013)

The article deals with one of the hitherto unedited hagiographical works of Theodore Metochites, the Logos on the Archangel Michael. Emphasis is put on the investigation of the text’s sources and especially on the use of arguments based on ancient Greek philosophy, which bring the Logos very close to Metochites’ philosophical treatises. In this vein the Logos also reflects the intellectual trends and preoccupations of the early Palaiologan period, Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 5 (2015)

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By applying Wolfgang Iser’s concept of the “implied reader” to the discussion of the person under attack in the Service of the Unholy, Goat Bearded Spanos (edited by Hans Eideneier), this paper attempts to show how the author uses the Spanos to create a variety of parodies, including a parody of the monastic holy man. This paper then offers a translation and interpretation of two sections of the D version of this text, which illustrates this attack on the monastics., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 5 (2015)

A group of hagiographical texts, written during the period from 886 to 976, contains valuable information about Leo’s VI (886-912) marital adventures, intellectual concerns and administrative skills. Although the condemnation of the wise ruler, because of his turbulent life and the problems that it caused between Church and State, would be expected, the authors showed particular interest in the restoration of his image. It cannot be supported with certainty that all of these texts, about Leo VI, were composed with the encouragement or guidance of imperial authority. This, however, is the first, chronologically, attempt to restore the image of a member of the Macedonian dynasty. Several years later, a similar effort will take place, under the direction of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, through historiography, in order to justify the crimes that Basil I committed, attempting to displace the Amorians. The numerous flattering mentions, in which the roots of Leo’s VI legend can be traced, indicate not only the interest of the hagiographers, about the wise emperor, but the audience’s as well., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 4 (2014)

Much of the recent work on gender constructions in the writings of the sixth-century Byzantine writer Procopius have focused on his Secret History. Yet, the crucial role that gender constructions play in his other writings has garnered far less notice. This essay concentrates on one theatre of war, Italy, and examines how in the Gothic Wars Procopius used the field of battle as a means to comment on the role that courage and manliness played in determining the outcome of the war. The conflict, in Procopius’ telling, offered the Byzantines the opportunity not only to regain Italy, but also to test their military and manly virtues against a worthy enemy, the Goths., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 4 (2014)

This article includes a critical edition of a scholion attributed to the neoplatonic philosopher Marinos and some remarks regarding its possible relation to texts of Michael Psellos and Leon Magentenos., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 4 (2014)

This article examines the Byzantine adaptation of the anecdote of the Lydian king Pythes within Nikephoros Basilakes’ Progymnasma 11 in relation to its earliest surviving source, Plutarch’s Mulierum virtutes 262D–263A. By looking at the ascription accompanying Basilakes’ progymnasma, it additionally argues for the popularity of Plutarch’s Parallel Lives in Komnenian Byzantium., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 4 (2014)

The codex X.IV.8. (403) of Real Biblioteca at El Escorial contains, on folios 56r-58v, a canon of supplication (κανὼν Παρακλητικός) addressed to the Virgin Mary Theotokos. The canon, although anonymous in the manuscript as well as in a large part of the manuscript tradition, is transmitted in a great number of manuscripts under the name either of Euthymios I, patriarch of Constantinople (907-912) or of Methodios I, patriarch of Constantinople (843-847). The presence of another canon (ἕτερος κανὼν), which is also anonymous, in the same codex following the aforementioned canon and more specifically on folios 58v-61r, led G. de Andrés to the suggestion of a possible common authorship of the two hymnographical works, which he then attributed to Euthymios. Current research remains quite vague regarding the attribution of the canon of supplication to either Patriarch Euthymios or Patriarch Methodios or potentially to a third person. As a result, the attribution of the two canons to a specific person is uncertain, even if their comparison leads to their attribution to the same composer. For this reason, we proceed to a comparison of the second canon, which is published here for the first time, with the original works of Euthymios, with a view to finding similarities which would probably allow us to consider Euthymios as its potential composer., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 3 (2013)

The early 14th century and so far very little commented on Byzantios logos by Theodore Metochites appears to be the first surviving, lengthy, and independent city encomium in the Greek language since the 4th century Antiochikos logos by Libanios. Metochites seems to be quite familiar with the late antique tradition of the extended independent city praises and as a result the 70 folia long laus Constantinopolitana, includes all the expected, and power-indicating praising themes: thesis, foundation, walls, secular buildings and other infrastructure, occupations of the citizens, internal and external beauty, piety of the citizens and churches, secular education, ports and trade, commonwealth and cosmopolitanism, ecumenical character, intense Christian faith and synkrisis with other famous cities. But can an encomium of Constantinople, written in the dramatic first decade of the 14th century, really be a source of any power representations at all? Or should one reassess the encomiastic topoi and attempt to distinguish fact from fiction and power from illusion of power? Finally, can the lengthier and more persistent analysis of particular features serve as a proof of their more realistic character? The above questions are approached by using some hidden dating indicators of Byzantios logos, in addition to a critical evaluation of Metochites᾽ use of the late antique rhetorical guidelines, and in the light of the latest research on the economic and spiritual life in early Palaiologan Constantinople., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 3 (2013)

La description de la venue du printemps (ekphrasis earos), un topos aux composantes spécifiques dans la littérature de la seconde sophistique, devint l’ objet d’ enseignement reproduit de façon stéréotypée dans les écoles de Rhétorique protobyzantines. La symbolique de la renaissance de la nature s’ est révélée particulièrement favorable à la didascalie chrétienne comme image du Christ ressuscité ; ainsi, l’ekphrasis earos se retrouve dans plusieurs homélies sur Pâques, le Baptême, la Nativité du Christ, l’Annonciation de la Vierge, etc. La jonction de la tradition chrétienne avec la tradition païenne dans la composition des descriptions du printemps semble qu’ elle fut favorisée dans le milieu scolaire de l’ époque médio-byzantine. Les ekphraseis earos de Libanius (Progym. XII 7), de Grégoire de Nazianze (Or. 44) et de Pseudo-Méléagre (AP IX 363) furent des modèles. À partir du XIIe siècle, les nouvelles tendances de la littérature, qui ont remis à l’honneur le roman d’ amour, le monde naturel et les détails de la vie quotidienne, ont donné lieu à des compositions dépourvues de toute allusion chrétienne., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 3 (2013)

This article aims to investigate the social milieu of Philippos Monotropos, author of the Dioptra. Explicit evidence on Philippos is scarce, but the comparison with contemporary texts allows some conclusions. Indeed, the way that Philippos treats Bogomilism indicates connections with imperial and patriarchal circles. Moreover, numerous parallels between the Dioptra and the Poem on Fast Days written by Nikolaos III Grammatikos shows that the Patriarch knew and ap­preciated the Dioptra very soon after its composition. The hypothesis that Philip­pos belonged to an educated, urbane ecclesiastical milieu is in accordance with the assessment of the Dioptra as a simplistic epitome of Christian humanistic theology – contrary to previous views that overemphasised its ascetic element., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 2 (2012)

This article aims to highlight the editorial adventure of Theophylact of Ohrid’s less known work Historia martyrii XV martyrum, and as a preview of the overall critical edition that this much afflicted hagiographical text requires and deserves, it offers some critical remarks based on the study of codex Baroccianus gr. 197, the single manuscript that delivers this text, as well as the previous editions and critical comments., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 2 (2012)

The aim of this article is to publish Nikephoros Gregoras’ unknown discourse on the three military saints, Demetrios, Georgios, Theodoros from the Bodl. Holk. 25, the only 16th-century codex containing the text that has been preserved. The article also features detailed commentary on the writer᾽s method of processing and combining information from his earlier texts or other previous writers., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 2 (2012)

Ziel der Untersuchung ist es, am Beispiel des Codex Vaticanus gr. 1889 die Interpunktionsgewohnheiten des Autor-Kopisten Theodoros Skutariotes herauszuarbeiten und somit einen Beitrag zum näheren Verständnis der Stixis in mittelalterlichen Handschriften zu leisten. Die Interpunktion der im Vaticanus autograph überlieferten Χρονικά wird jener der von Theodoros in dieser Handschrift kopierten Texte gegenübergestellt, und die Funktionen der einzelnen Zeichen vergleichend diskutiert. Auf der Basis der gewonnenen Ergebnisse wird die Übertragbarkeit der mittelalterlichen Interpunktion auf die moderne Editionspraxis erörtert., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 1 (2011)

This article brings to light a hitherto unnoticed Greek citation of Severus of Antioch in the Catena in Epistolas Catholicas, which otherwise had been known only from two Syriac translations, including one contained in the Chronicle or Miscellaneous History of Pseudo-Zachariah of Mytilene., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 1 (2011)

The παρεκβολαί (excerpts) from Georgios Pachymeres’ Philosophia might be dubbed “third-hand literature”, as the Philosophia is itself a paraphrase of sorts of Aristotle’s works, though unlike the Philosophia the παρεκβολαί simply abridge. Both of these secondary texts reduce their respective source to a fifth of the original extent, and they both quote without attribution. This paper examines the two known manuscripts from the early 14th century (Mon. gr. 545 and Vat. gr. 1144) of these particular παρεκβολαί, including the provision of concise codicological descriptions as well as a concordance of treatises. Some codicological data on the (probably nonextant) manuscript of Pachymeres used in the compilation is reconstructed based on Pachymeres’ almost contemporary autograph Berol. Ham. 512, and possible stemmatic relationships are elucidated. In a concluding section, other παρεκβολαί in Greek literature are summarily discussed, ranging from juridical abstracts to excerpts of scholarly grammatical, historical, strategic and philosophical works., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 1 (2011)

Der Aufsatz beschäftigt sich mit der bisher unedierten Rede des Manuel II. Palaiologos auf die Heilige Maria von Ägypten [BHG 1044c]. Der Schwerpunkt der Untersuchung liegt auf dem Verhältnis des Textes zu einer früheren Schrift des gelehrten Kaisers, der sechsten aus seinen sieben so genannten Orationes ethico-politicae, welche er circa 1407 für seinen Sohn und Thronfolger Johannes VIII. verfasst hat. Wie der Autor selbst bemerkt, stellt die Rede eine verkürzte und leicht bearbeitete Fassung der VI. Oratio ethico-politica dar. Ziel meines Beitrages ist also, die Etappen der Entstehung des jüngeren Textes aus dem älteren zu rekonstruieren. Außerdem wird die Umarbeitungstechnik Manuels untersucht und das Verhältnis zwischen den zwei Überlieferungsträgern der Rede, Vatic. gr. 632 und Vatic. gr. 1619, diskutiert., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 1 (2011)

Cette étude comprend la présentation et l’édition critique de deux lettres et six poèmes de Léon Bardalès qui fut l’un des dignitaires impériaux byzantins de la fin du XIIIe et du début du XIVe siècle. Pour l’occasion, toutes les données concernant l’auteur et son activité politique et littéraire sont réévaluées conformément aux informations fournies par les lettres que Bardalès a reçues d’épistoliers connus de son époque, comme Maxime Planude, Nicéphore Choumnos et Nicéphore Grégoras. Dans l’édition, les erreurs et fautes d’inattention des éditeurs précédents sont corrigées, et un apparat des sources est ajouté., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 1 (2011)

The article aims to offer a thorough investigation, the first in more than half a century, of the Byzantine homiletic literature of the tenth century with a view to the establishment of the corpus of the relevant texts in accordance with the present state of research. In the course of the survey new suggestions are made and the various desiderata are noted. The following authors and anonymous texts are treated in this order: Theophanes of Caesarea, the monk Michael, Metrophanes of Smyrna, the monk and sacristan Nikephoros, Anonymous’ encomium of St Nikephoros of Sebaze, the deacon and skeuophylax Photios, Anastasios protasecretis, the philosopher and rhetor Nikephoros, the (arch)deacon and referendarios Gregory, Anonymous’ encomium on the Translation of the relics of St John Chrysostom, Plotinos of Thessalonica, Anonymous’ encomium of St Demetrios, Anatolios of Thessalonica, Euthymios protasecretis, Arsenios of Corfu, Emperor Constantine VII, Theodore Daphnopates, Theodore of Nicaea, Patriarch Antony III the Studite, Theodore Quaestor, Gregory presbyter of Caesarea, John Geometres, Theodore Bestes, Symeon Metaphrastes, Anonymous’ sermon on icons, Patriarch Sisinnios II, the monk and philosopher Symeon, and Symeon the New Theologian; also, “Leo” (Pantoleon) deacon of Constantinople, Theodore of Kyzikos, the monk Elias, George Hagiopolites, John Xenos, George the Grammarian, the cleric Gregory, Anonymous on the translation of the head of the martyr Abibos, Anonymous on the translation of the Holy Tile and Christ’s Blood, Anonymous’ encomium of St Januarius, the monk and priest Antonios, Anonymous’ Life-with-encomium of St Luke the Stylite, Anonymous’ Life of St Pachomios., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 1 (2011)

The twenty-nine letters of Gregorios II Kyprios to the protovestiarissa Theodora Raoulaina constitute one of the most numerous groups of his correspondence and provide a complete picture of friendship between intellectuals in the late Byzantine period. The article provides an edition of and commentary on all of them (for twenty-three of them this is the first edition)., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 1 (2011)

This paper seeks to interpret the attitude of Ioannis Kaminiates towards Homer, for while initially criticising his literary predecessor, the author of On the Capture of Thessaloniki later adopts many of his turns of phrase., Parekbolai. An Electronic Journal for Byzantine Literature, Vol 1 (2011)

The article deals mainly with the narrative structure and the focalization of the Poems of Theodore Metochites. After examining the careful structuring of some of those Poems, the author proceeds to an investigation of the focalization, mainly of Poem 1, trying to distinguish between the voice of the primary narrator focalizer, who is Metochites himself at the time of the composition of this Poem, and the voice of the same person at the time of his experiencing the events described afterwards; however, in the same Poem as well as in Poems 7 and 8, the reader may also hear the voice of Metochites’s patron, the emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos, whose point of view is carefully embedded into the Poems by the poet. In a sense Metochites is interested in reproducing the hierarchical structure of Byzantine society through his Poems, thus creating a monument for his beloved emperor.

Account of a sanatio (miraculous healing) carved on a fragmentary marble slab coming from the sanctuary of Asclepius in Leben, Crete. The inscription, conceived as a dedication to the god, was made by the Roman Publius Granius Rufus, who appears to have been an influent personality in the nearby town of Gortyn. He applied to the sanctuary in order to cure a form of pulmonary tuberculosis that had been affecting him for almost two years, and that maybe the ʻnewʼ Hippocratic medicine had not been able to handle. The therapy, probably inspired by the mystic sleep of the incubatio, was quite elaborate, implying the consumption of herbs, spicy wine, a bread bun, sacred ash, an egg, resins, a vegetable decoction and figs. The existence itself of the epigraph makes sure that this treatment was successful, and allowed Publius Granius to honour the deity and to ʻpubliciseʼ its ability. Basing on the other known records of the gens Grania, the stone may be approximately dated between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD.