Description
Book SynopsisThis book offers the first complete overview of Byzantine poetry from the 4th to the 15th century. By bringing together 22 scholars, it explores the development of poetic trends and the interaction between poetry and society throughout the Byzantine millennium; it addresses a wide range of issues concerning the writing and reading of poetry (such as style, language, metrics, function, and circulation); and it surveys a large number of texts by looking closely at their place within the social and cultural milieus of their authors. Overall, the volume aims to enhance our understanding of Byzantine poetry and shed light on its important place in Byzantine literary culture. Contributors are Eirini Afentoulidou, Gianfranco Agosti, Roderick Beaton, Floris Bernard, Carolina Cupane, Kristoffel Demoen, Ivan Drpic, Jürgen Fuchsbauer, Antonia Giannouli, Martin Hinterberger, Wolfram Hörandner, Elizabeth Jeffreys, Michael Jeffreys, Marc Lauxtermann, Ingela Nilsson, Emilie van Opstall, Andreas Rhoby, Kurt Smolak, Foteini Spingou, Maria Tomadaki, Ioannis Vassis, Nikos Zagklas.
Trade Review"This is a well conceived and organised book, covering a wide range of subjects concerned with Byzantine poetry, that will prove a useful tool for scholars of all levels". Eleni Kaltsogianni, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 09.09.2020. "The volume will appeal and greatly help readers at different stages of their education. On the one hand, the more experienced ones will appreciate the extremely rich and up-to-date surveys. On the other, any graduate student entering the dauntingly large and often not clearly charted field of Byzantine studies will find a thorough introduction to the various periods, genres and contexts of Byzantine poetry and much to tickle their curiosity. [...] the Brill Companion to Byzantine Poetry is an impressive and truly remarkable achievement. It will hopefully contribute to giving Byzantine literature the place it deserves within Byzantine and Medieval studies at large both in research and in teaching . Cosimo Paravano, in Medioevo Greco, 20, 2020.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsX Notes on Contributors X Byzantine Poetry: an Introduction Nikos Zagklas Part 1: Preliminaries: Contexts, Language, Metrics, and Style 1 Byzantine Poetry: Texts and Contexts Marc D. Lauxtermann 2 The Language of Byzantine Poetry: New Words, Alternative Forms, and “Mixed Language” Martin Hinterberger 3 From Hexameters to Fifteen-syllable Verse Michael Jeffreys 4 Byzantine Poetry and Rhetoric Elizabeth Jeffreys Part 2: Periods, Authors, Social and Cultural Milieus 5 Late Antique Poetry and its Reception Gianfranco Agosti 6 George of Pisidia: the Spring of Byzantine Poetry? Ioannis Vassis 7 Monasticism and Iconolatry: Theodore Stoudites Kristoffel Demoen 8 John Geometres: a Poet around the Year 1000 Emilie van Opstall and Maria Tomadaki 9 The 11th Century: Michael Psellos and Contemporaries Floris Bernard 10 “How Many Verses Shall I Write and Say?” Poetry in the Komnenian Period (1081–1204) Nikos Zagklas 11 Poetry on Commission in Late Byzantium (13th–15th century) Andreas Rhoby Part 3: Poetry in Byzantium and Beyond 12 “Accept a Roman Song with a Kindly Heart!”: Latin Poetry in Byzantium Kurt Smolak 13 Philippos Monotropos in Byzantium and the Slavonic World Eirini Afentoulidou and Jürgen Fuchsbauer 14 Byzantine Poetry at the Norman Court of Sicily (1130–c.1200) Carolina Cupane Part 4: Transmission and Circulation 15 Byzantine Collections and Anthologies of Poetry Foteini Spingou 16 Byzantine Book Epigrams Floris Bernard and Kristoffel Demoen 17 Byzantine Verses as Inscriptions: the Interaction of Text, Object, and Beholder Ivan Drpić and Andreas Rhoby Part 5: Particular Uses of Verse in Byzantium 18 Teaching with Verse in Byzantium Wolfram Hörandner 19 Hymn Writing in Byzantium: Forms and Writers Antonia Giannouli 20 The Past as Poetry: Two Byzantine World Chronicles in Verse Ingela Nilsson 21 Byzantine Verse Romances Roderick Beaton General Bibliography General Index
