Description
Book SynopsisThis collection of studies on Dreams, Memory and Imagination in Byzantium covers four main themes: the place of dreams, imagination and memory in the Byzantine philosophical tradition; the political uses of prophetic dreams and visions in imperial contexts; the appearance and manipulation of dreams and memory in Byzantine poetry and histories, and changing commemorations of the saints over time in art, epigraphy and literature. These studies reveal the distinctive and important roles of memory, imagination and dreams in the Byzantine court, the proto-Orthodox church and broader society from Constantinople to Syria and beyond. This volume of Byzantina Australiensia brings together the work of senior and early career scholars from Australia, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and the United States.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Illustrations Abbreviations Contributors An Introduction to Dreams, Memory and Imagination in Byzantium Bronwen Neil Part 1: Dreams, Memory and Imagination in the Byzantine Philosophical Tradition 1 The Dangers of Purity: Monastic Reactions to Erotic Dreams Inbar Graiver 2 Locating Memory and Imagination: From Nemesius of Emesa to John of Damascus Ken Parry 3 Daydreaming and Lusting after the Divine: Clement of Alexandria and the Platonic Tradition Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides 4 The Inner Source of Dreams: Synesius of Cyrene’s Reception in the Palaiologan Era Francesco Monticini Part 2: Prophetic Dreams and Visions in Imperial Contexts 5 Dynastic Dreams and Visions of Early Byzantine Emperors (ca. 518–565 AD) Meaghan McEvoy 6 Dreaming of Treason: Portentous Dreams and Imperial Coups in Seventh-Century Byzantine Apocalyptic Discourse Ryan W. Strickler 7 Desire, Dreams, and Visions in the Letters of Emperor Konstantinos VII Porphyrogennetos and Theodoros of Kyzikos Mark Masterson 8 The Dream Come True? Matthew of Edessa and the Return of the Roman Emperor Maximilian Lau Part 3: Dreams and Memory in Byzantine Chronicles and Encomia 9 Dreams and Imaginative Memory in Select Byzantine Chronicles Roger Scott 10 Dream Portents in Early Byzantine and Early Islamic Chronicles Bronwen Neil 11 Psellos’ Use and Counter-Use of Dreams, Visions and Prophecies in His Chronographia and His Encomium for His Mother Penelope Buckley Part 4: Remembering the Saints in Hymns and Hagiography 12 Loyalty and Betrayal: Villains, Imagination and Memory in the Reception of the Johannite Schism Wendy Mayer 13 “As if in a Vision of the Night …”: Authorising the Healing Spring of Chonai Alan H. Cadwallader 14 Dreaming Liturgically: Andrew of Crete’s Great Kanon as a Mystical Vision Andrew Mellas 15 Divine Fantasy and the Erotic Imagination in the Hymns of Symeon the New Theologian Derek Krueger General Index
