Writing and Reading Byzantine Secular Poetry, 1025-1081 (Oxford Studies in Byzantium)

In The Mid-eleventh Century, Secular Byzantine Poetry Attained A Hitherto Unseen Degree Of Wit, Vividness, And Personal Involvement, Chiefly Exemplified In The Poetry Of Christophoros Mitylenaios, Ioannes Mauropous, And Michael Psellos. This Is The First Volume To Consider This Poetic Activity As A Whole, Critically Reconsidering Modern Assumptions About Byzantine Poetry, And Focusing On Byzantine Conceptions Of The Role Of Poetry In Society. By Providing A Detailed Account Of The Various Media Through Which Poetry Was Presented To Its Readers, And By Tracing The Initial Circulation Of Poems, This Volume Takes An Interest In The Byzantine Reader And His/her Reading Habits And Strategies, Allowing Aspects Of Performance And Visual Representation, Rarely Addressed, To Come To The Fore. It Also Examines The Social Interests That Motivated The Composition Of Poetry, Establishing A Connection With The Extraordinary Social Mobility Of The Time. Self-representative Strategies Are Analyzed Against The Background Of An Unstable Elite Struggling To Find Moral Justification, Which Allows The Study To Raise The Question Of Patronage, Examine The Discourse Used By Poets To Secure Material Rewards, And Explain The Social Dynamics Of Dedicatory Epigrams. Finally, Gift Exchange Is Explored As A Medium That Underlines The Value Of Poetry And Confirms The Exclusive Nature Of Intellectual Friendship.-- Floris Bernard. Based On The Author's Dissertation (doctoral). Includes Bibliographical References (p. 343-365) And Indexes. English, With Some Passsages In Greek Followed By English Translation. Cover 1 Writing and Reading Byzantine Secular Poetry, 1025–1081 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Acknowledgements 8 Contents 12 List of Figures 15 List of Abbreviations 16 Note to the Reader 18 1: Introduction 20 1.1. BUILDING A BRIDGE 20 1.2. THE ELEVENTH CENTURY: SOME TENDENCIES 29 1.3. POETIC TEXTS IN BYZANTIUM, 1025–1081 36 2: Concepts 50 2.1. WRITING POETRY: CONTEMPORARY EVIDENCE 53 2.2. POETRY, HOI LOGOI, AND RHETORIC 60 2.3. POIÈSIS AND POIÈTÈS 66 2.4. POETRY AND LITERARY TRADITION 72 3: Readings 78 3.1. READING POETRY: THE TANGIBLE REMAINS 81 3.1.1. Poetry in public spaces 81 3.1.2. Poetry in manuscripts 83 3.1.3. Visual aspects of reading poetry 94 3.2. TWO ACCOUNTS OF READINGS 103 3.2.1. Reading a funeral oration: Christophoros 75–79 103 3.2.2. Reading an inscription: Mauropous 32–33 106 3.3. CONTEMPORARY CIRCULATION OF POETRY 109 3.3.1. Scrolls and separate leaves 111 3.3.2. Reading circles 115 3.4. PERFORMANCE OF POETRY 120 3.4.1. Acoustic aspects of poetry 120 3.4.2. Poetry to be sung 125 3.4.3. Ceremonial poetry 127 3.5. REAL WORLD OR WORLD ON PAPER? 129 3.5.1. Deixis and speech situations 131 3.5.2. Switching contexts 136 4: Collections 144 4.1. MINOR GROUPINGS OF POEMS 144 4.2. MAUROPOUS’ POETRY BOOK: A LIFE IN VERSE 147 4.2.1. Vat. gr. 676: words materialized 148 4.2.2. A double preface 152 4.2.3. A progressive biographical logic 154 4.2.4. Discontinuity as a continuous message 163 4.3. VARIOUS VERSES: CHRISTOPHOROS ’COLLECTION 167 5: Ambitions 174 5.1. PRELUDE: THE VOICE OF THE OUTSIDER 175 5.2. THE ‘BEAMTENLITERAT’ 179 5.2.1. New social trajectories 179 5.2.2. A meritocratic model 183 5.3. DISPLAY 186 5.3.1. Textual production and display 186 5.3.2. A poem for a job 190 5.3.3. Insects and fruit: epideictic pieces 192 5.4. SHAPING AN ELITE 194 5.4.1. Distinction 194 5.4.2. Forging friendships 200 5.4.3. An urbane ethos 206 5.5. AMBITIONS AND ETHICAL CONSTRAINTS 211 5.5.1. The ethic of disinterestedness 211 5.5.2. Mauropous’ self-representation: between ambition and resignation 214 6: Education 228 6.1. LEARNING POETRY AT SCHOOL 229 6.1.1. Schools in eleventh-century Byzantium 229 6.1.2. The teaching of poetry 232 6.1.3. Poetic exercises 241 6.2. TEACHING WITH POETRY: DIDACTIC VERSE 248 6.2.1. Serious games: the charms of didactic verse 251 6.2.2. The synoptic quality of poetry 257 6.2.3. A classroom setting 259 6.3. PUBLIC AND DEDICATEES OF DIDACTIC POETRY 262 6.3.1. Political verse: an ambiguous metre 262 6.3.2. Imperial tastes 264 6.3.3. Recycling poems 267 7: Competitions 272 7.1. THE LOGIKOS AGON 273 7.2. THE SCHEDOS CONTESTS 278 7.3. DERISION AND ABUSE 285 7.4. POETIC CONTESTS IN CHRISTOPHOROS’ COLLECTION 295 7.5. PSELLOS AND SABBAÏTES: A POETIC AGON 299 8: Patronage 310 8.1. SOLICITING PATRONAGE 312 8.1.1. Imperial prestige 313 8.1.2. The special charms of poetry: Psellos 18 320 8.2. COMMISSIONS 324 8.3. DEDICATIONS 330 8.4. GIFTS 341 8.4.1. Exchanging words for things 342 8.4.2. Exquisite gifts: Christophoros and the gift of words 349 Conclusions 354 SELBSTZWECK AND SITZ IM LEBEN 354 EPHEMERAL OR ETERNAL? 355 FRIVOLITY AND VALUE 356 SELF-ASSERTIVENESS AND SUBMISSIVENESS 357 IS BYZANTINE POETRY POETIC? 358 Bibliography 362 Primary Sources 362 Secondary Sources 365 General Index 386 Index of Works 390 Index of Manuscripts 394 "In the mid-eleventh century, secular Byzantine poetry attained a hitherto unseen degree of wit, vividness, and personal involvement, chiefly exemplified in the poetry of Christophoros Mitylenaios, Ioannes Mauropous, and Michael Psellos. This is the first volume to consider this poetic activity as a whole, critically reconsidering modern assumptions about Byzantine poetry, and focusing on Byzantine conceptions of the role of poetry in society. By providing a detailed account of the various media through which poetry was presented to its readers, and by tracing the initial circulation of poems, this volume takes an interest in the Byzantine reader and his/her reading habits and strategies, allowing aspects of performance and visual representation, rarely addressed, to come to the fore. It also examines the social interests that motivated the composition of poetry, establishing a connection with the extraordinary social mobility of the time. Self-representative strategies are analyzed against the background of an unstable elite struggling to find moral justification, which allows the study to raise the question of patronage, examine the discourse used by poets to secure material rewards, and explain the social dynamics of dedicatory epigrams. Finally, gift exchange is explored as a medium that underlines the value of poetry and confirms the exclusive nature of intellectual friendship."-- Publisher's website In the mid-11th century, secular Byzantine poetry attained a hitherto unseen degree of wit, vividness, and personal involvement. This volume considers this poetic activity as a whole, focusing on Byzantine conceptions of the role of poetry in society