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.

About the Author
Floris Bernard studied Classics in Ghent and Athens, and obtained a PhD in Literature at Ghent University with a dissertation on eleventh-century poetry. He was a Fellow at the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington DC and is currently post-doctoral research fellow in Ghent.

Reviews
Rich in close readings and approaching its subject from a variety of angles, this book is in a sense a literary history of Byzantine secular poetry in the eleventh century, or more precisely 1025-1081.. . . [A]n important synthesis of previous scholarship on the, until lately, somewhat ignored category of Byzantine verse. It is, however, also an important contribution in itself, promoting several ideas about the writers of verse and their audience. . . . [A] very useful reference tool for further work. * Christian Hogel and Jonas J.H. Christensen, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198703747
Author Floris Bernard
Format Hardback
Page Count 400
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 610g
Dimensions(mm) 222mm * 157mm * 31mm