Theofili Kampianaki | University of Oxford (original) (raw)
Books by Theofili Kampianaki
This book: -Explores John Zonaras΄ twelfth-century chronicle in terms of its composition, sourc... more This book:
-Explores John Zonaras΄ twelfth-century chronicle in terms of its composition, sources, and political, ideological, and literary background, also discussing the intellectual networks in twelfth-century Constantinople.
- Offers a detailed investigation of the reception of the chronicle in Byzantium and beyond, on the basis of textual, palaeographical, and other evidence.
- Provides a case study of how a medieval text, which is a compilation of earlier accounts, can be examined and assessed as an intellectual product in its own right.
Through this study, I aim to present Zonaras' account as a work which seamlessly merges the traditions of chronicle writing and classicizing historiography.
Articles by Theofili Kampianaki
Parekbolai, 11, 2021
Umberto Eco’s Baudolino, a novel published in 2000, draws on one of the most important historical... more Umberto Eco’s Baudolino, a novel published in 2000, draws on one of the most important historical accounts to have come down to us from the Byzantine period: Niketas Choniates’ History. Choniates himself features as one of the key characters in the novel. The History and its contents furnish Eco with abundant biographical material to help him establish the background of the hero Choniates and develop his story. The historian’s personality and ideas, as reflected in his History, as well as his musings and practices on the recording of the past are also a source of inspiration for Eco. It is noteworthy that the Italian novelist enthusiastically embraces Choniates’ rhetorical and literary style. He translates almost verbatim or freely paraphrases the Byzantine historian’s text, in addition to enriching his novel with a variety of metaphors and images taken from Choniates’ laments. Eco acknowledges the performative qualities of Choniates’ narrative, essentially inviting modern readers and scholars to pay tribute to Choniates not only as a remarkable historian, but also as a gifted storyteller.
In: Lament as Performance in Byzantium, ed. by N. Tsironis in collaboration with T. Kampianaki (forthcoming in Routledge).
1 The seminal study of lament in the Greek tradition is of course that of M. Alexiou, The Ritual ... more 1 The seminal study of lament in the Greek tradition is of course that of M. Alexiou, The Ritual Lament in the Greek Tradition, 2 nd edition, rev. by D. Yatromanolakis and P. Roilos (Lanham, 2002), 83-101, in which a discussion of laments for fallen or destroyed cities is included. For investigations specifically on Byzantine laments for fallen cities, see: I.
In this article, I use a synthetic approach to examine the range of different ways in which the r... more In this article, I use a synthetic approach to examine the range of different ways in which the reputed historian Flavius Josephus was perceived by Medieval literati, examining the views and attributes of the Jewish writer that emerged in the Greek and the Latin literary traditions. I further explore how the works of the Jewish author, particularly the Jewish Antiquities and the Jewish War, served as stylistic and historiographic paradigms for Medieval Greek and Latin scholars.
Byzantina Symmeikta, 2018
My intention in this article is to make some preliminary remarks about the uses to which Josephan... more My intention in this article is to make some preliminary remarks about the uses to which Josephan material is put in Byzantine historical writings, taking as case studies the twelfth-century chronicle of John Zonaras, the thirteenth-century history of Niketas Choniates and the fifteenth-century history of Michael Kritovoulos. I selected these three texts, as they are indicative of the different ways in which Josephus’ works were employed in Byzantine historical narratives. An issue to which I would like to draw particular attention is the references of these authors to Josephus, and their implications, some of which might not have been straightforward for the audience to understand. I shall try to demonstrate that, by referring or alluding to Josephus’ texts, or even by appropriating aspects of Josephus’ reputation, Byzantine intellectuals were attempting to assert their credentials as skilled writers.
This article focuses on the presence of material from Plutarch's Lives in Byzantine chronicles, p... more This article focuses on the presence of material from Plutarch's Lives in Byzantine chronicles, particularly that of John Zonaras, the only chronicler to draw heavily on Plutarch's biographies. Zonaras’ strong appreciation of Plutarch is evident when he repeatedly digresses from the main narrative to incorporate Plutarchean material related to secondary topics. His method of selection from Plutarch's Roman Lives is governed by particular principles: Zonaras’ individual literary tastes, as well as those of his contemporary audience, and the adaptation of Plutarch's material to the Byzantine social and cultural context. These considerations reveal Zonaras to be not merely a copyist of earlier writings, but instead a compiler with his own authorial agenda.
Edited Volumes by Theofili Kampianaki
Please visit: https://hcommons.org/members/nikmatheou/
Research and Outreach Projects by Theofili Kampianaki
The project focuses on the identification of elements of orality and performance in the Greek tra... more The project focuses on the identification of elements of orality and performance in the Greek tradition with special emphasis on literature. It has been running since November 2016 and is expected to last three years.
The theory of orality, first introduced by the Homerists Milman Parry and Albert Lord, was further expanded by Gregory Nagy of Harvard University. Up until now, it has been studied primarily in terms of literary works of the middle Byzantine period (Theodore Prodromos’ poems, Manganeios Prodromos’ poems, Digenis Akrites etc.) by Michael and Elizabeth Jeffreys. The last few years have seen several studies by Margaret Mullett, Emmanuel Bourbouhakis, Przemysław Marciniak and Stratis Papaioannou examining various aspects of the relationship between rhetoric and performance.
The aim of the project is to explore basic aspects of the theory of orality and performance in Byzantium, placing special emphasis on the themes of lamentation and the circle of life as recorded in literature.
Drafts by Theofili Kampianaki
Article accepted for publication in Byzantina Symmeikta
Conference Presentations by Theofili Kampianaki
7th Workshop, Mainz-Berlin-Princeton-Vienna-Oxford Graduate Exchange To Teach or to Remind Reade... more 7th Workshop, Mainz-Berlin-Princeton-Vienna-Oxford Graduate Exchange
To Teach or to Remind Readers Who the Romans Are
My paper will consider the chronicle against the historical context of the twelfth century and suggest that the increasing influx of Latin-speaking peoples from the West in contemporary Constantinople may have fueled a renewed interest in Roman antiquities and stimulated Zonaras to emphasise the Roman antecedents of Byzantium. I will also show that Zonaras' individual authorial purposes underlie his elaborate discussion about ancient Rome; the chronicler's aim was to make known to his readers the development of the Roman political constitutions in the course of time and thus stress the institutional continuity between contemporary Byzantium and Rome.
Mainz-Berlin-Princeton-Vienna-Oxford Graduate Exchange in Late Roman, Byzantine, and Early Mediev... more Mainz-Berlin-Princeton-Vienna-Oxford Graduate Exchange
in Late Roman, Byzantine, and Early Medieval History,
19-21 May 2017
The primary aim of this meeting was to broaden the horizons and experience of those who participate – it is a chance to meet with fellow students interested in the same period of history, but from different cultural and scholarly traditions. The intellectual approaches, and indeed the topics researched, in the five universities involved are not the same, and there is much to be learned by taking stock of the character of the historical discipline as developed in different contexts.
The present paper aims to shed light on the reception of John Zonaras' chronicle (12 th cent.) by... more The present paper aims to shed light on the reception of John Zonaras' chronicle (12 th cent.) by later Byzantine readers. One of the main reasons why the chronicle, known as the Epitome of Histories, is of great interest to modern scholars is because it preserves classical and late antique sources no longer extant, with Cassius Dio's Roman History being the most prominent example. But why was the Epitome read in Byzantium? What were the elements of the text that mostly attracted the attention of Byzantine audiences? To answer these questions, I will take into consideration the evidence of the manuscript tradition of the work. The Epitome was certainly one of the bestsellers of the Middle Ages; about fifty codices dated from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries transmit the entire text or shorter parts of it. In this paper, I am going to look into the manuscripts of this period in terms of two different aspects; one is concerned with the number of manuscripts that contain the entire chronicle or only a certain section of it, and the other with the number of manuscripts that transmit the Epitome alone or along with other texts. Examining the first issue, one can gain a clear sense of what parts of the chronicle readers were mostly fascinated with. As to the second one, it is crucial to consider not so much the manuscripts that preserve exclusively the Epitome as those that contain other works too. The textual context of these codices offers significant indications concerning the way in which later audiences would view the chronicle. Special mention will be made of a small group of manuscripts that are anthologies, namely collections of excerpts of a great number of works, the Epitome included. Among other things, I would like to show that Byzantine readers were much more interested in the chronicle as a source of Roman/Byzantine imperial history rather than a source of information about Jewish antiquities and the Roman Republic. I will further try to account for the presence of Zonaras' work in codices which are exclusively secular in character, and also in manuscripts whose commissioners had very specific reading tastes. Exploring the implications of these issues, this paper will finally try to demonstrate that the Epitome became enormously popular because it was able to accommodate the needs and aims of a wide range of different readers. It is observed that: ■ The entire chronicle is preserved in twenty manuscripts. ■ The first volume of the chronicle is transmitted in only one manuscript, whereas the second one in ten. ■ Combinations' of books other than those of the first and the second volume are found in very few codices.
"John Zonaras’ Epitome of Histories: Intellectual Networks and Readers", International Conference... more "John Zonaras’ Epitome of Histories: Intellectual Networks and Readers", International Conference: Chronicles as Literature at the Crossroad of Past and Present, University of Munich, Institute of Byzantine Studies & University of Uppsala, Section for Greek and Byzantine Studies (29 - 30 April, 2016)
Papers by Theofili Kampianaki
Umberto Eco’s Baudolino , a novel published in 2000, draws on one of the most important historica... more Umberto Eco’s Baudolino , a novel published in 2000, draws on one of the most important historical accounts to have come down to us from the Byzantine period: Niketas Choniates’ History . Choniates himself features as one of the key characters in the novel. The History and its contents furnish Eco with abundant biographical material to help him establish the background of the hero Choniates and develop his story. The historian’s personality and ideas, as reflected in his History , as well as his musings and practices on the recording of the past are also a source of inspiration for Eco. It is noteworthy that the Italian novelist enthusiastically embraces Choniates’ rhetorical and literary style. He translates almost verbatim or freely paraphrases the Byzantine historian’s text, in addition to enriching his novel with a variety of metaphors and images taken from Choniates’ laments. Eco acknowledges the performative qualities of Choniates’ narrative, essentially inviting modern reade...
This book: -Explores John Zonaras΄ twelfth-century chronicle in terms of its composition, sourc... more This book:
-Explores John Zonaras΄ twelfth-century chronicle in terms of its composition, sources, and political, ideological, and literary background, also discussing the intellectual networks in twelfth-century Constantinople.
- Offers a detailed investigation of the reception of the chronicle in Byzantium and beyond, on the basis of textual, palaeographical, and other evidence.
- Provides a case study of how a medieval text, which is a compilation of earlier accounts, can be examined and assessed as an intellectual product in its own right.
Through this study, I aim to present Zonaras' account as a work which seamlessly merges the traditions of chronicle writing and classicizing historiography.
Parekbolai, 11, 2021
Umberto Eco’s Baudolino, a novel published in 2000, draws on one of the most important historical... more Umberto Eco’s Baudolino, a novel published in 2000, draws on one of the most important historical accounts to have come down to us from the Byzantine period: Niketas Choniates’ History. Choniates himself features as one of the key characters in the novel. The History and its contents furnish Eco with abundant biographical material to help him establish the background of the hero Choniates and develop his story. The historian’s personality and ideas, as reflected in his History, as well as his musings and practices on the recording of the past are also a source of inspiration for Eco. It is noteworthy that the Italian novelist enthusiastically embraces Choniates’ rhetorical and literary style. He translates almost verbatim or freely paraphrases the Byzantine historian’s text, in addition to enriching his novel with a variety of metaphors and images taken from Choniates’ laments. Eco acknowledges the performative qualities of Choniates’ narrative, essentially inviting modern readers and scholars to pay tribute to Choniates not only as a remarkable historian, but also as a gifted storyteller.
In: Lament as Performance in Byzantium, ed. by N. Tsironis in collaboration with T. Kampianaki (forthcoming in Routledge).
1 The seminal study of lament in the Greek tradition is of course that of M. Alexiou, The Ritual ... more 1 The seminal study of lament in the Greek tradition is of course that of M. Alexiou, The Ritual Lament in the Greek Tradition, 2 nd edition, rev. by D. Yatromanolakis and P. Roilos (Lanham, 2002), 83-101, in which a discussion of laments for fallen or destroyed cities is included. For investigations specifically on Byzantine laments for fallen cities, see: I.
In this article, I use a synthetic approach to examine the range of different ways in which the r... more In this article, I use a synthetic approach to examine the range of different ways in which the reputed historian Flavius Josephus was perceived by Medieval literati, examining the views and attributes of the Jewish writer that emerged in the Greek and the Latin literary traditions. I further explore how the works of the Jewish author, particularly the Jewish Antiquities and the Jewish War, served as stylistic and historiographic paradigms for Medieval Greek and Latin scholars.
Byzantina Symmeikta, 2018
My intention in this article is to make some preliminary remarks about the uses to which Josephan... more My intention in this article is to make some preliminary remarks about the uses to which Josephan material is put in Byzantine historical writings, taking as case studies the twelfth-century chronicle of John Zonaras, the thirteenth-century history of Niketas Choniates and the fifteenth-century history of Michael Kritovoulos. I selected these three texts, as they are indicative of the different ways in which Josephus’ works were employed in Byzantine historical narratives. An issue to which I would like to draw particular attention is the references of these authors to Josephus, and their implications, some of which might not have been straightforward for the audience to understand. I shall try to demonstrate that, by referring or alluding to Josephus’ texts, or even by appropriating aspects of Josephus’ reputation, Byzantine intellectuals were attempting to assert their credentials as skilled writers.
This article focuses on the presence of material from Plutarch's Lives in Byzantine chronicles, p... more This article focuses on the presence of material from Plutarch's Lives in Byzantine chronicles, particularly that of John Zonaras, the only chronicler to draw heavily on Plutarch's biographies. Zonaras’ strong appreciation of Plutarch is evident when he repeatedly digresses from the main narrative to incorporate Plutarchean material related to secondary topics. His method of selection from Plutarch's Roman Lives is governed by particular principles: Zonaras’ individual literary tastes, as well as those of his contemporary audience, and the adaptation of Plutarch's material to the Byzantine social and cultural context. These considerations reveal Zonaras to be not merely a copyist of earlier writings, but instead a compiler with his own authorial agenda.
The project focuses on the identification of elements of orality and performance in the Greek tra... more The project focuses on the identification of elements of orality and performance in the Greek tradition with special emphasis on literature. It has been running since November 2016 and is expected to last three years.
The theory of orality, first introduced by the Homerists Milman Parry and Albert Lord, was further expanded by Gregory Nagy of Harvard University. Up until now, it has been studied primarily in terms of literary works of the middle Byzantine period (Theodore Prodromos’ poems, Manganeios Prodromos’ poems, Digenis Akrites etc.) by Michael and Elizabeth Jeffreys. The last few years have seen several studies by Margaret Mullett, Emmanuel Bourbouhakis, Przemysław Marciniak and Stratis Papaioannou examining various aspects of the relationship between rhetoric and performance.
The aim of the project is to explore basic aspects of the theory of orality and performance in Byzantium, placing special emphasis on the themes of lamentation and the circle of life as recorded in literature.
7th Workshop, Mainz-Berlin-Princeton-Vienna-Oxford Graduate Exchange To Teach or to Remind Reade... more 7th Workshop, Mainz-Berlin-Princeton-Vienna-Oxford Graduate Exchange
To Teach or to Remind Readers Who the Romans Are
My paper will consider the chronicle against the historical context of the twelfth century and suggest that the increasing influx of Latin-speaking peoples from the West in contemporary Constantinople may have fueled a renewed interest in Roman antiquities and stimulated Zonaras to emphasise the Roman antecedents of Byzantium. I will also show that Zonaras' individual authorial purposes underlie his elaborate discussion about ancient Rome; the chronicler's aim was to make known to his readers the development of the Roman political constitutions in the course of time and thus stress the institutional continuity between contemporary Byzantium and Rome.
Mainz-Berlin-Princeton-Vienna-Oxford Graduate Exchange in Late Roman, Byzantine, and Early Mediev... more Mainz-Berlin-Princeton-Vienna-Oxford Graduate Exchange
in Late Roman, Byzantine, and Early Medieval History,
19-21 May 2017
The primary aim of this meeting was to broaden the horizons and experience of those who participate – it is a chance to meet with fellow students interested in the same period of history, but from different cultural and scholarly traditions. The intellectual approaches, and indeed the topics researched, in the five universities involved are not the same, and there is much to be learned by taking stock of the character of the historical discipline as developed in different contexts.
The present paper aims to shed light on the reception of John Zonaras' chronicle (12 th cent.) by... more The present paper aims to shed light on the reception of John Zonaras' chronicle (12 th cent.) by later Byzantine readers. One of the main reasons why the chronicle, known as the Epitome of Histories, is of great interest to modern scholars is because it preserves classical and late antique sources no longer extant, with Cassius Dio's Roman History being the most prominent example. But why was the Epitome read in Byzantium? What were the elements of the text that mostly attracted the attention of Byzantine audiences? To answer these questions, I will take into consideration the evidence of the manuscript tradition of the work. The Epitome was certainly one of the bestsellers of the Middle Ages; about fifty codices dated from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries transmit the entire text or shorter parts of it. In this paper, I am going to look into the manuscripts of this period in terms of two different aspects; one is concerned with the number of manuscripts that contain the entire chronicle or only a certain section of it, and the other with the number of manuscripts that transmit the Epitome alone or along with other texts. Examining the first issue, one can gain a clear sense of what parts of the chronicle readers were mostly fascinated with. As to the second one, it is crucial to consider not so much the manuscripts that preserve exclusively the Epitome as those that contain other works too. The textual context of these codices offers significant indications concerning the way in which later audiences would view the chronicle. Special mention will be made of a small group of manuscripts that are anthologies, namely collections of excerpts of a great number of works, the Epitome included. Among other things, I would like to show that Byzantine readers were much more interested in the chronicle as a source of Roman/Byzantine imperial history rather than a source of information about Jewish antiquities and the Roman Republic. I will further try to account for the presence of Zonaras' work in codices which are exclusively secular in character, and also in manuscripts whose commissioners had very specific reading tastes. Exploring the implications of these issues, this paper will finally try to demonstrate that the Epitome became enormously popular because it was able to accommodate the needs and aims of a wide range of different readers. It is observed that: ■ The entire chronicle is preserved in twenty manuscripts. ■ The first volume of the chronicle is transmitted in only one manuscript, whereas the second one in ten. ■ Combinations' of books other than those of the first and the second volume are found in very few codices.
"John Zonaras’ Epitome of Histories: Intellectual Networks and Readers", International Conference... more "John Zonaras’ Epitome of Histories: Intellectual Networks and Readers", International Conference: Chronicles as Literature at the Crossroad of Past and Present, University of Munich, Institute of Byzantine Studies & University of Uppsala, Section for Greek and Byzantine Studies (29 - 30 April, 2016)
Umberto Eco’s Baudolino , a novel published in 2000, draws on one of the most important historica... more Umberto Eco’s Baudolino , a novel published in 2000, draws on one of the most important historical accounts to have come down to us from the Byzantine period: Niketas Choniates’ History . Choniates himself features as one of the key characters in the novel. The History and its contents furnish Eco with abundant biographical material to help him establish the background of the hero Choniates and develop his story. The historian’s personality and ideas, as reflected in his History , as well as his musings and practices on the recording of the past are also a source of inspiration for Eco. It is noteworthy that the Italian novelist enthusiastically embraces Choniates’ rhetorical and literary style. He translates almost verbatim or freely paraphrases the Byzantine historian’s text, in addition to enriching his novel with a variety of metaphors and images taken from Choniates’ laments. Eco acknowledges the performative qualities of Choniates’ narrative, essentially inviting modern reade...
is a D.Phil. candidate in Oriental Studies at Pembroke College, Oxford, with the thesis title Ari... more is a D.Phil. candidate in Oriental Studies at Pembroke College, Oxford, with the thesis title Aristakes of Lastivert's History in Context: Armenia and New Rome in the Era of the Seljuq Invasions. He is co-convener of The Oxford Research Centre for the Humanities research network on the long history of identity, ethnicity and nationhood. Theofili Kampianaki is a D.Phil. candidate at Wolfson College, Oxford. Her doctoral thesis is entitled John Zonaras' Epitome of Histories: A Compendium of Jewish-Roman History and Its Readers. Theofili holds an undergraduate degree in Greek Philology from the University of Athens, and an M.St. in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies from the University of Oxford.
Brill's Companion to the Reception of Plutarch
Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 2017
This article focuses on the presence of material from Plutarch's Lives in Byzantine chronicle... more This article focuses on the presence of material from Plutarch's Lives in Byzantine chronicles, particularly that of John Zonaras, the only chronicler to draw heavily on Plutarch's biographies. Zonaras’ strong appreciation of Plutarch is evident when he repeatedly digresses from the main narrative to incorporate Plutarchean material related to secondary topics. His method of selection from Plutarch's Roman Lives is governed by particular principles: Zonaras’ individual literary tastes, as well as those of his contemporary audience, and the adaptation of Plutarch's material to the Byzantine social and cultural context. These considerations reveal Zonaras to be not merely a copyist of earlier writings, but instead a compiler with his own authorial agenda.