ANGELIKI PANAGOPOULOU The role of the divine in the Chronographia of Michael Psellos, ΠΑΡΕΛΘΟΝΤΟΣ ΚΑΤΟΠΤΡΙΣΜΟΙ. Κείμενα προς τιμήν του Καθηγητή Γεώργιου Παπαγεωργίου, εκδ. Ηρόδοτος, Αθήνα, 2020, σσ. 123-160 (in english) (original) (raw)
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Psellos’ Hagiographical Writings: Resources and New Directions
Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Theologia Orthodoxa, 2021
Resources available for Byzantine scholarship in general and for studying Psellos in particular have improved greatly in recent years. Electronic databases assist editors of texts in isolating an author's stylistic habits and in identifying parallel and source texts, while increasingly sensitive search engines provide wide access to scholarly articles, online manuscript catalogues, online publications of texts and translations and great potential for further expansion. Teubner has published Psellos' extensive writings in genre-defined volumes such as poetry, philosophy, forensic orations and hagiographic orations that represent modern categories of literature but do not capture Byzantine conceptualizations. Two examples illustrate this observation. (1) Although the oration on the Miracle at Blachernae is among Psellos' hagiographic writings, it contains a brief ecphrasis of a "living icon" prominent in art-historical discussions; however, the oration chiefly focuses upon the Byzantine court system and Psellos' suggestion for designating a miracle to resolve a vexed legal case. (2) Psellos' Encomion on Symeon Metaphrastes resembles a saint's vita and his hymn/canon for Metaphrastes represents a step towards honoring a "new" Byzantine saint. This process continued for 400 years. The 14 th-century Hesychast movement used Metaphrastes' writings to validate their own views and expedited his inclusion in the Synaxarion of Constantinople in the 15 th Century.
2013
"This publication presents the first study of the defining features of Psellos' Chronographia, written in the 11th century. Character is the single most important feature of the Chronographia written by Michael Psellos (1018-1081?). It is an historical account of the events at court from the time of Basil II (986-1025) to Michael VII Doukas (1071-1078) with the insight of someone whose career developed within the imperial court and his unsurpassed eye for details of personality was enlightened by his intellectual interests. During his lifetime, Psellos was considered the forefront of philosophical studies in the capital and therefore was named consul of philosophers (ὕπατος τῶν φιλοσόφων) in 1047 and he credited himself with reintroducing Plato on the cultural scene of Constantinople. It was his attractive manner of speech which led him to remain in the emperor’s presence and his rhetorical ability also plays an important role in the Chronographia, especially when he emphasizes or fabricates events to justify his understanding of a person’s mind. Many have employed Psellos’ Chronographia for its value in shedding light on historic events, itself important, though it often neglects the fact that Psellos’ historiography is not based on factual details to explain multiple causes for events, but seeks to attribute blame or merit to the personality of the ruling emperor."
2003
A term paper for the course ORT-830 THÈMES DE THÉOLOGIE ORTHODOXE: BYZANTINE FATHERS AND SYNODS FROM THE NINTH TO THE FIFTEENTH CENTURIES Pr. George Dragas (Holy Cross Seminary, Brookline, Mass.), Université de Sherbrooke, Programme de maîtrise en théologie orthodoxe, asking: "What was the political theology implicit in the thinking of members of the Byzantine élite who took it upon themselves to guide their sovereigns in their divinely appointed task in the immediate aftermath of the Western schism and of the final loss of imperial possessions in the West as well as the Near East? To answer this question, I will use two parenetic texts directed respectively at Michael VII and at his son from Maria of Alania, Crown prince Constantine Doukas. The first one was written by an otherwise obscure and unschooled layman called Nikoulitza, and the second one by the learned Archbishop of Bulgaria, Saint Theophylactus of Ohrid. Contemporary writers on related themes in East and West, such as Kekaumenos and the Norman Anonymous, will also be considered to provide further context and to open comparative perspectives."