Reading Michael Psellos

Reading Michael Psellos PDF

Author: Charles Barber

Publisher: Medieval Mediterranean

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13:

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The papers of this volume highlight the intellectual and literary contribution of Michael Psellos (1018-after 1081?) by offering readings of his original texts from a variety of scholarly perspectives.

Michael Psellos on Literature and Art

Michael Psellos on Literature and Art PDF

Author: Michael Psellos

Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess

Published: 2017-04-30

Total Pages: 446

ISBN-13: 0268100519

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The ambition of Michael Psellos on Literature and Art is to illustrate an important chapter in the history of Greek literary and art criticism and introduce precisely this aspect of Psellian writing to a wider public.

Michael Psellos

Michael Psellos PDF

Author: Stratis Papaioannou

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2013-05-09

Total Pages: 365

ISBN-13: 1107067529

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This book explores Michael Psellos' place in the history of Greek rhetoric and self-representation and his impact on the development of Byzantine literature. Avoiding the modern dilemma that vacillates between Psellos the pompous rhetorician and Psellos the ingenious thinker, Professor Papaioannou unravels the often misunderstood Byzantine rhetoric, its rich discursive tradition and the social fabric of elite Constantinopolitan culture which rhetoric addressed. The book offers close readings of Psellos' personal letters, speeches, lectures and historiographical narratives, and analysis of other early Byzantine and classical models of authorship in Byzantine book culture, such as Gregory of Nazianzos, Synesios of Cyrene, Hermogenes and Plato. It also details Psellos' innovative attention to authorial creativity, performative mimesis and the aesthetics of the self. Simultaneously, it traces within Byzantium complex expressions of emotion and gender, notions of authorship and subjectivity, and theories of fictionality and literature, challenging the common fallacy that these are modern inventions.

Fourteen Byzantine Rulers

Fourteen Byzantine Rulers PDF

Author: Michael Psellus

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 1979-09-27

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 0141904550

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This chronicle of the Byzantine Empire, beginning in 1025, shows a profound understanding of the power politics that characterized the empire and led to its decline.

The Argument of Psellos' Chronographia

The Argument of Psellos' Chronographia PDF

Author: Anthony Kaldellis

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2021-10-11

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 9004452869

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This book is a philosophical interpretation of Michael Psellos' Chronographia, an acknowledged masterpiece of Byzantine literature. Anthony Kaldellis argues that although the Chronographia contains a fascinating historical narrative; it is really a disguised philosophical work which, if read carefully, reveals Psellos' revolutionary views on politics and religion. Kaldellis exposes the rhetorical techniques with which Psellos veils his unorthodoxy, and demonstrates that the inner message of the text challenges the Church's supremacy over the intellectual and political life of Byzantium. Psellos consciously articulates a secular vision of Imperial politics, and seeks to liberate philosophy from the constraints of Christian theology. The analysis is lucid and should be accessible to anyone with a general knowledge of Byzantine civilization. It should interest all who study the history of ancient and medieval philosophy.

The Letters of Psellos

The Letters of Psellos PDF

Author: Michael Jeffreys

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 479

ISBN-13: 0198787227

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The Letters of Psellos is the first detailed study of the correspondence of Michael Psellos, a leading Byzantine intellectual, politician, and writer of the eleventh century. Psellos' corpus of over 500 letters represents a historical source of great significance for the study of society and culture of the time: literary masterpieces in and of themselves, yet often complex and difficult to understand in their entirety, they not only rebound with subtlety and humor, but also offer invaluable information on myriad subjects ranging from the political culture of Byzantium and its civil administration to social codes, religious beliefs, and popular culture. This volume consists of two complementary parts designed to make Psellos' letters as widely accessible as possible, both to the specialist academic community and to a wider non-specialist audience. The first part contains five essays offering detailed historical and literary analyses of a considerable number of the letters across a range of different topics, including the financial management of monasteries, the friendship of Psellos and John Mauropous, and the challenges posed by Psellian irony. While the essays are supplemented by individual appendices containing the translated text of the pertinent letters, the second part of the book presents annotated summaries in English of the entirety of Psellos' correspondence, compiled over many years as part of the Prosopography of the Byzantine World project and supported by substantial excursuses and notes. The result is an engaging and accessible shortcut into these bewildering and fascinating letters and an essential resource for the study of eleventh-century Byzantine society and culture through the pen of one of its pre-eminent figures.

The Depiction of Character in the Chronographia of Michael Psellos

The Depiction of Character in the Chronographia of Michael Psellos PDF

Author: Frederick Lauritzen

Publisher: Brepols Publishers

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9782503548418

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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 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.

Mothers and Sons, Fathers and Daughters

Mothers and Sons, Fathers and Daughters PDF

Author: Michael Psellos

Publisher:

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780268024154

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This book contains the works that Psellos wrote about his family, including a long funeral oration for his mother that features unique recollections from a childhood spent in Constantinople; a funeral oration for his young daughter Styliane, which includes a detailed description of her physical appearance and a moving account of her illness and death; a legal work pertaining to the engagement of his second, adopted, daughter; and various letters and other works that relate to the private life of this Byzantine family.

Dissidence and Persecution in Byzantium

Dissidence and Persecution in Byzantium PDF

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2021-09-27

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 9004472959

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This volume explores different perspectives of dissent and persecution from Constantine to Michael Psellos, the reasons driving dissent and causing persecutions, as well as their perceptions and depictions in the Byzantine literature.

Michael Psellus on the Operation of Daemons: De Operatione Daemonum

Michael Psellus on the Operation of Daemons: De Operatione Daemonum PDF

Author: Michael Psellus

Publisher: Golden Hoard Press

Published: 2019-11-15

Total Pages: 104

ISBN-13: 9781912212125

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Michael Psellus (1018 - 1178 C.E) forms the bridge between the ancient classical view of the daemon as a beneficial guiding spiritual presence (a link between man and the gods) and the later Christian view of demons as intrinsically evil. His writing helps to explain both of these aspects, and the evolution from one to the other. Psellus was a noted author and philosopher of the Byzantine era in the Greek speaking part of the Roman Empire centred on modern Istanbul. Up until the arrival of the Arabs in the 7th century, the Byzantine empire was one of the strongest economies of Europe, being at the western end of the silk road from China. Psellus was a very practical man, being an illustrious political advisor to a succession of emperors, but was also interested in angels and demons. He was the driving force behind the university curriculum reform designed to emphasise the Greek classics, especially Homeric literature rather than just Christian theology. He was also adept at astronomy, medicine, music, theology, jurisprudence, physics, grammar and history. This work, 'Dialogue on the Operation of Daemons, ' has been repeatedly cited in serious and academic literature and offers an interesting look at the Orthodox Christian conceptions of the roles of daemons and devils. His dialogue between Timothy and Thracian explores this line of thought in a truly Platonic form.