Metre to Shed Light: Some Insights on the Metrics of the Carmen de S. Panteleemone and its (Dubious) Attribution to John Geometres

Among the poems ascribed to John Geometres, the Carmen de S. Panteleemone (BHG 1415) stands out for its length (over a thousand prosodic dodecasyllables) and the number of copies (at least seven manuscripts preserving the whole text or part of it). However, its authorship is uncertain, since the poet is explicitly named in only two witnesses, the Laur. Plut. 5.10 and the Scor. Y.II.06, whereas the text is anonymous in all the others. The goal of this paper is to investigate the authorship by means of the poem’s metrical features as a crucial internal criterion. Both advancements in metrical studies and recent reliable editions of most of Geometres’ work provide the tools for a thorough analysis of the data. Of particular relevance will be comparisons with the dodecasyllabic poems undoubtedly attributed to Geometres. The enquiry into the constitutive elements of verse will not fail to consider the evolution of Byzantine metrical practice over the centuries. The survey will be grounded in my new critical edition of the Carmen, which takes into account the full manuscript tradition for the first time. Giving insights also for a broader reflection on the concept of authenticity in Byzantium, the results could shed some light on the authorship debate and help unravel the issue.