Reading Paths in Byzantine Medical Knowledge

Psellos, both scholar and attentive reader of medical texts, draws on inherited medical knowledge to reveal the moral character of the emperors he describes in the Chronographia. In doing so, he operates on two levels: the uninitiated reader perceives the account of disease as a mere historical report, whereas the informed reader – capable of disentangling rhetoric and medical knowledge – can discern the deeper ethical meaning behind the description. Through a focused case study, this paper examines Psellos as a learned reader who appropriates and recontextualizes the motif of dropsy – a disease charged with both medical and moral implications – to shed light on imperial ethos. Furthermore, it highlights how the Chronographia itself calls for an active reader, one who must connect the dispersed medical and moral clues to uncover the interpretive layer beneath the narrative.