The first four books of the work known as the Continuation of Theophanes have long attracted the interest of scholars of Byzantium, who have debated questions regarding its authorship, dating, and sources. However, its literary style—particularly the methods and context in which it was produced—has received relatively little attention, usually only in occasional comparisons with…
This paper aims to highlight the relationship between author and public in late antique and Byzantine ekphrastic texts. The analysis of the narratological strategies in some key passages (from authors such as Gregory of Nazianzus and John Geometres) will show that the public is involved both through the detailed description of the subject and the…
Spiritual direction through letters, addressed to aristocratic women who had embraced the monastic veil, was a relatively widespread phenomenon in late Byzantine society. The analysis of the extant letters (Laurent 1950, 1956; Rigo 2019) reveals that the model of epistolary communication was structured around the classical functions of the spiritual father in the Byzantine tradition:…