Hellenism in Byzantium: the transformations of Greek identity and the reception of the classical tradition PDF
Preview Hellenism in Byzantium: the transformations of Greek identity and the reception of the classical tradition
This page intentionally left blank HELLENISM IN BYZANTIUM Thisisthefirstsystematicstudyofwhatitmeanttobe‘‘Greek’’inlate antiquity andByzantium, an identity thatcould alternately become national,religious,philosophical,orcultural.Throughclosereadings of the sources – including figures such as Julian, Psellos, and the Komnenian scholars – Professor Kaldellis surveys the space that Hellenismoccupiedin each period; thebroaderdebates in which it wascaughtup;andthehistoricalcausesofitssuccessivetransforma- tions. The first part (100–400) shows how Romanization and ChristianizationledtotheabandonmentofHellenismasanational label and its restriction to a negative religious sense and a positive, albeit rarefied, cultural one. The second (1000–1300) shows how HellenismwasrevivedinByzantiumandcontributedtotheevolution of its culture. The discussion looks closely at the reception of the classical tradition, which was the reason why Hellenism was always desirable and dangerous in Christian society, and presents a new modelforunderstandingByzantinecivilization. ANTHONY KALDELLIS isProfessorofGreekandLatinatTheOhio StateUniversity.Hehaspublishedmanyarticlesandmonographson late antiquity and Byzantium, and is currently completing a related bookonthesubjectoftheChristianParthenon.Hismostrecenttitles areMothersandSons,FathersandDaughters:TheByzantineFamilyof MichaelPsellos(2006)andProcopiusofCaesarea:Tyranny,Historyand PhilosophyattheEndofAntiquity(2004). GREEK CULTURE IN THE ROMAN WORLD Editors SUSANE.ALCOCK,UniversityofMichigan JAS´ ELSNER,CorpusChristiCollege,Oxford SIMONGOLDHILL,UniversityofCambridge TheGreekcultureoftheRomanEmpireoffersarichfieldofstudy.Extraordinary insights can be gained into processes of multicultural contact and exchange, politicalandideologicalconflict,andthecreativityofachanging,polyglotempire. Duringthisperiod,manyfundamentalelementsofWesternsocietywerebeingset in place: from the rise of Christianity, to an influential system of education, to long-livedartisticcanons.ThisseriesisthefirsttofocusontheresponseofGreek culturetoitsRomanimperialsettingasasignificantphenomenoninitsownright. Tothisend,itwillpublishoriginalandinnovativeresearchintheart,archaeology, epigraphy, history, philosophy, religion, and literature of the empire, with an emphasisonGreekmaterial. Titlesinseries: AthleticsandLiteratureintheRomanEmpire JasonKo¨nig DescribingGreece:LandscapeandLiteratureinthePeriegesisofPausanias WilliamHutton TheMakingofRomanIndia GrantParker HellenisminByzantium:TheTransformationsofGreekIdentityandtheReceptionof theClassicalTradition AnthonyKaldellis ReligiousIdentityinLateAntiquity:Greeks,JewsandChristiansinAntioch IsabellaSandwell HELLENISM IN BYZANTIUM The Transformations of Greek Identity and the Reception of the Classical Tradition ANTHONY KALDELLIS CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB28RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521876889 © Anthony Kaldellis 2007 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2008 ISBN-13 978-0-511-37861-4 eBook (NetLibrary) ISBN-13 978-0-521-87688-9 hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. I dedicate this book to my uncle Christophoros, in gratitude and admiration. Contents Preface pageix Introduction 1 PART I GREEKS, ROMANS, AND CHRISTIANS 11 IN LATE ANTIQUITY 1 ‘‘WetooareGreeks!’’:thelegaciesofHellenism 13 14 ClassicalGreece 21 TheHellenisticworld 30 TheSecondSophistic 2 ‘‘Theworldacity’’:RomansoftheEast 42 45 BecomingRoman 61 ThetranslationofRomania 74 Byzantiumasanation-state 82 Themythofthe‘‘multi-ethnicempire’’ 100 Thefictionsofecumenicalideology 111 WheredidalltheGreeksgo? 3 ‘‘NibblingonGreeklearning’’:theChristian predicament 120 121 BetweenGreeksandBarbarians,withinHellenism 131 ThechallengeofHellenism 143 ThelegacyofJulian 154 Oursortheirs?Theuneasypatristicsettlement 166 Conclusion:theendofancientHellenism Interlude. Hellenisminlimbo:themiddleyears(400–1040) 173 vii viii Contents 189 PART II HELLENIC REVIVALS IN BYZANTIUM 4 MichaelPsellosandtheinstaurationofphilosophy 191 193 ‘‘Unblockingthestreamsofphilosophy’’ 202 Scienceanddissimulation 209 Betweenbodyandsoul:anewhumanism 219 Hellenesintheeleventhcentury? 5 TheThirdSophistic:theperformanceofHellenism undertheKomnenoi 225 225 Anathemauponphilosophy 233 Emperorsandsophists Hellenismasanexpansionofmoralandaesthetic 241 categories 256 Hellenicfantasyworlds:thenewRomancenovels 270 Aphilosopher’snovel:Prodromosonreligionandwar 276 Hellenicafterworlds:theTimarion 283 TowardanewHellenicidentity 295 Anti-LatinHellenism 301 IoannesTzetzes:professionalclassicism 307 EustathiosofThessalonike:scholar,bishop,humanist 6 ImperialfailureandtheemergenceofnationalHellenism 317 317 MichaelChoniatesandthe‘‘blessed’’Greeks 323 Athens:aChristiancityanditsclassicistbishop EastandWest:negotiatinglabelsin1204 334 ModerniGraeciorRomans?ByzantinesunderLatin 345 occupation 360 Romannationalisminthesuccessorstates ImperialHellenism:IoannesIIIBatatzesand 368 TheodorosIILaskaris 379 TheintellectualsofNikaia Generalconclusions 389 Bibliography 398 Index 453
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