Theodore Metochites: Patterns of Self-Representation in Fourteenth-Century Byzantium

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The statesman and scholar Theodore Metochites was one of the most important personalities of the fourteenth-century Byzantine Empire. A close advisor to the emperor Andronikos II and restorer of the famous monastery of Chora in Constantinople, Metochites left various writings including orations, poems, essays and commentaries on classical and religious texts, in which he discusses the numerous problems that troubled him and his contemporaries, such as the decline of the state and the tension between public life and that of the philosopher. In this book, Ioannis Polemis provides the first in-depth study of Metochites oeuvre, revealing the complex way he represented the authorial self to critique the politics and mores of his day, whilst at the same time shielding himself from potential criticism. Polemis details the way Metochites deftly manipulated figures and tropes from classical antiquity and early Christianity to justify his role in public life, which was traditionally shunned by scholars in the pursuit of logos. The book provides unique insights into one of the late Empires most important figures, as well as more widely deepening our understanding of classical reception in Byzantium and the social, political and intellectual climate of Constantinople in the fourteenth century.

Reviews

This is the first comprehensive study on Theodore Metochites self-representation, authored by the worlds most experienced scholar with Metochites work and thought. It plugs an important gap in current scholarship by casting new light on Metochites multifaceted image of himself and the way it is transformed or adjusted to meet the needs of his audience on different occasions. This study also offers a fresh understanding of the political, intellectual and social climate in Constantinople in the 13th and 14th c., and it is a significant contribution to the field of the reception of the classical tradition in late Byzantium. * Sophia Xenofontos, Dr, University of Glasgow, UK *

Author Bio

Ioannis Polemis is Professor of Byzantine Literature at Athens University, Greece. He is the author of Theophanes of Nicea: His Life and Works (1996), and numerous editions of the writing of Metochites. His edition of Michael Psellos funeral orations was published in 2014.