The Byzantine Warrior Hero: Cypriot Folk Songs as History and Myth, 9651571

(Hardback)

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Chrysovalantis Kyriacou examines how memories of the pre-Christian past, Christian militarism, power struggles, and ethnoreligious encounters have left their long-term imprint on Cypriot culture. One of the most impressive examples of this phenomenon is the preservation and transformative adaptation of Byzantine heroic themes, motifs, and symbols in Cypriot folk songs. By combining a variety of written sources and archaeological material in his interdisciplinary examination, the author reconstructs the image of the Byzantine warrior hero in the songs, recovering the mentalities of overshadowed social protagonists and stressing the role of subaltern communities as active agents in the shaping of history.

Reviews

One way to sense and evaluate the memory of peoples medieval past is to look at how folk literature narrates their national heroes, historical and imaginary. Chrysovalantis Kyriacou examines with scholarly acumen and sensitivity the folk songs of Cyprus as part of the Byzantine literary production of the island, inviting us to discover the rich Cypriot heroic legacy that created them.

-- Evangelos K. Chrysos, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

A fascinating journey in search of Cypriot perceptions of Byzantiums warrior heroes as revealed in Greek heroic folk songs popular in medieval Cypriot society. Chrysovalantis Kyriacou explores in an insightful, imaginative and original way the heroic esoteric world of the Cypriot Orthodox people, unraveling the deeper psychological and cultural dimensions of the Byzantine legacy on the island. A valuable contribution to the cultural history of Cyprus, reassessing its place in the Byzantine world.

-- Charalambos Dendrinos, Royal Holloway, University of London

Author Bio

Chrysovalantis Kyriacou teaches at the Theological School of the Church of Cyprus.