This volume places the satirical works of the Middle Byzantine period in a wider political and sociocultural context, exploring not only their various forms but also their functions and meanings. The volume is divided into four parts. The first part provides the backgrounds of the authors and texts discussed in the volume. The second concerns the manifold functions and appearances of Byzantine satirical texts. Part three offers detailed analyses of three largely unexplored texts (the 'Charidemos', the 'Philopatris', and the 'Anacharsis'). The last part moves from the individual texts to the larger picture of satirical modes in Middle Byzantium.
Author(s): Przemysław Marciniak, Ingela Nilsson (eds.)
Series: Explorations in Medieval Culture, 12
Publisher: Brill
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 398
City: Leiden
List of Figures vii
List of Contributors viii
Note on Transliteration x
1. It is Difficult Not to Write Satire: A Brief Introduction to the Satirical Mode / Ingela Nilsson 1
Part 1. Traditions, Approaches, and Definitions
2. The Fortune of Lucian in Byzantium / Charis Messis 13
3. Laughter, Derision, and Abuse in Byzantine Verse / Floris Bernard 39
4. Parody in Byzantine Literature / Charis Messis and Ingela Nilsson 62
Part 2. Forms and Functions
5. Satirical Elements in Hagiographical Narratives / Stavroula Constantinou 81
6. Political Satire / Paul Magdalino 104
7. Parody in Byzantine Art / Henry Maguire 127
8. The Cicada and the Dung Beetle / Emilie Marlène van Opstall 152
Part 3. Satire as a Philological Endeavor
9. The Power of Old and New Logoi: The 'Philopatris' Revisited / Przemysław Marciniak 179
10. A Satire Like No Other: Pseudo-Lucian's 'Charidemos' and Its Traditions / Janek Kucharski 191
11. The Consolation of Philology: 'Anacharsis or Ananias' / Eric Cullhed 213
Part 4. Komnenian Satire: A Golden Age?
12. Playwright, Satirist, Atticist: The Reception of Aristophanes in 12th-Century Byzantium / Baukje van den Berg 227
13. Satirical Modulations in 12th-Century Greek Literature / Panagiotis Roilos 254
14. Satire in the Komnenian Period: Poetry, Satirical Strands, and Intellectual Antagonism / Nikos Zagklas 279
15. 'For Old Men Too Can Play, Albeit More Wisely So': The Game of Discourses in the 'Ptochoprodromika' / Markéta Kulhánková 304
16. Afterword / Przemysław Marciniak 324
Appendix: Nikephoros Basilakes on His Own Satirical Writings 331
Paul Magdalino
Bibliography 336
Index 380
