Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Introduction: Poetry in Byzantine Literature and Society (1081–1204)
- Part I Poetry and Twelfth-Century Literary Culture
- 1 ‘The Force of Discourses’: Literary Production in the Komnenian Era
- 2 Poetry and Theatre in Twelfth-Century Constantinople
- 3 Rethinking the Mixed Style in Twelfth-Century Poetry
- 4 ‘Wishing to Imitate the Poet’: Prose and the Study of Ancient Poetry in the Twelfth Century
- Part II Poetry and the School
- Part III Poetry, Patronage and Power
- Part IV New Texts, New Interpretations
- Index
2 - Poetry and Theatre in Twelfth-Century Constantinople
from Part I - Poetry and Twelfth-Century Literary Culture
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 October 2024
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Introduction: Poetry in Byzantine Literature and Society (1081–1204)
- Part I Poetry and Twelfth-Century Literary Culture
- 1 ‘The Force of Discourses’: Literary Production in the Komnenian Era
- 2 Poetry and Theatre in Twelfth-Century Constantinople
- 3 Rethinking the Mixed Style in Twelfth-Century Poetry
- 4 ‘Wishing to Imitate the Poet’: Prose and the Study of Ancient Poetry in the Twelfth Century
- Part II Poetry and the School
- Part III Poetry, Patronage and Power
- Part IV New Texts, New Interpretations
- Index
Summary
The chapter looks at twelfth-century Byzantine poetry in the context of the milieu in which most Byzantine literature was initially published: the social gatherings known as theatra in which writers performed their compositions before an invited audience, usually presided over by an aristocratic patron. Poetry was particularly suited to such ‘theatre’ performance, and theatra flourished in the twelfth century as never before. This chapter illustrates the dramatic subject matter, style and narrative technique of much twelfth-century verse composition, with particular attention to three texts: a ceremonial poem by Theodore Prodromos, Constantine Manasses’ Synoptic Chronicle and Constantine Stilbes’ lament on a devastating urban fire in 1197. The discussion then turns turns to the question of how far the ‘theatrical turn’ of twelfth-century Byzantine literature, in both poetry and prose, had the potential to develop into real theatre. The contention here is that Byzantine writers perfected the art of purely verbal dramatic representation as a conscious substitute for reviving the institution of ancient theatre in material form.
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- Poetry in Byzantine Literature and Society (1081-1204)New Texts, New Approaches, pp. 70 - 94Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024