Eirini Afentoulidou

The Dioptra, a work consisting of over 7000 political verses in form of a dialogue between the body and the soul, as well as prose paratexts, heavily borrows from other texts. Whereas the sources paraphrased in the verses often go unacknowledged, other prose excerpts, mostly patristic but sometimes scriptural, are quoted verbatim and attributed to their respective authors. These paratexts are marginal scholia, texts inserted in the verse parts, and appendices. They are related to aspects of the verse parts, either by supporting an argument, by elaborating on details of the text, or by elucidating an argument from a different angle. The fictional setting of the dialogue functions as a frame, holding together the numerous sources, organising them in questions and answers that prompt more questions, and commenting upon them.

Subject: Scripta Medieval Studies Linguistic History of Literature

Keywords: Byzantine Poetry Dialogue Dioptra Florilegia Paraphrases Patristic Literature Paratexts Philippos Monotropos

The study of the Euchologia (singular: Euchologion), the prayer books to be used by the clergy, has long been neglected by medieval historians. This is beginning to change, as more and more scholars discover the potential of the Euchologia as a source for social history. Indeed, Euchologia contain besides Eucharistic and sacramental liturgies also prayers for various occasions of the daily life of women, men and children from various strata of society and every geographical region of the Byzantine world. Thus, the Euchologia offer a different perspective than most Byzantine written sources, which concentrate on urban, male, often ordained elites. In 2015 a new research project dedicated to the study of Euchologia was initiated at the Division of Byzantine Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The project seeks to study Greek-language Euchologia copied up to the year 1650 and the prayers they contain.

Subject: Language and Literature Studies Applied Linguistics Studies of Literature Philology Translation Studies Byzantine Euchologion History of the society Daily life Linguistics Tradition of the text