Ida Toth
University of Oxford, Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies,
Oxford, United Kingdom;
ida.toth@history.ox.ac.uk
Reading Performance: The Late Byzantine Rhetorical
Theatron,
Reconsidered
Byzantine rhetorical works are graphic and self-referential. No less so Palaiologan imperial
orations: their deictic language and dramatic rendering conceptualise both the role of the performer
and the spatial setting for his performance. Many conjure up a grand stage, at times even much
more imposing than any of the physical spaces of the imperial
theatron
, populated with an
ecumenical audience, representing a compendium of the Byzantine populace as a whole. Striking
visual references repeatedly emerge as the orator depicts both the events that he relates and himself
as their spectator (ἐγὼ δὲ θεατὴς τῶν γιγνομένων), as if these are taking place before his very eyes.
Still, not all imperial orations include such features. A noticeable lack of elements of ritual and
performativity, and a weaker authorial voice, suggest that the stage and the
mise-en-scène
for these
rhetorical pieces were envisaged as, and indeed may have been, less imposing.
Using as case studies the rhetorical output of the most prominent Constantinopolitan orators who
celebrated the reigns of the first two Palaiologan emperors, this communication examines the variety
of ways in which these authors describe their surroundings as they offer their readers a 360-degree
view from the centre-stage position that they themselves confidently occupy and command.
502
Margaret Mullett
Belfast, United Kingdom;
margaret.mullett@aol.co.uk
Contexts for the
Christos Paschon
The
Christos Paschon
is the only surviving Byzantine tragedy, which has always presented a
problem to readers. Whether or not it was ever performed, the issue is more about its performability:
whether it could have been performed, whether it shows enough awareness of ancient tragedy to
suggest more than reading on the page. This paper suggests that it does, and that its performance,
whether noetic or theatric, was influenced by performance practice in other genres, both experienced
in everyday life and learned through rhetorical training. It looks at possible twelfth-century models
for chorus, monologue and dialogue, and analyses key contemporary texts closest to the unicum.
It is also argued that the chosen context may affect our understanding of the performance whether
realized or not-- or even our views of the dating of the piece--, and different cases are considered:
the Euripidean source-texts; late antique works; the liturgical Virgin’s laments in hymn and sermon;
the Cyprus passion play and western mystery plays; the rhetorical dramatia of the twelfth century
and the
Katomyomachia
.
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