International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Anastasia Barinova
Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of World History, Moscow, Russian Federation; 
[e-mail]
New Forms of Old Narratives: 
Literary Use of Eschatological Conceptions in Some Middle Byzantine Texts
The Christian eschatology is a complicated system of beliefs which has been forming gradually 
for a long time, and provides a wide range of symbols, metaphors and characters that produced 
a variety of interpretations in the medieval world. In particular, Byzantine apocalyptic tradition 
is a rather well-researched phenomenon; we can speak about its theological foundation, political 
repercussions or in some cases regard it as historical source.
But eschatological imagery also possesses a literary value as a part of literary culture, and it can 
be found in some works which are far away from Byzantine apocalypses and theological treatises. 
Sometimes eschatological symbols and allusions were successfully used not in strictly theological 

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or apocalyptic context but for literary purposes – with changes in meaning and, as a matter of fact, 
in the whole apocalyptic “conception”. 
The main subjects of this paper are rhetoric of the Book of Daniel in Miracula Sancti Demetrii 
(7
th
century) and analysis of the New Testament word usage in the episode of the Chronicle of 
Theophanes Confessor (9
th
century).
Kosta Simić
Australian Catholic University, Banyo QLD, Australia; 
[e-mail]
Saints as Biblical Figures: On the Use of Typology in Liturgical Poetry
The aim of the present paper is to shed some light on the use of biblical models in Byzantine 
hymnography, particularly canons, during the middle Byzantine period. Modeling the saints 
on biblical figures was common in many genres of Byzantine literature, especially in sermons, 
panegyrics, hagiographical texts, and various monastic writings for spiritual edification. Along with 
associations between major events of the two Testaments through the use of typology and allegory, 
Christian writers very early established similar links between individuals as well. Several key Old 
Testament characters, including Joshua, son of Nun, Isaac, Joseph and others, were generally seen 
as types of Christ. Gradually this perception was extended, and the interrelation was also developed 
between biblical personages and Christian saints. This practice was one of the ways to demonstrate 
the idea of unity between the Old and New Testaments, and especially the notion of continuity in 
the history of the chosen people of the “Old” and “New” Israel.
Byzantine hymnographers made a major contribution in this regard, and this is an aspect 
of hagiographical poetry in which they probably displayed the highest degree of originality. The 
canon, a dominant hymnographic genre during the period under consideration, was developed 
by inserting troparia between the verses of the biblical odes chanted in matins. Hence, it was quite 
natural for liturgical hymns to be profoundly permeated by biblical themes. Hymnographers, by 
elaborating upon the biblical odes, included many ideas contained in them in their poetic works.
Furthermore, Byzantine poets did not confine themselves exclusively to biblical odes when 
they sought scriptural models for the saints. Among the persons mostly invoked in their hymns 
were Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and Elijah. From the New Testament, their favourite 
individuals were Paul, Peter, and John the Baptist. The faithful were exhorted to recognize biblical 
personages in the saints they praised. The large number of such examples in Byzantine liturgical 
poetry suggests that hymnographers used hymns as an additional and highly effective avenue 
of biblical interpretation. This fact further highlights the importance of this genre of Byzantine 
literature during a period when traditional and more conventional biblical hermeneutics went into 
sharp decline.

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