International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Ida Toth
University of Oxford, Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies,
Oxford, United Kingdom; 
[e-mail]
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; 
[e-mail]
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
.

---