A cognitive analysis of metrical irregularities in the 'Omega sigma pi epsilon rho xi epsilon nu omicron tau' book epigrams

This article considers the variation in the meters of the ὥσπερ ξένοι epigrams collected in the Database of Byzantine Book Epigrams (DBBE). In its canonical form, these epigrams follow a dodecasyllabic metrical pattern. The seemingly unmetrical decasyllabic and decatetrasyllabic variants are explained from a cognitive-linguistic perspective as the pairing of different cola – 5+5 and 7+7 instead of the usual 7+5 or 5+7. From this perspective, cola can be equated with the cognitive ‘idea’ or ‘intonation units’ (IUs) used in ordinary speech

3. Manorialism

Parallel to the military and political system called feudalism, and acting as the foundation, was an economic system known as manorialism. The two systems were distinct and could exist without each other, but they were often linked by the fact that a vassal generally be received as a fief, the lordship of one or more small, self-sufficient farming villages called manors. Although the typical manor never existed, and although the manorial system was not found in southern Europe and in the Celtic countries, the general features of this system as it prevailed in the feudal Europe of the eleventh century can be broadly sketched. [excerpt

The Skylla group in Constantinople's hippodrome

The Skylla group was among the most famous bronze sculptures installed in the hippodrome at Constantinople. This paper suggests that the Skylla was a feature of Constantinople at its re-foundation, but perhaps originally stood facing the Bosphorus. In around AD 400 it was moved to the hippodrome where it stood until its destruction in 1204, and where it may for some time have served as a fountain

[Book Review] D. Xygalatas, The Burning Saints: Cognition and Culture in the Fire-Walking Rituals of the Anastenaria

No abstract

The Rock-Cut Room on the Acropolis at Golemo Gradište, Konjuh: Date and Purpose

The anonymous city at the site of Golemo Gradište at the village of Konjuh, R. Macedonia, belongs to the period of Late Antiquity; the evidence indicates that it was founded in the 5th century. The lower town on the northern terrace was reconstructed, probably during the second quarter of the 6th century, but the inhabitants abandoned it, for the most part, later in that century and fled for refuge to the acropolis, where a settlement continued to exist into the early 7th century. Earlier material, beginning with the Late Neolithic and continuing sporadically through Bronze Age to Hellenistic, has been documented at the site; a Roman settlement may have been located nearby but not at Golemo Gradište itself, and there is evidence for Byzantine and Turkish occupation. Despite this overall understanding of the chronology of occupation at the site, one of its most attractive features has remained a mystery, uncertain in date and purpose. [excerpt

The Oral Traditions of Modern Greece: A Survey

Roderick Beaton (King's College London) has carried on fieldwork on Greek oral poetry in many parts of Greece and Cyprus and is the author of Folk Poetry of Modern Greece (1980). He has researched and published extensively on Greek literature dating from the twelfth century to the present and on modern Greek folk music. His current research project is a book entitled The Medieval Greek Romance

Representation c. 800: Arab Byzantine Carolingian

What could or should be visually represented was a contested issue across the medieval Christian and Islamic world around the year 800. This article examines how Islamic, Byzantine, Carolingian and Palestinian Christian attitudes toward representation were expressed, and differed, across the seventh and eighth centuries. Islamic prohibitions against representing human figures were not universally recognised, but were particularly – if sometimes erratically – focused on mosque decoration. Byzantine ‘iconoclasm’ – more properly called iconomachy – was far less destructive than its later offshoots in France and England, and resulted in a highly nuanced re-definition of what representation meant in the Orthodox church. Carolingian attitudes toward images were on the whole far less passionate than either Islamic or Orthodox views, but certain members of the elite had strong views, which resulted in particular visual expressions. Palestinian Christians, living under Islamic rule, modulated their attitudes toward images to conform with local social beliefs. Particularly in areas under Orthodox or Islamic control, then, representation mattered greatly around the year 800, and this article examines how and why this impacted on local production

The late Medieval Greek poetry : language, metre and discourse (University of Ghent, 2015)

In this contribution, I offer a summary of my 2015 Ph.D. dissertation from the University of Ghent on the language and metre of Late Medieval Greek poetry as they pertain to information structure