Byzantine Epigrams transmitted as inscriptions

The literary genre of the Byzantine epigram has not yet found the interest it deserves; much scholarly work has to be done, many texts are even still unedited or have been published in a rather insufficient way. First attempts were made in the nineteen sixties by A. Kominis. In recent years important new insights were gained by the systematical research done by M. Lauxtermann and by various publications of H. Maguire focusing particularly on the interrelationship between epigrams and works of art. The applicant has been devoting himself for decades to research on Byzantine poetry and particularly on epigrams. The current project aims at documenting as completely as possible all Byzantine epigrams transmitted as inscriptions, i.e. first and foremost those which are still preserved on the object for which they were written. Poems which are well attested as inscriptions, but only preserved in manuscripts or printed copies, will also be included. There are also cases where an epigram can be seen on an extant object, and yet we can say that it was not composed for this special object, but for an earlier one; of course, these poems, too, have to be incorporated. The term "inscription" is understood in a not too narrow sense: it comprises texts engraved in walls or in various religious or secular objects made of stone, bone, metal etc., painted inscriptions of images, be it in church decorations (mosaic or monumental painting), be it on icons (including their frames) or in illuminated manuscripts. In principle, metrical seals would also have to be taken account of; however they are not the subject of the current project, because at the moment other competent scholars are doing intense research in this field. The final aim of the project is to improve and deepen our knowledge of the Byzantine epigram, its contents, its structures and its functions. By comparing literary and non-literary pieces a better interpretation of both groups of poems will be possible. It will become much clearer which poems can originally have been intended for inscriptional use and which were mere meditations on certain contents or on presupposed objects which the poet had in mind. Thus we shall obtain new informations about an important part of Byzantine literature and the role it played within the Byzantine society.

The literary genre of the Byzantine epigram has not yet found the interest it deserves; much scholarly work has to be done, many texts are even still unedited or have been published in a rather insufficient way. First attempts were made in the nineteen sixties by A. Kominis. In recent years important new insights were gained by the systematical research done by M. Lauxtermann and by various publications of H. Maguire focusing particularly on the interrelationship between epigrams and works of art. The applicant has been devoting himself for decades to research on Byzantine poetry and particularly on epigrams. The current project aims at documenting as completely as possible all Byzantine epigrams transmitted as inscriptions, i.e. first and foremost those which are still preserved on the object for which they were written. Poems which are well attested as inscriptions, but only preserved in manuscripts or printed copies, will also be included. There are also cases where an epigram can be seen on an extant object, and yet we can say that it was not composed for this special object, but for an earlier one; of course, these poems, too, have to be incorporated. The term "inscription" is understood in a not too narrow sense: it comprises texts engraved in walls or in various religious or secular objects made of stone, bone, metal etc., painted inscriptions of images, be it in church decorations (mosaic or monumental painting), be it on icons (including their frames) or in illuminated manuscripts. In principle, metrical seals would also have to be taken account of; however they are not the subject of the current project, because at the moment other competent scholars are doing intense research in this field. The final aim of the project is to improve and deepen our knowledge of the Byzantine epigram, its contents, its structures and its functions. By comparing literary and non-literary pieces a better interpretation of both groups of poems will be possible. It will become much clearer which poems can originally have been intended for inscriptional use and which were mere meditations on certain contents or on presupposed objects which the poet had in mind. Thus we shall obtain new informations about an important part of Byzantine literature and the role it played within the Byzantine society.