Miracles and Pseudo-Miracles in Byzantine Apocalypses
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András Kraft
Abstract
Miracles present a central theme in Byzantine prophetic texts. They are associated with eschatological protagonists, most notably with the motifs of the Antichrist and the Savior-Emperor, who are the dominant narrative figures in historical apocalypses, upon which the present study lays its focus. By surveying more than a dozen Byzantine prophecies from the sixth to sixteenth century this study aims to excavate the meaning and implications of miraculous deeds in the longue durée of Byzantine apocalyptic thought. In particular, it is shown how specific miraculous actions and characterizations - attributed to the Savior-Emperor and the Antichrist respectively - are to be read as either homologous or inverted correspondences that emulate biblical precedences of divine beneficial acts. Apocalyptic miracles (and pseudo-miracles) are, first and foremost, constructed as Christocentric typologies that stress the continuation of the miracle accounts known from the Gospels and the Old Testament. Furthermore, it is shown which specific events carried miraculous as well as eschatological connotations for the Byzantines.
Abstract
Miracles present a central theme in Byzantine prophetic texts. They are associated with eschatological protagonists, most notably with the motifs of the Antichrist and the Savior-Emperor, who are the dominant narrative figures in historical apocalypses, upon which the present study lays its focus. By surveying more than a dozen Byzantine prophecies from the sixth to sixteenth century this study aims to excavate the meaning and implications of miraculous deeds in the longue durée of Byzantine apocalyptic thought. In particular, it is shown how specific miraculous actions and characterizations - attributed to the Savior-Emperor and the Antichrist respectively - are to be read as either homologous or inverted correspondences that emulate biblical precedences of divine beneficial acts. Apocalyptic miracles (and pseudo-miracles) are, first and foremost, constructed as Christocentric typologies that stress the continuation of the miracle accounts known from the Gospels and the Old Testament. Furthermore, it is shown which specific events carried miraculous as well as eschatological connotations for the Byzantines.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgments V
- Table of Contents VII
- Introduction: In search of the Miraculous IX
-
I. Miracles
- Ctesias’ Indica and the Origins of Paradoxography 3
- The Epidaurian Iamata: The first “Court of Miracles”? 17
- Medicine and the paradox in the Hippocratic Corpus and Beyond 31
- ‘One might rightly wonder’ – marvelling in Polybios Histories 63
- Omens and Miracles: Interpreting Miraculous Narratives in Roman Historiography 85
- Miracles and Pseudo-Miracles in Byzantine Apocalypses 111
-
II. Workings of Miracles
- Wonder-ful Memories in Herodotus’ Histories 133
- Wonder(s) in Plautus 153
- Telling Tales of Wonder: Mirabilia in the Letters of Pliny the Younger 179
- Paradoxographic discourse on sources and fountains: deconstructing paradoxes 205
- Lucian’s Alexander: technoprophecy, thaumatology and the poetics of wonder 225
-
III. Believing in Miracles
- Perceiving Thauma in Archaic Greek Epic 259
- Turning Science into Miracle in the Voyage of Alexander the Great 275
- ‘Many are the wonders in Greece’: Pausanias the wandering philosopher 305
- Miracles in Greek Biography 327
- Apuleius on Raising the Dead Crossing the Boundaries of Life and Death while Convincing the Audience 353
- Recognizing Miracles in ancient Greek Novels 381
- List of Contributors 417
- Index Nominum et Rerum 423
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgments V
- Table of Contents VII
- Introduction: In search of the Miraculous IX
-
I. Miracles
- Ctesias’ Indica and the Origins of Paradoxography 3
- The Epidaurian Iamata: The first “Court of Miracles”? 17
- Medicine and the paradox in the Hippocratic Corpus and Beyond 31
- ‘One might rightly wonder’ – marvelling in Polybios Histories 63
- Omens and Miracles: Interpreting Miraculous Narratives in Roman Historiography 85
- Miracles and Pseudo-Miracles in Byzantine Apocalypses 111
-
II. Workings of Miracles
- Wonder-ful Memories in Herodotus’ Histories 133
- Wonder(s) in Plautus 153
- Telling Tales of Wonder: Mirabilia in the Letters of Pliny the Younger 179
- Paradoxographic discourse on sources and fountains: deconstructing paradoxes 205
- Lucian’s Alexander: technoprophecy, thaumatology and the poetics of wonder 225
-
III. Believing in Miracles
- Perceiving Thauma in Archaic Greek Epic 259
- Turning Science into Miracle in the Voyage of Alexander the Great 275
- ‘Many are the wonders in Greece’: Pausanias the wandering philosopher 305
- Miracles in Greek Biography 327
- Apuleius on Raising the Dead Crossing the Boundaries of Life and Death while Convincing the Audience 353
- Recognizing Miracles in ancient Greek Novels 381
- List of Contributors 417
- Index Nominum et Rerum 423
