Performance, ceremonial and power in the basilikoi logoi by Theophylact of Ohrid
-
João Vicente de Medeiros Publio Dias
Abstract
In this article, we analyse two basilikoi logoi by Theophylact of Ohrid addressed to the emperors Constantine Doukas (1081-1091?) and Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118) and contest recent scholarship which traces criticism to Alexios I by the use of subversion of traditional rhetorical topoi. We do not question the presence of such subversions, but rather their function in the text. For that, they are studied in their performative contexts: ceremonial events, performative practices and the political circumstances in which their composition possibly took place and when they were performed. By doing so, it is noticeable that criticism to the emperor in such situations is hardly conceivable and the inadequacies of the praises present in the texts can be interpreted as a response to already existing criticism to current imperial policy. Moreover, by comparing both orations as autonomous works, it is possible to perceive a clear shift both in the power balances in the recently established Komnenian consortium and in the relationship between Theophylact and major political player of his time
© 2022 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- 10.1515/bz-2022-toc
- Siglenverzeichnis
- Abteilung I
- Stratagems and the Byzantine culture of war: the theory of military trickery and ethics in Byzantium (c. 900–1204)
- Novel quotes: Achilles Tatius and Heliodorus in Byzantine sacro-profane florilegia
- Performance, ceremonial and power in the basilikoi logoi by Theophylact of Ohrid
- The economy of Melitene/Malaṭya and its role in the Byzantine-Islamic trade (seventh to eleventh centuries)
- Ein tödliches Kinderspiel und seine prognostische Bewältigung. Zu Proc. Bella 5(1).20, 1–4
- Revisiting the cod. 31 New Testament of the Hagia Lavra at Kalavryta
- The Baptistery in the North Church of Shivta: structure, ritual, art
- The Belissariotai family: a contribution to Byzantine prosopography
- A late Byzantine book inventory in Sofia, Dujčev gr. 253 (olim Kosinitsa 265) – a monastic or private library?
- Die Briefe des Gregorios Chioniades
- Biblical references in catecheses about the Holy Mass by Cyril of Jerusalem
- Further useful Psalms
- Abteilung II
- Niamh Bhalla. Experiencing the Last Judgement, bespr. von Dimitra Kotoula
- Elena N. Boeck. The Bronze Horseman of Justinian in Constantinople, bespr. von András Kraft
- Pablo Cavallero. La lengua griega en Bizancio, bespr. von Tómas Fernández Caracciolo
- Brigitte Pitarakis (Ed.). From Istanbul to Byzantium, 1800–1955, bespr. von Niamh Bhalla
- Nachrichten
- Totentafel
- Nachruf
- Tafelanhang
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- 10.1515/bz-2022-toc
- Siglenverzeichnis
- Abteilung I
- Stratagems and the Byzantine culture of war: the theory of military trickery and ethics in Byzantium (c. 900–1204)
- Novel quotes: Achilles Tatius and Heliodorus in Byzantine sacro-profane florilegia
- Performance, ceremonial and power in the basilikoi logoi by Theophylact of Ohrid
- The economy of Melitene/Malaṭya and its role in the Byzantine-Islamic trade (seventh to eleventh centuries)
- Ein tödliches Kinderspiel und seine prognostische Bewältigung. Zu Proc. Bella 5(1).20, 1–4
- Revisiting the cod. 31 New Testament of the Hagia Lavra at Kalavryta
- The Baptistery in the North Church of Shivta: structure, ritual, art
- The Belissariotai family: a contribution to Byzantine prosopography
- A late Byzantine book inventory in Sofia, Dujčev gr. 253 (olim Kosinitsa 265) – a monastic or private library?
- Die Briefe des Gregorios Chioniades
- Biblical references in catecheses about the Holy Mass by Cyril of Jerusalem
- Further useful Psalms
- Abteilung II
- Niamh Bhalla. Experiencing the Last Judgement, bespr. von Dimitra Kotoula
- Elena N. Boeck. The Bronze Horseman of Justinian in Constantinople, bespr. von András Kraft
- Pablo Cavallero. La lengua griega en Bizancio, bespr. von Tómas Fernández Caracciolo
- Brigitte Pitarakis (Ed.). From Istanbul to Byzantium, 1800–1955, bespr. von Niamh Bhalla
- Nachrichten
- Totentafel
- Nachruf
- Tafelanhang
