Literariness and Levels of Style in Epigraphical Poetry of Late Antiquity

Abstract

Nowadays, scholars usually speak of a ‘renaissance’ of poetry in the Greek literature of late antiquity, underlining at the same time the new relevance of poetic communication in late antique society and the renewal of our interest in this not so well-known production of late Greek literature. Renaissance and related terms are, of course, effective ways to describe the flowering of Greek poetry from the fourth to sixth centuries CE, so long as this does not undervalue the importance of continuity (which is not the same as tradition). Even the most significant innovation in late antique Greek poetry, namely the so-called ‘Nonnian manner’ or ‘modern style’, stems from a longtime sedimentation and perfectioning of linguistic and stylistic features which can be traced back to the Hellenistic age. Albert Wifstrand, in his seminal book of 1933, already pointed to this major fact, which Mary Whitby has systematically dealt with in an important article of 1994. Moreover, recent studies demonstrate that for a proper understanding of late antique poetry one must take into account Christian poetic production as well, which stands four-square within the traditions of Greek literature (in spite of the fact that classical = pagan is an equation which dies hard for some classicists). In the present paper both pagan and Christian epigrams will be considered to equally represent the aesthetics of late antiquity (or estetica antico-bizantina, to use Averincev's terminology).

Roman Inscriptions 2006–2010

“…623 Hammerstaedt and Smith (2007), (2008, and (2010). 624 Zizza (2006) Agosti (2008). balance of tradition and innovation in form, he concludes that the epigraphic record conrms the general diffusion of the so-called 'modern style', typied by Nonnus and his followers.…”

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS IN THEPALATINE ANTHOLOGY: THE POETICS OF CHRISTIAN DEATH

“…On the language, see the particularly useful Floridi (2013). For background on the language see Wysse (1949), (1983); Salvatore (1960); Consolino (1987); Criscuolo (1992); Prudhomme (2006); Vertoudakis (2008) 125–218; and Agosti (2008), (2019).…”