Authors(With an Excursus on Symeon Metaphrastes)

Abstract

The chapter introduces two sets of questions pertaining to (a) the social profile of Byzantine authors, and (b) the conception and value of authorship in Byzantium. It thus first surveys the prevalent patterns in the biographies of the c. 1600 eponymous known Greek authors from Byzantium. It then discusses the cultural as well as spiritual capital of authorship in Byzantium: notions such as those of divine inspiration and author-saints, and “practices” such pseudonymity (the false ascription of texts) and anonymity (the loss or absence of authorial signatures). The chapter concludes with an exploration of the reception of Symeon Metaphrastes (perhaps the most important author of the middle Byzantine period) as an author by later generations of readers.