Eirōn-terms in Greek Classical and Byzantine texts: a preliminary analysis for understanding irony in Byzantium

Abstract

The aim of the present article is to clarify the specific meanings of the terms used in Byzantine sources to denote irony: the abstract noun eirōneia itself and its cognates, the person noun eirōn, the adjective eirōnikos, -ē, -on, the verb eirōneuomai and the adverb eirōnikōs. The Ancient Greek background of such terms is also taken into consideration, as it provided a reference point for the Byzantine literary tradition. Indeed, as will be shown, all meanings of eirōn-terms established in antiquity are adopted by the Byzantines. The clarification of the terms’s complex semantics will help to illuminate, in a further step, the multifacetedness of irony as a literary and cultural practice in Byzantium.