The Serpent Column and the talismanic ecologies of Byzantine Constantinople

Datos Bibliográficos

ID11933291
AutoresAndrew Griebeler (0000-0002-8882-1836, Southern University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2020
Volumen44
Número1
Páginas86-105
Fecha de publicación2020-02-19
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaByzantine and Modern Greek Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0307-0131 • E-ISSN: 1749-625X
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/byz.2019.25
OpenAlexW3008969316
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas40

This study examines how the Serpent Column in Constantinople came to be recognized as a talisman against snakes and snakebites in the 1390s. It first gives a working definition of what a talisman was in Byzantium. It shows that, despite the co-existence of different ideas of what talismans were, they share the basic principle that the talisman acts within a broader network of non-human forces and entities. Second, it shows how contemporaries used this understanding of talismans when they began to recognize the Serpent Column as a talisman

Ancient history · Art · Byzantine architecture · Column (typography · Serpent (symbolism · Telecommunications · Byzantine Studies and History · Classics · Engineering · Eurasian Exchange Networks · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History