The Byzantine Revival of the Ancient Novel
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23720993 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Roderick Beaton (0000-0002-0689-0054, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1996 |
| Pages | 713-733 |
| Publication date | 1996-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | The Novel in the Ancient World (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Brill (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1163/9789004217638_018 |
| OpenAlex | W795695115 |
| ISBN | 9789004217638 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
It is in the century of the chanson de geste and the earliest Arthurian romances in the West that we first find men of letters in the capital of the eastern empire, Constantinople, trying their hand at literary fiction on the model of the Hellenistic novels. The Byzantine romances of the twelfth century are works of remarkable, and surely deliberate, refinement. Apart from the striking realism of some scenes, and the highly allegorical, imaginative lyricism of others, this romance is notable for its almost perfectly symmetrical construction (if it has indeed been abridged, the job has been carefully done). The main story of the romance is that of Libistros, a prince of a fictional kingdom which may tenuously be linked to crusader Lebanon. In this way the modern Greek novel, as it has taken shape since the early nineteenth century, can be seen as successor of Heliodoms' An Ethiopian Story . Keywords: Byzantine romances; Ethiopian Story ; Greek novel; Hellenistic novels
Ancient history · Art · Byzantine architecture · Empire · Literature · Lyricism · Poetry · Realism · Romance · Successor cardinal · Byzantine Studies and History · Classics · History
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |