Sacred Theatres
Listening to Homilies and Experiencing the Holy Beauty in 9th- and 10th-Century Byzantine Churches
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3240762 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Cao Gu (Nanjing Normal University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 12 |
| Pages | 1460 |
| Publication date | 2023-11-25 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel14121460 |
| OpenAlex | W4389056593 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 23 |
Although John Chrysostom is critical of the theatre, delivering a homily was never a tiresome monologue of the preacher in Byzantium; it was a theatrical performance combining text-reading and multiple ceremonies, during which spaces, lights, and materials were manipulated to create marvellous spectacles and enslave the audience spiritually and emotionally. At times, orators described the physical features of the venues where they spoke, as did Leo VI the Wise for two newly founded churches and Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus for the second most important church of the Empire, the Holy Apostles. But in most cases, the performance aspect of their speeches could only be known indirectly from two ceremonial handbooks, Kletorologion and De Ceremoniis. It is also necessary to indicate that the spectacles in homilies were not always real and present; they sometimes came to exist in listeners' minds through picturesque descriptions (ekphraseis) and fictional figures (ethopoiiai) composed by preachers
Active listening · Aesthetics · Ancient history · Apostles · Art · Beauty · Byzantine architecture · Empire · Homily · John Chrysostom · Literature · Sociology · Byzantine Studies and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · History · Philosophy
Byzantine Narrative
Aetos
Visibilité et présence de l’image dans l’espace ecclésial
L'Orient dans l'histoire religieuse de l'Europe
Theatrical Shows and Ascetic LivesJohn Chrysostom's Attack on Spiritual Marriage
Constructing the ‘theatre of power’
Theater of the Holy
To Understand Ultimate Things and Enter Secret Places’
Astronomical and Optical Principles in the Architecture of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople
La vision du paradis d'André Salos. Héritages anciens et idéologie impériale byzantine
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |