This course explores some of the principal dynamics underpinning Byzantine textual culture and governing the production and consumption of literature across the Byzantine millennium. It does so by focusing on different ways in which Byzantine readers engaged with ancient texts in educational contexts and beyond. In the classroom of grammarians and rhetoricians, Byzantine students acquired the knowledge and skills required to participate in the cultural life of the empire. Grammatical and rhetorical education was thus vital for sustaining Byzantine literary culture. The many materials produced in relation to this education give insight into Byzantine ideas on the value of literature and the relationship between ancient (pagan) and Byzantine (Christian) culture, as well as into widespread modes of reading and composing texts. A deeper understanding of Byzantine literary culture is relevant to anyone using Byzantine Greek texts in their research.
Full details here.