- Dumbarton Oaks, Byzantine Studies, Department Memberadd
- Neoplatonism, History of Byzantine Education and Culture, Byzantine philology, Ancient Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Byzantine Philosophy, Neoplatonism and late antique philosophy, and 31 moreMedieval Philosophy, Byzantine Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Byzantine Studies, Byzantine Theology, Michael Psellos, Late Antiquity, Patristics, Byzantine Literature, Aristotle's Ethics, Byzantine studies (Classics), Platone E Aristotele, Eustrazio Di Nicea, Eustratios of Nicaea, Byzantine Paleography and codicology, Manuscript Studies, Byzantine Political Philosophy, Greek Patristics, Dumbarton Oaks Institute of Byzantine Studies, Byzantine Platonism, Classics, Classical philology, Ancient Greek Philosophy, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Early Christianity, Aristotelianism, Aristotle, Commentary Traditions, Ancient commentators on Aristotle, Codicology, and History of Classical Scholarshipedit
- I am a Byzantinist specialized in the tradition and reception of antique and late-antique philosophical texts in the ... moreI am a Byzantinist specialized in the tradition and reception of antique and late-antique philosophical texts in the Greek Middle Ages. I hold two Phd's, in Medieval Philosophy and in Greek and Byzantine philology. After being awarded a fellowship by the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library Collection in 2012, I obtained the habilitation as Associate Professor in Byzantine Studies by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities, Research. I am currently research fellow at the University of Bari (Italy).edit
"Vie per Bisanzio" è l'evocazione di molteplici percorsi e approcci al mondo bizantino: storia, letteratura, arte, archeologia, filologia, paleografia, filosofia, teologia. Una diversità poliedrica che rappresenta la ricchezza e la... more
"Vie per Bisanzio" è l'evocazione di molteplici percorsi e approcci al mondo bizantino: storia, letteratura, arte, archeologia, filologia, paleografia, filosofia, teologia. Una diversità poliedrica che rappresenta la ricchezza e la vitalità odierne della tradizione degli studi bizantini in Italia. "Vie per Bisanzio" sta a indicare i diversi itinerari seguiti: dal mondo classico seguendo il filo della grecità, dalla storia medievale volgendosi a Oriente, dalle letterature slave, partendo dalla filosofia e teologia russe moderne e contemporanee per andare a ritroso. Emerge una volta di più l'immagine di Bisanzio quale "Impero di mezzo", luogo-cerniera di scambi e di irradiazioni, non solo all'interno di quello che è stato felicemente indicato come Commonwealth bizantino, ma ben oltre, in Occidente, nel Nord, in Oriente. Dal 25 al 28 di novembre 2009 si tenne a Venezia un Congresso intitolato "Vie per Bisanzio", VII Convegno dell'Associazione Italiana di Studi Bizantini (AISB) e al contempo occasione di incontro della bizantinistica italiana in Italia e all'estero. I due volumi contengono i risultati dei lavori di quelle giornate.
Research Interests: Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Byzantine Literature, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, and 11 moreByzantine Liturgy, Byzantine Iconography, Byzantine Archaeology, Byzantine monasticism, Byzantine Philosophy, Byzantium, Byzantine Numismatics, Byzantine Hagiography, Byzantine Poetry, Byzantine art, and Byzantine philology
Abstract: Taking a cue from a recent paper that dismisses Byzantine philosophers as mere scholars incapable of producing innovations, this paper suggests that Byzantine intellectuals from the eleventh to twelfth-century regarded... more
Abstract: Taking a cue from a recent paper that dismisses Byzantine
philosophers as mere scholars incapable of producing innovations, this paper
suggests that Byzantine intellectuals from the eleventh to twelfth-century
regarded scholarship as a spiritual endeavour that leads to a blessed lifestyle.
An analysis of four significant figures in Byzantine intellectual life makes
it clear that scholarship and paideia should not be disregarded as tokens
for merely antiquarian interest in antiquity but rather as tools for achieving
perfection in this life. This special status of perfection is often characterised
as an intermediate between an upper and lower boundary, to be identified
with philosophy and rhetoric. Finally, the paper locates the self-representation strategy of the Byzantine intellectuals within the broader picture of European
intellectual life in the Middle Ages.
philosophers as mere scholars incapable of producing innovations, this paper
suggests that Byzantine intellectuals from the eleventh to twelfth-century
regarded scholarship as a spiritual endeavour that leads to a blessed lifestyle.
An analysis of four significant figures in Byzantine intellectual life makes
it clear that scholarship and paideia should not be disregarded as tokens
for merely antiquarian interest in antiquity but rather as tools for achieving
perfection in this life. This special status of perfection is often characterised
as an intermediate between an upper and lower boundary, to be identified
with philosophy and rhetoric. Finally, the paper locates the self-representation strategy of the Byzantine intellectuals within the broader picture of European
intellectual life in the Middle Ages.
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This paper explores the similarities between a crucial passage in Robert Grosseteste's commentary on Posterior Analytics and the commentary on Nicomachean Ethics 6 written by the Byzantine commentator Eustratius of Nicaea (d. ca. 1120).... more
This paper explores the similarities between a crucial passage in Robert Grosseteste's commentary on Posterior Analytics and the commentary on Nicomachean Ethics 6 written by the Byzantine commentator Eustratius of Nicaea (d. ca. 1120). According to the present author, Eustratius may be the direct source of Grosseteste's epistemology and concept formation theory in the commentary. A tentative revision of the chronology of Grosseteste's Greek studies may be necessary to account for the relationship between the two texts.
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This paper surveys Barlaam the Calabrian's Platonizing attitude in his clash with Gregory Palamas. Particular emphasis goes on Barlaam's lost works as transmitted by Palamas. The paper updates and corrects my "Una è la sapienza che... more
This paper surveys Barlaam the Calabrian's Platonizing attitude in his clash with Gregory Palamas. Particular emphasis goes on Barlaam's lost works as transmitted by Palamas. The paper updates and corrects my "Una è la sapienza che pervade ogni cosa." La sapienza profana nell'opera perduta di Barlaam Calabro, in A. Rigo/M. Trizio/P. Ermilov (eds.), Byzantine Theology and Its Philosophical Background, Turnhout 2011, 108-139.
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When compared with the Late-Antique, Medieval Latin, and Arabic commentary traditions, the Byzantine commentary tradition on Aristotle's work appears understudied and undervalued. Yet, the few available studies on this topic suggest the... more
When compared with the Late-Antique, Medieval Latin, and Arabic commentary traditions, the Byzantine commentary tradition on Aristotle's work appears understudied and undervalued. Yet, the few available studies on this topic suggest the fruitfulness of a thorough investigation of Byzantine philosophical commentaries and the different authorial practices involved in the Byzantine exegesis of Aristotle. In my paper, I will investigate 12th c. edited and unedited material in order to account for the vast array of interpretive strategies and approaches displayed by the Byzantine commentators of this period.
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The eleventh to twelfth-century theologian and philosopher Eustratios of Nicaea authored commentaries on books 1 and 6 of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. In this paper I show the extent to which Eustratios is indebted to the ancient... more
The eleventh to twelfth-century theologian and philosopher Eustratios of Nicaea authored commentaries on books 1 and 6 of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. In this paper I show the extent to which Eustratios is indebted to the ancient commentary tradition as well as how he departed from the earlier model of commentary in order to answer contemporary questions of meaning. In order to do so I discuss Eustratios' hermeneutics and textual approach, its dependence upon the ancient model and its novelties in detail. I argue that Eustratios provided a fundamental contribution to the formation of a specifically Byzantine commentary tradition. Finally, this paper also investigates the historical circumstances of Eustratios' career as a commentator and highlights how Eustratios' literary and philosophical output reflects on his patron, the princess and historian Anna komnena.
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The 'master of rhetors' (μαΐστωρ τῶν ῥητώρων) was one of the didaskaloi of the so-called Patriarchal Academy in Constantinople. This paper demonstrates on the basis of manuscript evidences that the 11th - 12th- century theologian and... more
The 'master of rhetors' (μαΐστωρ τῶν ῥητώρων) was one of the didaskaloi of the so-called Patriarchal Academy in Constantinople. This paper demonstrates on the basis of manuscript evidences that the 11th - 12th- century theologian and commentator Eustratios of Nicaea actually held this post.
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A paper on the authorship of the Refutatio Procli attributed to Procopius of Gaza and Nicholas of Methone
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A comprehensive reconstruction of Gregory Palamas' appropriation of Augustine's theology.
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The treatises known as Parva naturalia play an important role in Byzantine culture and education. Contrary to what happened in late antiquity, the most important Byzantine commentators devoted great attention to these texts. This probably... more
The treatises known as Parva naturalia play an important role in Byzantine culture and education. Contrary to what happened in late antiquity, the most important Byzantine commentators devoted great attention to these texts. This probably reflects the Byzantine understanding of Aristotle's natural philosophy as a reliable account of nature and physiology. More importantly, since there are no late-antique commentaries on the Parva naturalia, the Byzantine commentators were eager to excerpt from all sort of available material that could be helpful for composing an exegesis on these Aristotelian treatises. The way they assembled this material is of greatest interest and justifies a thorough study of the Byzantine commentary tradition.
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A comment of John Italos on Arist. De interpr. 7 refers to the view of “the philosopher Gaius” on contradictories, indicating that this Middle Platonist could still be consulted, either directly or indirectly, in the 11th century.
Research Interests: Philology, Classics, Medieval Philosophy, Plato, Byzantine Literature, and 13 moreByzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Classical philology, Ancient Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Classical Reception Studies, Neoplatonism, Ancient Greek Philosophy, "Middle" Platonism, Byzantine Philosophy, Ancient Logic, Ancient Greek Literature, and Byzantine philology
An entry on Barlaam of Calabria in Springer's Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy. Please cite in the original published version.
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Byzantine Literature, Renaissance Humanism, Renaissance Philosophy, and 8 moreByzantine Studies, Byzantine History, History of Byzantine Education and Culture, Boccaccio, Byzantine Philosophy, Byzantine Theology, Byzantine philology, and Petrarca
The Liber qui uocatur Suda in the Latin translation by Robert Grosseteste (ca. 1168-† 8/9 October 1253) is transmitted in an incomplete form in two manuscripts housed in London (R) and Oxford (D) respectively. The Liber results from... more
The Liber qui uocatur Suda in the Latin translation by Robert Grosseteste (ca. 1168-† 8/9 October 1253) is transmitted in an incomplete form in two manuscripts housed in London (R) and Oxford (D) respectively. The Liber results from Grosseteste’s selection and Latin translation of a few entries from the Byzantine Suda. The present text is the editio princeps of this translation and counts as a preliminary step to a wider editorial project, in which the whole of the Suda as translated by the Bishop of Lincoln will be edited critically. The introduction to the present edition, based on mss. R and D, lists fteen witnesses preserving chapter 2 (the entry 'Jesus' in the Suda). The relationship between these witnesses and the double redaction of this chapter is also discussed. The authors investigate the composition and features of the Liber and provide the rst edition of the text, accompanied by the account of the ecdotic criteria adopted.
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This is an uncorrected draft of a paper of mine now published in J. Ziolkowsky, Dante and the Greek, Harvard University Press 2014, please only cite the original version published in the volume (see link below).
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Dante Studies, Medieval Studies, Renaissance Studies, and 12 moreRenaissance Humanism, Renaissance Philosophy, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Scholastic Philosophy, Italian Renaissance Art, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Nicomachean Ethics, Robert Grosseteste, Aristotle's Ethics, and Renaissance Aristotelianism
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The present paper investigates John Italos' Quaestio 92 and reaches two main conclusions: 1) Alike modern scholars, Italos was well aware of Plotinus's and Proclus' conflicting views on the status of matter; 2) Taking the cue from the... more
The present paper investigates John Italos' Quaestio 92 and reaches two main conclusions: 1) Alike modern scholars, Italos was well aware of Plotinus's and Proclus' conflicting views on the status of matter; 2) Taking the cue from the disagreement among philosophers of all time on the status of matter, Italos defends that with respect to this and other sensitive issues one has to rely on the Church Fathers rather than the philosophers. In this respect this paper provides a different view than that on which most scholars agree after the text Italos' condemnation in the Synodikon of the Orthodox Church. Based on a philological study on this Italos text, the present paper concludes that Italos was well aware of the limits of philosophical survey with respect to revealed theological truths.
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This piece includes the entries 'John Italos', 'Eustratios of Nicaea', 'Nicholas of Methone' for Stephen Gersh's forthcoming 'Interpreting Proclus from Antiquity to the Renaissance'. This is only a draft; please refer to the original... more
This piece includes the entries 'John Italos', 'Eustratios of Nicaea', 'Nicholas of Methone' for Stephen Gersh's forthcoming 'Interpreting Proclus from Antiquity to the Renaissance'. This is only a draft; please refer to the original published version (http://www.cambridge.org/ar/academic/subjects/classical-studies/ancient-philosophy/interpreting-proclus-antiquity-renaissance)
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Research Interests: Philology, Classics, Medieval Philosophy, History of Science, Byzantine Studies, and 9 moreLate Antiquity, History of Physics, Byzantine Philosophy, Greek manuscripts, Greek Manuscripts (Palaeography, Codicology, Text Transmission), Humanism (15th-17th c.), Medieval and Neolatin Texts, Greek (Byzantine) Texts, and Byzantine Diplomatics (Imperial and Patriarchal Chancellery)
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This is a study in Italian of Barlaam's lost works as transmitted in Palamas'Triads. It demonstrates that Barlaam's standpoints have nothing to do with Latin theology, as commonly believed. By contrast, this paper proves that some of... more
This is a study in Italian of Barlaam's lost works as transmitted in Palamas'Triads. It demonstrates that Barlaam's standpoints have nothing to do with Latin theology, as commonly believed. By contrast, this paper proves that some of Barlaam's most important doctrines were taken from Syrianus' commentary on the Metaphysics and Proclus' commentary on the Alcibiades I.
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This paper demonstrates that Albert the Great's intellect theory was influenced not only by Arabic source-material, but by the Byzantine commentators on the Nicomachean Ethics as well.
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... Katerina Ierodiakonou's pa-per (Some Observations on Michael of Eph-esus' Comments on Nicomachean Ethics X, pp. ... Il Meyen-dorff invece, alla cui attività di ricerca van-no comunque riservati molti meriti,... more
... Katerina Ierodiakonou's pa-per (Some Observations on Michael of Eph-esus' Comments on Nicomachean Ethics X, pp. ... Il Meyen-dorff invece, alla cui attività di ricerca van-no comunque riservati molti meriti, indivi-duava due correnti principali interne alla tradizione della ...
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A seminar for specialists given at the University of Harvard on april 11th 2012.
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Conference: Le stelle, i regni, le credenze, le masse. Astrologia politica nel mediterraneo tra Medioevo e Rinascimento, Bari 08-10/06/2016
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By examining the case of some relevant intellectuals of the Early Komnenian period, the present contribution argues that the so-called 11th and 12th c. "Proklos-Renaissance" should be qualified and investigated according to the different... more
By examining the case of some relevant intellectuals of the Early Komnenian period, the present contribution argues that the so-called 11th and 12th c. "Proklos-Renaissance" should be qualified and investigated according to the different modulations of style and target audiences of the 11th and 12th c. philosophical literature. Accordingly, in the conclusions this paper also provides evidence demonstrating that later Byzantine scholars would grant the appropriation of Proclus by intellectuals of this period almost the status of authentic "Neoplatonic" source material.
Research Interests: Philology, Medieval Philosophy, Neoplatonism and late antique philosophy, Byzantine Literature, Byzantine Studies, and 10 moreLate Antiquity, Proclus, Neoplatonism, Byzantine Philosophy, Greek manuscripts, Greek Manuscripts (Palaeography, Codicology, Text Transmission), Humanism (15th-17th c.), Medieval and Neolatin Texts, Greek (Byzantine) Texts, and Byzantine Diplomatics (Imperial and Patriarchal Chancellery)
The program of the ICBS 2016 Round Table on "Philosophers and Philosophical Books In Byzantium"