A repentant sinner: representing the self in Nikephoros Ouranos' catanyctic alphabet. (October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cocola, Cristina
• Is Part Of: Byzantine and modern Greek studies. Volume 46:Number 2(2022)
• Page Start: 176
• Page End: 195
• Publication Date: 2022-10
• Subjects: Byzantine poetry -- catanyctic poems -- self-representation -- Nikephoros Ouranos; Byzantine Empire -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; Greece -- History -- 323-1453 -- Periodicals; Greece -- Periodicals; Byzantine Empire -- Civilization -- Periodicals; 949.5005
• DOI: 10.1017/byz.2022.9
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0307-0131

Abstract

Abstract : For Byzantines, catanyctic poetry offered a rich source of models for self-representation. In this paper I analyse the poetic strategies and literary motifs through which Nikephoros Ouranos (tenth–eleventh century) shaped the self in his catanyctic alphabet. In particular, I will focus on the intertextual strategies employed by Ouranos in order to model the catanyctic self, such as the identification with scriptural sinners, and the presence of biblical metaphors.