IMC 2022: Sessions

Session 1607: Rhetoric and Identity in Byzantium

Moderator/Chair:	Claudia Rapp, Institut für Byzantinistik & Neogräzistik, Universität Wien / Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
Paper 1607-a	Sources of Byzantine Thought about the Priesthood: Plato's Res publica in Gregory of Nazianus' Apology on His Flight (Language: English) Nicholas Antonov Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Language and Literature - Greek, Political Thought, Theology
Abstract	Paper -a: The connection of these texts has already been discussed in the research literature, however, exclusively in the conceptual sphere, since Gregory's paraphrasing of one remarkable fragment from the dialogue of Thrasymachus with Socrates was left out of the attention of scholars. In my talk I will present in details one of the amazing examples of the rhetorical art of St Gregory the Theologian, where ancient prose (Plato) and poetry (Homer, Callimachus, Theocritus), are interwoven into a discussion about the nature of the priesthood. Based on this analysis, I will try to contribute to the discussion of conceptual issues.