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Programme Journée byzantine Bruxelles 24.05.2019

The importance of the Psalms in the liturgical and devotional life of Byzantium has been investigated by eminent scholars. In the recent past, significant studies have outlined the manuscript tradition of the Greek Psalter in Byzantium more clearly than even before. Ongoing projects bring to light Byzantine epigrams and metaphrases of the Psalms. Yet other avenues still await further exploration, such as the Byzantine perception of the biblical Psalms as poetry. In my thesis I aim to study the influence of the Psalms on the Byzantine penitential poems called κατανυκτικά, most of which are still unedited, and require in-depth investigations. In particular, I want to demonstrate in which way, and with which intensity, the Byzantine penitential poems drew from the Psalter, also by outlining the peculiar elements related to self-expression and compunction, that the κατανυκτικά share with the Psalms. With this research I intend to contribute to a nuanced scholarly appreciation of how the Psalms were read and interpreted by Byzantines, as a literary and poetical text. In this presentation, I will introduce my project, focusing on my methods, sources and research corpus.