Emmanuel Papoutsakis: Romanos the Melode and the Syriac Tradition

Romanos the Melode was born in Emesa in Syria in the end of the fifth century

and died sometime after 555. During the reign of Anastasius I (491-518), he moved to

Constantinople, where he composed his poetry in Greek and flourished under Justinian.

Undoubtedly, the area in Romanos studies where scholarly opinion has most radically

shifted since the publication of Grosdidier de Matons’ seminal monograph in 1977 is that

regarding his

be positively shown to have been familiar with the Syriac literary tradition. This problem

has been addressed notably in a monograph by the Biblical scholar William Petersen, in a

review of José Grosdidier de Matons’ book by André de Halleux, in a series of articles by

Sebastian Brock, in an article by Lucas Van Rompay and in a recent contribution by

Manolis Papoutsakis. With few exceptions, emphasis so far has been placed on simply

identifying the Syriac element in Romanos, rather than on interpreting its presence and

signification in his compositions.

In this workshop, the participants would like to take stock of the scholarship on

this area of Romanos studies; to present new literary evidence which appears to link

Romanos with the Syriac tradition and to interpret, if possible, his literary choices in

strictly historical terms; to address the problem of his reception by his Constantinopolitan

audience; to study the dialogue in the kontakia in its relationship to dialogue forms in

Syriac and other Greek compositions; and, finally, to explain how the exploration of the

Melode’s

theological background of the Eastern Roman Empire in the sixth centurysyrianité, and, more specifically, the question as to whether Romanos cansyrianité helps us understand his oeuvre better against the cultural and