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A Critical Reappraisal of Eustathios Makrembolites’ Hysmine and Hysminias*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2016

Margaret Alexiou
Margaret Alexiou*
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
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Extract

Historians of literature have not been kind to the Byzantine learned romance, least of all to Eustathios Makrembolites’ Hysmine and Hysminias, written in the second half of the twelfth century. As early as 1670, P. D. Huet wrote: ‘… rien n’est plus froid, rien n’est plus plat, rien n’est plus ennuyeux: nulle bienseance, nulle vray-semblance, nulle conduite; c’est le travail d’un escolier, ou de quelque chetif sophiste, qui meritoit d’estre escolier toute sa vie’. Krumbacher calls it ‘ein in nervösen Windungen aufgeführter stilistischer Eiertanz’; and Rohde considers its only originality to be that it is ‘die echt byzantinische Verquickung von süsslicher Ziererei mit wahrhaft ungeschlachter Rohheit des Wesens, welche sie überall merken lassen’. As recently as 1967, B. Perry curtly dismisses all four Byzantine learned romances in one paragraph as ‘slavish imitations of Achilles Tatius and Heliodorus …written in the twelfth century by miserable pedants’

Type
Research Article
Information
Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies , Volume 3 , 1977 , pp. 23 - 43
Copyright
Copyright © The Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham 1997

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References

1. Huet, P. D., traité de l’origine des romans (Paris, 1670; reprinted Stuttgart, 1966), pp. 51–2.Google Scholar

2. Krumbacher, K., Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur, 2nd ed. (Munich, 1897), p. 764.Google Scholar

3. Rohde, E., Der griechische Roman, 4th ed. (Hildesheim, 1960), p. 560.Google Scholar

4. Perry, B. E., The Ancient Romances (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1967), p. 103 Google Scholar. Other adverse criticism includes Schmid, W., in Realencyclopädie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft, ed. Pauly, A., Wissowa, G. and Kroll, W. (Stuttgart, 1894–), VI (1909), 1075–7 Google Scholar: ‘Der Roman ist das unnatürliche Produkt eines innerlich kalten und rohen, mit widerwärtiger Prätention griechische Kultur und attischen Geschmack heuchelnden Stümpers… . Der Roman hat als eine Erscheinung des Kunstzerfalls nur pathologisches Interesse’; and Dölger, F., Die byzantinische Dichtung in der Reinsprache (Berlin, 1948), pp. 20–1.Google Scholar

5. Gigante, M., ‘Il romanzo di Eustathio Makrembolites’, Akten des XI Intemationalen Byzantinischen Kongress München 1958 (Munich, 1960), pp. 168–81.Google Scholar

6. Hunger, H., ‘Die byzantinische Literatur der Komnenenzeit, Versuch einer Neubewertung’, Anzeiger phil.-hist. Klasse Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, CV(1968), pp. 59–76.Google Scholar

7. This view of Byzantine literature in general is put forward by Mango, C., ‘Byzantine literature as a distorting mirror’, Inaugural lecture delivered before the University of Oxford (Oxford, 1975).Google Scholar

8. Hunger, op. cit., pp. 72-6; Kazdan, A., ‘Bemerkungen zu Niketas Eugenianos’, JÖBG, XVI (1967), 101–17 Google Scholar; E. Tsolakis, (Thessaloniki, 1967); Aleksidze, A. D., Vizantijskij roman xii veka (Tbilisi, 1965), p. 17 Google Scholar; Mazal, O., Der Roman des Konstantinos Manasses (Wiener Byzantinische Studien, IV [Vienna, 1967])Google Scholar

9. Evidence on the life and work of Eustathios has been summarized by Rohde, op. cit., pp. 556-8.

10. See Krumbacher, op. cit., p. 319.

11. Chadzis, A., LIV (1950), 134–76, 317; LV(1951), 184–226; LVI (1952), 278–85 Google Scholar. For a summary of differing views and of the present position on the question of the authorship of the Athens version, see Beck, H.-G., Geschichte der byzantinischen Volksliteratur (Munich, 1971), 65–6.Google Scholar

12. Seventeen manuscripts are listed by Bas, P. Le in the preface to his edition, De Hysmines et Hysminiae Amoribus Fabula, in: Hirschig, G., Erotici Scriptores (Paris, 1856)Google Scholar. Two are of the thirteenth century (Vatican A, Barberinus D), one is dated 1365 (Paris G), three are of the fifteenth century (Paris H, Munich Q, R), ten of the sixteenth century (Vatican B, C, Milan F, Paris I, K, L, M, N, O, Munich P), and one undated (Barberinus E). Minor lacunae occur in several manuscripts, but substantial omissions in only three. A further manuscript, originating from Paris and dating from the late eighteenth century, has recently been acquired by the University of Birmingham, MSS 7/i/4. Attractively bound, octavo size, it is written in a neat, small hand with impeccable orthography. The initial letter of each book is decorated, and ‘pointing fingers’ have been added in the margin to alluring passages. Although it was probably copied from a printed edition, and is of little textual importance, it confirms that the romance continued to be read in its complete form.

13. The fullest summary is still that made by Dunlop, J. in 1814; see Dunlop, J., History of Prose Fiction, revised by Wilson, H. (London, 1888), I, pp. 77–82 Google Scholar; but, in spite of its detail and many useful notes, its presentation is misleading and prejudiced.

14. See Dunlop, I, pp. 81-2; Gigante, p. 169.

15. Ibid.; see also Schlauch, Margaret, Antecedents of the English Novel 1400-1600 (London, 1963), p. 22 Google Scholar, for a discussion of the same technique in Christine de Pisan’s Le livre du duc des vrais amans, written in 1404.

16. Hägg, T., Narrative Technique in Ancient Greek Romances: Studies of Chariton Xenophon of Ephesus and Achilles Tatius (Shrifterktgivna av Svenska Institutet i Athen [Stockholm, 1971]), pp. 127–8 Google Scholar. His analysis of tempo and phases of narrative in Achilles Tatius, pp. 63-78, has also served as a model for my analysis of Eustathios’ narrative technique.

17. VII. 12-14. The parody is achieved by means of the captain’s exaggerated language and use of classical allusion, and also by Hysminias’ own description: …(VII.14). It is interesting to compare Eustathios’ use of exaggeration in style, literary conventions, stock episodes and adventures, and his anti-heroic treatment of both hero and heroine, with the brilliant parody of the anonymous French ‘cantefable’, Aucassin et Nicolette, written in the first half of the thirteenth century, ed. Bourdillon, F. W. (Manchester University Press, 1930). For futher studies, see Jodogne, O., ‘La parodie et le pastiche dans Aucassin et Nicolette’, Cahiers de l’association internationale des lettres françaises, XII (1960)Google Scholar; Matarasso, P., Aucassin and Nicolette and Other Tales (Penguin Classics, London, 1971), 17–23 Google Scholar. The effect is totally different, since Eustadiios writes in Atticizing Greek, whereas the author of the French romance employs the dialect of northern France. The similarities in technique are due to the fact that both authors are parodying an established romance tradition.

18. At the end of Book I, when Hysminias is woken by Kratisthenes in the night and asked for an account of the banquet, he replies, with a hint of impatience: (1.14). He repeats the story, and Kratisthenes says:

19. Dig. Akr. ATH 157-249, Kail. 2160-9, Belth. 337-65.

20. II.9, III.10, X.8, XI.5; IV.20. Cf. Dig. Akr. ATH 208, ibid. 2168, ibid. 511, 931, Belth. 360. The verb, which is used in these romances especially for captivity by Eros, either directly or indirectly, does not occur in Ancient Greek, and is first used by Eustathios.

21. V.8-10; cf. Ach. Tat. I.4-5.

22. V.9, VII, 4; cf. Ach. Tat. I.5.

23. V.17, VII.4; cf. Ach. Tat. IV.1.

24. VII.7; cf. Ach. Tat. II.30-2. In Eustathios, the storm takes place on the following day, and Hysmine is cast overboard (VII.8-15); in Achilles Tatius, the storm occurs three days later, when both Leukippe and Kleitophon are washed overboard and saved by a piece of floating prow (III. 1-5).

25. IX.7-8; cf. Ach. Tat. V.17-19.

26. IX.15; cf. Ach. Tat. V.11,26-7.

27. X.14-18; cf. Ach. Tat. VIII. 2-4.

28. XI.17-18; cf. Ach. Tat. VIII. 12-14.

29. The priest argues for the liberation of hero and heroine from captivity on the grounds that they are Greeks: Cf. VIII.9, where Hysminias and his fellow-captives are taken prisoner by Greeks , much to Hysminias’ dismay. The cruelty of the Ethiopian pirates is stressed in VIII.2, 6-7.

30. Cf. Konst. Manasses, Arist. 1.2.36: Tsolakis considers this passage to be based on Heliodoros VII.11.7: and VII. 19.8: ed. cit. If so, the echo is, I believe, deliberately intended to reflect the conscious revival of Hellenism in the twelfth century.

31. Two characteristic examples in ancient romances are Lycaenium, the young city girl married to an elderly villager who gives Daphnis a practical lesson in the arts of love (Daphnis and Chloe III. 15-19); and Melitte’s behaviour to Kleitophon (Ach. Tat. V. 13-14, 26-7). The role of Saracen women in French chansons de geste is discussed by Schlauch, Antecedents of the English Novel, pp. 11-13.

32. Gigante, op. cit., pp. 170-81, discusses Eustadiios’ use of allusion, citation, motifs, topoi and mythical themes, and concludes that the effect is intentionally humorous.

33. Cf. Plato Theaet. 153C; Eur. Or. 982; Eustathios, Commentarii ad Homeri Iliadempertinentes, ed. Valk, M. van der, I (Leiden, 1971).Google Scholar

34. See Gigante, op. cit., pp. 176-9.

35. Hunger, H., ‘On the imitation (mimesis) of antiquity in Byzantine literature’, DOP, XXIII-XXIV (1969–70), 17–38.Google Scholar

36. Especially condemnatory are Rohde’s comments, op. cit., p. 561: ‘Die Darstellung ist eines wahnsinnig gewordenen Achilles Tatius, nämlich die auf den äussersten Gipfel getriebene Affektation eines barbarischen Pedanten. Ein ungeheuerlich breit ergossener Redeschwall soil durch die mühseligste Witzelei, die sinnlosesten, alliterierenden Worthäufungen, alberne Antithesen, eingesprengte Glanzstellen zahlreicher ältrer Autoren … anziehender gemacht werden; und das Ergebnis ist doch nur ein, selbst den Achilles überbietendes Wortgekräusel und peinliches Difteln in armselig anspruchsvollen Phrasen, denen die ganz korrupte … sich behagende Redeweise des, nach seiner eigenen Meinung offenbar rein attisch schreib-enden Dichters noch einen besonders barbarischen Zusatz gibt.’

37. Antecedents of the English Novel, pp. 1-10, 16-23. Gigante, op. cit., p. 169, considers that the detailed ekphraseis in Eustathios’ romance give colour to the narrator’s mood.

38. Schlauch, Antecedents of the English Novel, p. 20.

39. III.7:

40. Equally effective is the simile used by Hysminias to describe the dreams he experiences after seeing Hysmine again in Artykomis, X.4: Hysminias’ speeches to Hysmine are on the whole more stylized and artificial, but sometimes they have the quality of love-lyrics, as in V.20:

41. See Alexiou, Margaret, The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition (Cambridge, 1974), pp. 187–9, 195–7 Google Scholar; ‘The Lament of the Virgin in Byzantine Literature and Modern Greek Folk Song’, BMGS, I (1975). 121.

42. X. 10. For a detailed analysis of die imagery of this lament, see Alexiou, , The Ritual Lament, pp. 188–9, 191 Google Scholar

43. It is interesting to note that in spite of the overtly pagan atmosphere of Theodore Prodromos’ romance, Rhodanthe and Dosikles, the references to popular mythical figures which have survived to this day, such as the Nereids, Hades and Charon, Moira and Tyche, are concrete, and especially common in the imagery; see IV.225, 251-2; VI.315; IX.39-943, 182-3, ed. Hercher, R., Erotici Scriptores Graeci (Leipzig, 1858), II Google Scholar. The same is true of Niketas Eugenianos’ romance, Drosilla and Charikles, ed. Boissonade, J., in:Hirschig, G., Erotici Scriptores. See especially II. 169–85, 188–90 Google Scholar; IV.301; VI.204-5, 535; VIII.218-25. Gigante, op. cit., pp. 169, 180, has observed mat in Eustadiios’ romance, the figures of Eros, Poseidon and Tyche are conceived not as divinities in their own right but as creations of Hysminias’ fantasy, so that the pagan setting is not just a piece of artificial staging, but integrated into contemporary reality.

44. Hunger, ‘Die byzantinische Literatur der Komnenenzeit’, p. 74.

45. See, for example, Daphnis and Chloe, 1.7; Ach. Tat. 1.3; II.11; IV. 1. Eustathios may have borrowed the idea and the setting of Hysminias’ dream in III.5-7 from Ach. Tat. 1.6; but Kleitophon’s dream is far less explicit in its eroticism.

46.

47. Bibliotheca, cod. 87, ed. Henry, R. (Les Belles Lettres [Paris, 1960]), II Google Scholar: He condemns the content of Achilles Tatius’ romance, but recommends the purity of his Attic style. There is no doubt that the works of both Achilles Tatius and Heliodoros continued to be read—and plagiarized—throughout the Byzantine period.

48. The best examples are the dreams which beset the young Saint Antony, see Vita S. Antonii, ed. Montfaucon, B. de (Paris, 1698), 5 Google Scholar. The connections and interactions between hagiography and romance in western medieval tradition are investigated in a collection of articles entitled ‘Medieval Hagiography and Romance’, ed. Clogan, P. M., Medievalia et Humanistica, VI (Cambridge, 1975).Google Scholar

49. See above, note 12. The exact nature of its readership is difficult to determine without a thorough investigation of the place of origin of all manuscripts. The sub-title drama was a literary convention, and does not imply stage performance; but the possibility of court recitation cannot be excluded, and the work may have reached a wider audience than die highly-educated minority who could have read it. Dunlop, op. cit., 1, p. 82, notes that certain features were imitated by subsequent western authors, specifically by Jorge de Montemayor in his Spanish pastoral romance Diana (sixteenth century), and by Honore D’Urfé (1567-1625) in his French romance Auree. Specific evidence for the knowledge of Greek romances in Iceland, transmitted by Norse and Icelandic visitors in Byzantium from the eleventh century, is considered by Schlauch, M., Romance in Iceland (Princeton University Press, New York, 1934), pp. 55–68 Google Scholar. She concludes that while the principal ancient romances may have been known in Iceland from Latin translations rather man from the Greek, small episodes and specific details in Icelandic stories point to a knowledge of a wider range of Byzantine learned and vernacular romances, which could only have been gained by direct contact with Byzantium.