Μια Σάλα Βυζαντινών Παραδόξων

by Anthony Kaldellis, Σπύρος Θεοχάρης (Translator)

Μπορεί ένα ακαδημαϊκό έργο να είναι ενημερωτικό αλλά και ταυτόχρονα ψυχαγωγικό;

Και όμως ναι!

Το "Μια Σάλα Βυζαντινών Παραδόξων" είναι μια συλλογή εκατοντάδων μικρών ιστοριών μέσα από πρωτογενείς πηγές που συνέλλεξε ο Καθηγητής της Έδρας Κλασικών Σπουδών Αντώνης Καλδέλλης (Πανεπιστήμιο του Σικάγο) σε ένα βιβλίο 288 σελίδων.

Οι ιστορίες αντικατοπτρίζουν αναπάντεχες πτυχές του τρόπου ζωής, της σκέψης, των φόβων, των ερωτικών και δικαστικών σκανδάλων, της κουζίνας, των τεχνολογικών επιτευγμάτων, της φαντασίας, των ανεκδότων, της πνευματικότητας των ανθρώπων της Βυζαντινής εποχής.

Το βιβλίο είναι μεταφρασμένη έκδοση του ομώνυμου έργου των εκδόσεων Oxford University Press.

Θεματικές Ενότητες:

Γάμος και Οικογένεια

Ανορθόδοξος Έρωτας

Ζώα

Φαγητό και Δείπνο

Ευνούχοι

Ιατρική

Επιστήμες και Τεχνολογία

Πόλεμος—Με Κάθε Τρόπο

Συλλογή Παράξενων Αγίων

Αιρέσεις και Σκάνδαλα

Συλλογή από Καθάρματα

Ευρηματικές Βρισιές

Τιμωρίες

Ξένοι Τόποι και Ανθρώποι 330-641

Ξενοι Τόποι και Στερεότυπα 641-1453

Λατίνοι, Φράγκοι, και Γερμανοί

Φυσικές καταστροφές

Οι Αυτοκράτορες


Αποσπάσματα από τον πρόλογο του συγγραφέα:

Το Βυζάντιο είναι από μόνο του αρκετά αινιγματικό, αλλά και η σύγχρονη φήμη του αποτελεί επίσης ένα μυστήριο.

Ο Βολταίρος το αποκάλεσε μια άχρηστη συλλογή θαυμάτων, μια ντροπή για τον ανθρώπινο νου, ενώ για τον Χέγκελ ήταν μια αηδιαστική εικόνα ανικανότητας: τα άθλια, παράλογα πάθη καταπνίγουν την ανάπτυξη κάθε ενάρετης πράξης. Τον εικοστό αιώνα, ορισμένοι πολιτικοί επιστήμονες έφτασαν στο σημείο να αποδίδουν τα ολοκληρωτικά δεινά και τις δυσλειτουργίες της Σοβιετικής Ένωσης στις βυζαντινές της ρίζες.

Η προσπάθεια αποκατάστασης αυτού του σχετικά άκακου πολιτισμού άρχισε να γίνεται πιο σοβαρή αρκετά αργότερα—μόλις στην προηγούμενη γενιά. Κι όμως, παρά τις αισιόδοξες διακυρήξεις ότι οι παλιές προκαταλήψεις ανήκουν στο παρελθόν, στην πραγματικότητα εξακολουθούν να διαμορφώνουν τον τρόπο με τον οποίο αναλύεται το Βυζάντιο. Επιπλέον, δεν είναι καν σαφές ποια θετική εικόνα έχει πάρει τη θέση τους. Η βυζαντινή λογοτεχνία παραμένει απρόσιτη στο ευρύ κοινό—παρά την αυξανόμενη πολυπλοκότητα των μελετών που αφιερώνονται σε αυτήν (ή μήπως και εξαιτίας της;).

Η βυζαντινή τέχνη εξακολουθεί να αποτελεί ισχυρό πόλο έλξης, αλλά συχνά προβάλλεται με τρόπο που ενισχύει την ανατολίτικη εικόνα ενός απόκοσμου, «πνευματικού» πολιτισμού—μια αφήγηση που εξακολουθεί να ανταποκρίνεται στις δυτικές πολιτισμικές ανησυχίες και ανάγκες. Και πέρα από τη λογοτεχνία και την τέχνη, πώς θα μπορούσε η βυζαντινή ιστορία και πολιτική να βρουν φωνή στις σύγχρονες συζητήσεις και αντιπαραθέσεις; Τι μας λέει το Βυζάντιο για τον εαυτό του στις μέρες μας;

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Medieval History, Historical, Ancient, Reference

268 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Ph.D. University of Michigan, Department of History (2001)
Anthony Kaldellis’ research explores the history, culture, and literature of the east Roman empire from antiquity to the fifteenth century. An earlier phase of it focused on the reception of ancient Hellenic culture, for example on how authors conceived their projects in relation to classical models (Procopius of Caesarea, 2004), as well as the history of identities (Hellenism in Byzantium, 2007), monuments (The Christian Parthenon, 2009), and genres (Ethnography after Antiquity, 2013). A second phase brought to light the enduring Roman matrices of Byzantine life and thought, focusing on its political sphere (The Byzantine Republic, 2015) and ethnic identities (Romanland: Ethnicity and Empire in Byzantium, 2019). He has translated into English the works of many medieval Greek writers, such as Prokopios, Genesios, Psellos, Attaleiates, and Laonikos Chalkokondyles. His own monographs have been translated into other modern languages, including Turkish, French, Romanian, Russian, and Greek. In 2019, he created the first academic podcast for his field, Byzantium & Friends. He has just published a new, comprehensive history of Byzantium, The New Roman Empire (2023), which embeds social, economic, religious, and demographic developments within a lively narrative framework.

Reviews

[Lois Bujold · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the reasons I plow through turgid academic histories is for the footnotes, where the authors stick all the weird bits that are too good to pass up, the sort that have moderns emailing their history-geeky colleagues and friends to share, and earlier scholars disguising in Latin from the prissy. (Or for the prissy, hard to tell.) Here, Kaldellis has selected and collated a whole book full of just such tidbits, which tend to be way more illuminating of the past than those "vast sweep of history" generalizations. (The sweepings of history, perhaps?) By turns hilarious, appalling, or both, a few of the anecdotes or quotes I'd run across before, the bulk were new.

The author himself recommends taking these in short bites, which I think is right. They need digested for the full effect.

But if you think living in the internet era has revealed humanity all too nakedly, well, it's not so new.

I have my copy as an easily accessible ebook edition, by the way. So could you...

Ta, L.

[Shurochka · Rating 4 out of 5]

По сути это сборник исторических анекдотов, а не полноценная книга, но в целом - познавательно

[Sleepy Boy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, as another reviewer so rightly pointed out this is chock full of the things that are usually shunted to the foot notes of larger studies. It made me laugh, cringe, and shake my head, a perfect way to get a snapshot view of how the Byzantines saw themselves and the world around them. Really looking forwarding to reading the author's other title.

[Katharine Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Byzantines called giraffes leopard-camels. This fact made me so happy.

[Alberto Martín de Hijas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recopilatorio de curiosidades y anécdotas extraídas de las fuentes bizantinas. Un texto muy interesante que aporta gran información sobre la mentalidad y costumbres de los Rhomanoi/Bizantinos.

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 2 out of 5]

Сбор от несвързани пикантни факти без особен контекст и без никакъв анализ относно ефекта и значението им или степента им на приложимост. Страшно разхвърляно и предимно безмислено упражнение от страна на автора.

1,5⭐️

[Max Nemtsov · Rating 5 out of 5]

как раз тот развлекательный научпоп, который нужен. истории, как известно, не существует, есть только историки, а этот конкретный автор ещё и материал выбирать умеет. так что вполне бесценно. а так-то коллекция анекдотов и фактоидов, записки и выписки, т.е. записи и выписи - самое оно в жару. и вообще хорошие такие развлекательные и занимательные сноски к более серьезной истории византии

из полезного знания: русскую армию, вторгшуюся в Болгарию в 971 году, разгромил евнух Петрос. ну и, конечно, давно известно (никогда не устану цитировать): No wild beasts are as ferocious as Christians are to each other.

из смешного. переводчики-англофоны явно не поняли образа из старой сатиры: "he mounted her, and made children like wood-chips [?]‌". да "настрогал детей" же, что тут непонятного

[Adelais · Rating 4 out of 5]

Збірка історичних анекдотів про все-все-все у Візантійській імперії, від стовпників до верблюдів. Що вважалося вагомою причиною для розлучення, а що постіться і моліться, скільки імператорів померло не своєю смертю - добрячий відсоток, в цілому і не дивно, що візантійці думали про чужинців - звичайно, вважали їх ідіотами некультурними, а ті їх - зжіноченими греками (обмінялися люб'язностями та й пограбували Константинополь). Читати можна з будь-якої сторінки, це не історичне дослідження, а уривки з хронік, житій та всіляких панегіриків.

[Alexandru · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very entertaining book filled with various Byzantine trivia. Everything from funny stories, anecdotes to strange customers, beliefs and events. There is lots of laughs to be had when reading all of the tales that were told and sometimes believed by the ancient Byzantines. Chapters include facts and stories about family, sex, animals, food, eunuchs, medicine, science, saints, heresis, insults, punishments, stereotypes, disasters and emperors. It can be read fairly quickly but it can also be enjoyed piecemeal.

[William Gill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Curiosities, indeed. Not a history book in the traditional sense, this is more a collection of historical anecdotes and oddities that never coalesces into anything substantive. There is no central story or path of information that leads the reader to a better understanding of The Eastern Roman Empire.
Really, I'm not sure what the point of this book was. It would be like claiming to illuminate American society based on a published collection of bathroom wall writings, off handed comments by Noam Chomsky, and snippets from Penthouse forum.

[Lezidezi Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in a giveaway and it was quite different than most books I read, but still very interesting. It was basically just a book of facts about this culture. Some parts were more interesting than others, but overall it was a decent read. I particularly enjoyed the sections on punishments and sections on sex.

[Elena Druță · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un volum scurt și informativ despre un imperiu demult apus. Mi-a plăcut să descopăr tot felul de curiozități, detalii bizare sau întâmplări ciudate, consemnate de-a lungul timpului despre Imperiul Bizantin.
Cartea e scrisă sub forma unor fragmente și pentru mine a fost volumul perfect pentru a trece peste un reading slump, dar și pentru a alterna cu lecturile curente.

[Dexter · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of anecdotes and quotes from ancient sources about the Byzantine Empire, categorized into different topics of daily Byzantine life. More than anything, you'll be reminded that people today are still very much the same as they were then.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look, this book did exactly what it says on the tin (and what the author emphasises that he's trying to do in the introduction): it collects lots of little references and quotes and bits of trivia about the Byzantine empire, loosely gathered into subject areas, largely selected for the fun value. The fact that I wanted a book that was more of a "having thoroughly familiarised myself with the material, here is a sense of who the Byzantines were as people and how they thought / lived / engaged with the world" approach is entirely on me, because that was never what this book wanted to be. Still, I don't feel like any of these bits is really going to stick with me (except perhaps how Eirene enable Charlemagne's crowning as Emperor, and how in one period the Byzantines basically related to theological disputes like most people relate to sporting teams).

[Carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Libro de anécdotas y curiosidades más o menos documentadas, agrupadas por categorías pero expuestas de forma bastante caótica y sin contexto alguno.
Es entretenido, sin más, y le iba a dar tres estrellas, pero las meteduras de pata en teología y decir que los Padres de la Iglesia son sólo de los siglos IV y V me han tocado la fibra y lo rebajo a dos estrellas y gracias.

[Ady ZYN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended

[Ismael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure fun.

[Lou]

So goooddddd

[Antonio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libro que trata varios temas sobre la vida cotidiana en el imperio bizantino empleando sobre todo fuentes primarias.
Aspectos que incluyen el divorcio los diferentes tipos de ascetas, ideas morales y religiosas o ideas sobre los extranjeros.
El libro no es una clásica historia política en la cual se incluyan paralelamente algunos datos demográficos, económicos o sociales, sino que trata de indagar en detalle en los aspectos citados.
Una lectura imprescindible para aquellos que quieran profundizar en los detalles cotidianos de dicha civilización.

[Najibah Bakar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Membaca buku ini untuk mendapatkan maklumat latar sebelum mengulit Islamic Empires Marozzi lebih jauh. Mahu tahu bagaimana Constantinople dan rakyatnya hidup sebelum kedatangan Islam.

Kini berasa lebih jelas tentang kehidupan beragama mereka sebagai Kristian Ortodoks, kesarjanaan mereka sebelum Islam, kebudayaan mereka, kepercayaan karut marut, hubungan antarabangsa mereka, bencana alam yang pernah menimpa, cara nikah kahwin dan lain-lain.

Oleh sebab buku karya Kaldellis ini mengumpulkan cebisan-cebisan kisah aneh dan menghiburkan daripada pelbagai karya berbahasa Greek yang tidak mungkin dapat dibaca sendiri, maka himpunan ini dirasakan amat bernilai.

[Ioana Petre · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very fun read that shows the real beauty of Byzantium, which, in my view, emerges from its strong dichotomies: politics as characterised by rigour, rules, tradition, but also by spontaneous outbursts and whims leading to dramatic changes; religion as a source of deep reflection about the world, but also consumed by trivial debates borderlining fanaticism; science and technology as capable of producing the famous Greek fire and floating thrones, coupled with a lot of superstition, a menagerie of so-called saints and other conmen.

In the words of Robert Byron, the greatness of Byzantium lays in the triple fusion of a Roman body, a Greek mind, and an oriental, mystical soul. This volume captures all these three aspects beautifully, with humour, but also with understanding and appreciation of the greatness of the Byzantine empire and of its way of life.

***Favourite quotes***

"I call them enemies of human health, butchers of our bodies, and cruel executioners; nothing is worse than to fall into their hands. They bring siege-engines against the mouth, and wage war against the tongue, the teeth, and the lips. I want to grind my teeth against the invader, but am unable; my tongue is useless for defense against these tools. You see, I had a toothache once and I went around to all these philosophers. One wanted to cut open my veins, while another wanted to cauterize my ears. Finally, a bold fellow said, 'Fools, can't you hear what he's saying? It's his tooth that hurts. It must come out!' So he armed himself against my teeth: he came out bearing an enormous iron tool, cradling it in his lap, the sort of thing that you would use on the tusk of an elephant or wild boar. In the end, however, he managed only to break the tooth in half, and had to cauterize the rest to stop the bleeding. The law of Moses then came to my mind: a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye. We have laws against thieves, why can't we have laws against these men who steal things from our bodies and then expect to be paid for it? (Prodromos, "The Executioner or the Doctor")"

"Early Byzantine emperors loved to name things after themselves. Constantine I, son of Constantinus I, named his sons Constantine, Constantinus, and Constans, and one of his daughters Constantina, and his city Constantinople."

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was first introduced to Anthony Kaldellis by Robin Pierson, who is the host of the History of Byzantium. I suspect Kaldellis is Robin’s favorite guest on the show and it’s not hard to understand why. Kaldellis is not just a fine scholar but often very amusing as he delves into the subject into which he has devoted his scholarly life.
This is not Kaldellis great book and is not intended to be. He describes it in his introduction as something you want to read on the toilet—hopefully not one of those shared Greek/Roman/Byzantine ones because if you, everyone is going to ask, what are you reading?
Rather, this is a collection of scholarly misfits, tidbits of historical information he has come across but might be hard to fit in the typical scholarly work. Though the work in the back contains a list of the many emperors, a glossary, illustration credits and notes—exactly what one would expect from a scholar of Kaldellis stature—it debates questions like does God accept stolen money, cunnilingus, the legendary garum (fish sauce) so favored by Romans everywhere, self-castration in the early church, general medical practices and more much more. The books not for everyone, but then books rarely are. But for those who enjoy the history of the Eastern Roman Empire, this is a pleasure.

[Jifu · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Note - I received an advanced copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley)

"In addition to entertainment, A Cabinet of Byzantine Curiosities may also provide....a handy reservoir of tales and anecdotes that amusingly illustrate a range of contexts and situations."

I can't help but directly quote Anthony Kaldellis's preface, because I could find no better way to phrase what mostly makes this such an enjoyable read. Yes, first and foremost he enthusiastically provides an entertaining array of stories to pique all interests, touching upon everything from raunchy scandals, tales of hyper-pious holy fools, all the way to various entries and trivia about their impressive technological and scientific achievements. But on top of that, each and every little tale and scene in this book provides some kind of glimpse into some aspect of the Byzantine Empire, a place that to most people remains a mysterious place at best. With each and every anecdote, exaggerated tale and recorded opinion passed down over through the ages, readers are able to get a diverse collection of glances into life in the Byzantine world from the royal court downward and also a abundance of glimpses into the minds of many of its denizens. As a result, much of fog of mystery is dispersed, and one ends up with a much, much clearer image of a people with a distinct identity and a range of quicks, accomplishments and oddities just as numerous as any people of any other nation, empire or kingdom that ever was.

[Bogdan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imperiul Bizantin (sau Roman de Răsărit, cum a fost cunoscut o perioadă), cu măreața sa capitală Constantinopol s-a considerat întotdeauna adevăratul urmaș al moștenirii Cezarilor romani, el reușind chiar să reziste pe scena politică euro-asiatică peste 1000 de ani. Iar această cărticică respectabilă este o serie de maxime/informații interesante/știați-că-uri inedite fix despre Imperiul Bizantin. Snippet-urile sunt alcătuite pe diverse teme: despre împărați, despre sfinți, despre legi, războaie, insulte, pedepse, dezastre etc.
Autorul de origine greacă este de asemenea și profesor la Universitatea din Ohio și a publicat mai multe cărți despre greci și Bizanț, un subiect pe care evident îl stăpânește bine și de care este pasionat. Nu se pot spune multe despre stiul său literar, munca depusă pentru acest volum fiind mai mult de editare, clasare, indexare și organizare a micilor fragmente din alți autori/izvoare. Se observă totuși volumul masiv de opere parcurse pe care profesorul le-a folosit drept surse principale. Deci, o carte perfectă pentru a fi citită ori pe sărite după interes, ori în hapuri mici pentru a le putea digera cu atența necesară.

[Italo Italophiles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book of trivia about the Byzantine Empire, which lasted 1129 years. Knowing some of the history helps appreciate this collection.

Before reading, you should know that the belief in magic, the superstition, the sadism, the misogyny, the racism, slavery, violence, use of torture and murder as “justice”, inherited from the Western Roman Empire (the Byzantines were the Eastern Roman Empire) stayed mainstays for centuries. The rulers were generally megalomaniacs, sadists and narcissists (and I mean all three things at once). That's why I skipped the sections that would have been too disturbing to read.

I enjoyed most the sections on medicine, science and technology, foreign lands and people, disasters, and the emperors. The sexual bits seem more for the entertainment of teen-aged boys and male academics.

A bit disturbing was the realization that too many leaders of too many places today would have fit in back then. Time has stood still for too many. I received a review-copy of this book; this is my honest review.

[Dimitrios Mistriotis]

Θα αναφερθώ στην ελληνική έκδοση του βιβλίου, η οποία έχει εκδοθεί από τους Byzantine Tales, και μεταξύ άλλων ήταν το πρώτο μου βιβλίο του Καλδέλλη. Όσον αφορά αυτό το βιβλίο, υπάρχει μια φήμη από την αρχαιότητα, όταν ήμουν παιδί, ότι μ«μετά το ποπ δεν υπάρχει στοπ». Το ανοίγεις για λίγο, διαβάζεις μια μικρή ιστορία, και μετά θέλεις άλλη μία, άλλη μία, άλλη μία... μέχρι να τελειώσει είτε το βιβλίο, είτε ο διαθέσιμος χρόνος σου.

Δεν έχω δει την πρωτότυπη γραμμένη στα αγγλικά έκδοση, γιατί μου φαίνεται πιο εύκολο να διαβάζω ελληνικά ονόματα στα ελληνικά, παρά τη μετάφρασή τους στα αγγλικά. Εδώ έχουμε πολλές εικονογραφήσεις που έχουν συγκεντρώσει οι Byzantine Tales από τους ίδιους καιάλλους δημιουργούς, οι οποίες νομίζω δεν υπάρχουν στο πρωτότυπο. Αν είχα να δώσω κάποιο σχόλιο, θα ήταν ότι θα ήθελα να έχει και άλλες εικονογραφήσεις - γιατί όχι;

Αυτά λοιπόν, και μέχρι το επόμενο, όπου είτε θα συνεχίσω με κάποιο άλλο βιβλίο του Καλδέλλη, είτε, επειδή υπάρχει μια σειρά νομίζω με Ρωμαίους και Αρχαίους Έλληνες, θα συνεχίσω με ένα από αυτά.

[Rob Bauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the kind of book that could get wildly different ratings, depending on the expectations of the reader when they pick it up. For me, I found the book a lot of fun. Interesting stories, mostly told in the words of historical sources, about a wide variety of topics. The author clearly has a great breadth of knowledge of Byzantine civilization.

I just wish there was a little more narrative to hold things together or to explain the background behind some of the stories a bit better. It would have been helpful for folks like me who have pretty good familiarity with Byzantine history but are not specialists.

That's the only thing about the book I'd change, however. In other respects, it's a quality effort from the author and a fun book if you like to know unusual things about this important civilization.

[Enrique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Byzantium didn't like the name "grakoi".

Today for us, west-trained minds, Bizantium is Greece, and for the people that don't know about greek history, the name doesn't even ring.

Some histories had a difficult taste (pedophilia, murders, sickness)

But is very valuable. I can't associate in my mind that Byzantium is now Greece, looks like a different person.

Even the theological fights, Greek language "superiority" to do theological distinctions not possible with Latin (very similar to Heidegger saying "is easier to think in German").

Galileo's predecessors, surely Galileo knew about the greeks critics of Aristotle.

A wonderful introduction to byzantium history.

[Darcysmom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.
Anthony Kaldellis has delivered exactly what he promised - historical anecdotes that are by turns provocative, hilarious, evocative, thoughtful, and academic. There is something for everyone in this volume.
A Cabinet of Byzantine Curiosities is a really fun introduction to the people, places, and ideas of Byzantium. After reading this book, you may find, like I did, that there is so much more you want to explore.

[Dmytro Shyian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Анотація до книги може дійсно спантеличити, адже йдеться про розвінчання міфів, яких про імперію ромеїв за минулі століття назбиралося стільки, що хоч греблю гати. Однак насправді це радше строката добірка цитат з текстів про Візантію, створених різними людьми у дуже різні часи та тематично об’єднаних автором. Через те, а також через відсутність бодай якоїсь вступної статті перед кожним розділом, що давала б розуміння контексту, все це виглядає як чудовий калейдоскоп, блискуче жонглювання фактами, що тішить і розважає, проте залишає після себе відчуття недовершеності та недомовленості.