On the conception of Homeric allegories in the twelfth century

Abstract

John Tzezes and St. Eustathius of Thessalonica, the two great Byzantine commentators of Homer and contemporaries, gave considerable attention to the tradition of allegorical interpretation of the Iliad and the Odyssey. The paper points to key differences in their understanding of the Homeric allegories. Although familiar with the same body of older interpretations, they tended to use it in a different way and show a rather personal view of the Poet and his work. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177032: Tradicija, inovacija i identitet u vizantijskom svetu]

Keywords

• John Tzeztzes
• Eustathius of Thessalonica
• allegory
• exegesis
• Homer