Ενα αινιγματικο χωριο στην oratio funebris in Stylianam filiam του Mιχαηλ Ψελλου

Abstract

Τhis study examines the funeral oration that Michael Psellos dedicated to the memory of his only biological child, his daughter Styliane, who died before the age of marriage when she was nine years old. Αs expected, her death caused him unutterable sorrow and grief, since Styliane was his only child for which he had high hopes for a future marriage corresponding to her bodily, spiritual and mental virtues which are being thoroughly praised throughout the funeral oration. However, at the end of his speech Psellos makes an oblique reference to her using the phrase αὐταδέλφων εὐτύχημα (blessing of your siblings), raising the question of whether this statement constitutes an allusion to the fact that Styliane had probably other siblings, a brother or a sister. Therefore, the aim of the present article is to stress the absence of a consensus among scholars concerning this puzzling passage and to provide a new proposal aiming at its decipherment.

Keywords

• michael psellos
• styliane
• euphemia
• funeral oration
• autadelphōn eutychēma