Ἐπιγραφῆναι τῇ σορῷ σου τὸν φθόνον. Ioannes Cheilas in the Funerary Epigrams of Manuel Philes

Abstract

Manuel Philes, the most prolific poet of the early Palaiologan era, composed at the beginning of the 14th century twelve dodecasyllable four-verse funerary epigrams for Ioannes Cheilas, the deceased metropolitan of Ephesos, which are preserved in four manuscripts dated in the 14th and 15th centuries. The present paper provides the critical edition and an English translation of these epigrams, in which the main idea that comes up is that of the envy (φθόνος) together with wear (φθορά), motifs that raise questions about the ambiguous personality of the deceased. The epigrams present Cheilas as a man who became a victim of injustice and show a close relationship between him and the poet.

Keywords

• manuel philes, ioannes cheilas, ephesos, funerary epigrams