Michael Psellos' Chronographia: Rhetorical History and the Tragicomedy of Byzantium and the Self

This book offers a new kind of analysis of Psellos' Chronographia as a rhetorical performance, as poesis, as a work in progress. It traces his developing techniques from the basic building blocks of the first two reigns to the intricate tragicomic structure of Constantine IX's; from the simple, finely judged scene in Basil II's tent to the spectacular mutual performance in the rebel Isaak's. The book focuses on role; on the interplay of genres, especially panegyric and the subgenres of drama; on metaphor; on psychology; on the visual and tactile. It contrasts Psellos' style with his more decorated orations and observes how his wide reading is metabolized into the particular and contemporary. At best, Psellos subjects his philosopher 'self' to scrutiny through the conflict and interplay of his feelings and roles in both commentary and agency; from this comes his tragicomic, empathetic, deeply ironic version of Byzantium.