Desire and Denial in Byzantium: Papers from the Thirty-First Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, March 1997

Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies 1997 (Brighton, England)/ James, Liz (Editor)/ James, Liz

ISBN 10: 0860787885 / ISBN 13: 9780860787884

Published by Variorum, 1999

About this Item

220 pages. 9.75x6.50x0.50 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # x-0860787885

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Desire and Denial in Byzantium: Papers from the Thirty-First Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, March 1997
• Publisher: Variorum
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0860787885
• ISBN 13: 9780860787884
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.5 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

The papers in this volume derive from the 31st Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies held for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies at the University of Sussex, Brighton, in March 1997. Desire, sex, love and the erotic are not terms usually associated with Byzantium and Byzantine Studies, unlike celibacy, virginity and asceticism, which more readily spring to mind. In order to examine whether the balance between these two extremes needed redressing, desire and denial was adopted as the theme for this symposium. The papers in this volume, by a group of international scholars, explore the many different aspects of Byzantine perceptions towards their own humanity and the frailties of that humanity. Using evidence from archaeology, art history and literary texts, ranging from sermons to legal documents, these chapters reveal writings about love, both secular and religious; images of sexuality and sensuality; the law; and Byzantine attitudes to bodies and the senses. What the symposium illustrated is that the question of desires in the Byzantine world is significant, and that such desires can offer insights into Byzantine conceptions of their own world.

About the Author

Liz James