Biography of geometers

The biography of John the geometer is reconstructed fragmented. The autobiographical instructions contained in the work of the poet are foggy and are not amenable to unambiguous interpretation. It is known that the father was in the civil service in Asia. The nickname is a geometer, first recorded at John Doxopath, 11th century. The identification of the geometer with John, Bishop of Melitinsky, who was in the scientific literature, refuted the Bibiks.

The etymology of the nickname Kiriot is ACHNA: perhaps this is a generic name associated with the origin of the poet’s family from the Constantinople quarter Kira; Perhaps it indicates that in the last years of his life, John the Geometer worked in the Constantinople monastery built by the prefect of Kir. According to another version, the poet belonged to the group of pious writers-worldly writers, which had developed around the Constantinople Church of the Virgin Kiriotissa now the mosque of Kalenderhan.

Presumably was in military service. According to the manuscript of the 14th century. Details of participation in military campaigns are unknown, the mention of “RAS” and “battles” in poems can be a metaphor.

He lived in the center of Constantinople now Istanbul in his own mansion. He belonged to the circle of intellectuals and church writers, which included the hagiographers of Simeon Metaphrast, Nicephorus Uranus and Euphemia Svyatogorets - unlike the poets of the Komnin era of John Tsets, Theodore Prodrome, did not earn in writing and did not depend on the patrons. After G., after the resignation, perhaps he took monastic tonsure.

Despite the repeated appeals to the emperor, he was not forgiven and died in disgrace. The year of death is not unknown; The latest works date back to time no earlier G. The most complete collection of poetic works reached the manuscript of the 13th century. PARISINUS SUPPL. It includes texts of the spiritual and secular nature of a different volume and elegic distiles written in different poetic sizes, hexameter, iambic.

The poems were intended for both public pronunciation and decorating handwritten books, relics, excerpts from them were applied to works of decorative and applied art of swords, rings, censers and icons. Brief epigrams in honor of the Holy and Lord and Mother of God, probably adorned the corresponding icons. The epigram dedicated to 40 Sevastian martyrs is placed on the fresco of the early 12th century.

Epigrams dedicated to Sophocles, Xenophon, Lebinia, Aristotle, Plato, were intended for the decoration of manuscripts containing their works. Ioannou Geometrou Epigrammata Tetrasticha. Lutetia, tetrastic epigrams of John the geometer. Front page. National Library of Naples. Epigrams of military-political topics are an important source for studying the history of Byzantium in the 2nd half of the 10th century.

Historical poems tell about wars with Bulgaria, uprisings of Varda Sklir and Varda Foki, natural cataclysms comets, earthquakes, droughts. The pessimistic mood permeates the actual and political epigrams with attacks on the “newly-minted philosophers” and “new legislators of villainy”, who won the trust of the emperor and leading the state to disaster. The works contain numerous references to the works of Homer, Euripides.

In autobiographical confessional poems, a stylistic orientation towards Gregory the Theologian is traced, in a love lyrics - acquaintance with the epigrams of Greek anthology. The iambic satirical poems and the invectives are worth it, referring to the language and imagery of Aristophanes. John the geometer caught an eye on his opponents for a lack of rhetorical training, poor diction, speech defects, low origin, gross manners.

The commendable word, the great martyr Panteleimon, is a unique example for Byzantium, an example of poetic hagiography. The prosaic heritage includes Homilia on the church holidays to remove from the cross, the Annunciation, the commendable words to Gregory the Theologian, the Life of the Virgin of his Georgian edition, created by Evfimiy Svyatogorsk, was previously considered the translation of the essays of the confessor, rhetorical sketches and ecfraise, comments on Gregory the Theologian, treatises about the rites of Hermogenes Tars 2-3 centuries.

Published on May 15, the latest update on May 15, contact the editors.