extremely seriously. And I insist that no one knows
the Holy Fathers, or the Scriptures, or the Canons of the
Councils
better than I do.
Whenever in doubt,
whenever he had any ecclesiastical problem,
Botaniatis consulted me, me first of all.
But exiled here (may she be cursed, that viper
Irini Doukaina), and incredibly bored,
it’s not altogether unfitting to amuse myself
writing six- and eight-line verses,
to amuse myself poeticising myths
of Hermes and Apollo and Dionysos,
or the heroes of Thessaly and the Peloponnese;
and to compose the most strict iambics,
such as -if you’ll allow me to say so-
the scholars of Constantinople don’t know how to compose.
It may be just this strictness that provokes their disapproval.
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One sad September day
felt his death was near.The court astrologers -paid, of course- kept on insistingthat he still had many years to live.But while they were having their say,he remembered an old religious customand ordered ecclesiastical vestmentsto be brought from a monastery,and he put them on, glad to appearmodestly dressed like a priest or monk.Happy all those who…
I wallow in the tavernas and brothels of Beirut.
in Alexandria. Tamides left me;he went off with the Prefect’s son to earn himselfa villa on the Nile, a mansion in the city.It wouldn’t have been decent for me to stay in Alexandria.I wallow in the tavernas and brothels of Beirut.I live a vile life, devoted to cheap debauchery.The one thing that saves me,like durable…
I am very moved by one detail
and Irini, daughter of Andronikos Asan.Because they had only a few precious stones(our afflicted empire was extremely poor)they wore artificial ones: numerous pieces of glass,red, green, or blue. I findnothing humiliating or undignifiedin those little pieces of colored glass.On the contrary, they seema sad protest againstthe unjust misfortune of the couple being crowned,symbols of what…
When the Macedonians deserted him
King Dimitrios (a noble soul) didn’t behave-so they said-at all like a king.He took off his golden robes,threw away his purple buskins,and quickly dressing himselfin simple clothes, he slipped out-just like an actor who,the play over,changes his costume and goes away.
For two years he studied with Ammonios Sakkas,
Then he went into politics.But he gave that up. That Prefect was an idiot,and those around him, somber-faced officious nitwits:their Greek—poor fools—absolutely barbaric.After that he becamevaguely curious about the Church: to be baptizedand pass as a Christian. But he soonchanged his mind: it would certainly have caused a rowwith his parents, ostentatious pagans,and—horrible thought—they would…
important things. And I insist
that no one knows better than I do
the Holy Fathers, or the Scriptures, or the Canons of the Councils.
Whenever he was in doubt,
whenever he had any ecclesiastical problem,
Botaniatis consulted me, me first of all.
But exiled here (may she be cursed, that viper
Irini Doukaina) , and incredibly bored,
it is not altogether unfitting to amuse myself
writing six- and eight-line verses,
to amuse myself poeticizing myths
of Hermes and Apollo and Dionysos,
or the heroes of Thessaly and the Peloponnese;
and to compose the most strict iambics,
such as—if you’ll allow me to say so—
the intellectuals of Constantinople don’t know how to compose.
It must be just this strictness that provokes their disapproval.
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He must be barely twenty-two years old
I enjoyed the very same body.It isn’t erotic fever at all.And I came into the casino only a few minutes ago,so I haven’t had time to drink very much.I enjoyed that very same body.And if I don’t remember where, this one lapse of memory doesn’t mean a thing.There, now that he’s sitting down at the…
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He wrapped them carefully, neatly
Roses of ruby, lilies of pearl,violets of amethyst. As he himself judged,as he wanted them, they look beautiful to him; not as he sawor studied them in nature. He will leave them in the safe,a sample of his daring and skillful craft.When a buyer enters the shophe takes from the cases other wares and sells…