Constructing Order through Narration: Narrator and Narratees in George of Pisidia’s Bellum Avaricum

Abstract

The object of the paper is to analyse the roles of the narrator and the narratees in George of Pisidia’s Bellum Avaricum. The article puts forth the hypothesis that through the hierarchic relationship of narrator and narratees, the poet aims at mirroring the ideal form of kingship under the Christian emperor Heraclius (reg. 610-641 C.E.) both on a secular and spiritual level. Therefore, the focus will lie on the following three questions: How does the narrator represent himself? How does he address his narratees and communicate with them? And what is his ideological goal in establishing and structuring the narration? By viewing the poem particularly with regard to its narrative techniques of rhetoric and panegyric, the analysis promises to provide a deeper insight into the socio-political and spiritual concepts of Byzantium at the beginning of the 7th century.