The Christian Parthenon

Anthony Kaldellis is Professor of Greek and Latin at the Ohio State University. He has published widely on topics in late antiquity and Byzantium, focusing on the literary and philosophical aspects of historiographical texts. His studies on the reception of classical culture in Byzantium recently culminated in the book Hellenism in Byzantium: The Transformation of Greek Identity and the Reception of the Classical Tradition (2007). He has also translated many Byzantine authors into English (among them Hesychios, Genesios, and Psellos) and one of his side-interests is the Byzantine history of the island of Lesbos.

• Introduction; 1. Conversions of the Parthenon; 2. From students to pilgrims in Medieval Athens (532–848 AD); 3. Imperial recognition: Basileios II in Athens (1018 AD); 4. Pilgrims of the Middle Period (900–1100 AD); 5. The apogee of the Atheniotissa in the twelfth century; 6. Michael Choniates: a classicist-bishop and his cathedral (1182–1205 AD); 7. Why the Parthenon? An attempt at interpretation; 8. The light of the Christian Parthenon; Postscript: some Byzantine heresies; Appendix: the little metropolis.

'Kaldellis creatively uses what literary sources exist, along with architectural and glyptographical evidence, to reveal the spiritual power and reputation now accumulated by the Christian Parthenon.' The Expository Times