FIGURING EROS IN THE BYZANTINE NOVEL AND ITS ADAPTATIONS: HYSMINE AND HYSMINIAS
FIGURING EROS IN THE BYZANTINE NOVEL AND ITS ADAPTATIONS: HYSMINE AND HYSMINIAS

Summary/Abstract: This paper aims at analyzing the imagery of love in Hysmine and Hysminias, Eumathios Macrembolitesřs medieval novel, whose 18th century translation into Romanian was personalized to such an extent that it represents a whole new work and can therefore be discussed in the context of Romanian „popular booksŗ (the so-called „cărți populareŗ). The text makes use of some Byzantine literary devices, such as the figure of Eros basileus enveloping an allegory of the almighty love, which the inexperienced protagonist should come to know and bow to. The tangible presence of the god, as well as the rendition of love as unnamable rapture and complete belonging to each other, hint at an underlying mystical conception of the erotic.

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