Geschichte der byzantinischen und neugriechischen Litteratur
History of Byzantine and Modern Greek Literature

Author(s): Karl Dieterich
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Greek Literature
Published by: CEEOL Digital Reproductions / Collections
Summary/Abstract: The strongly oriental-tinged Christianity was combined with the rationalistic nature of the Byzantines and, in its penetration with that, produced the very peculiar structure of the Greek-oriental culture in religion, art and poetry. Theology takes on a subtle dogmatic character through its mingling with the elements of sophistry, and the joy in unfruitful speculation gains a wide space in intellectual life; the spiritual poetry, which has long been in the foreground of literature, itself takes on a dogmatic-rationalist flavor. To the same extent that profane poetry loses its national basis, it assumes a purely scholarly character, supported by the rationalistic Zeitgeist; their relationship to antiquity is maintained purely externally, while their innermost being is determined by the spirit of the Orient. This penetrated more and more into the Byzantine culture and gradually alienated it from the Occident completely. Byzantium becomes an outpost of the Orient.

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