medieval worlds • no. 16 • 2022
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
A-1011 Wien, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: verlag@oeaw.ac.at |
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DATUM, UNTERSCHRIFT / DATE, SIGNATURE
BANK AUSTRIA CREDITANSTALT, WIEN (IBAN AT04 1100 0006 2280 0100, BIC BKAUATWW), DEUTSCHE BANK MÜNCHEN (IBAN DE16 7007 0024 0238 8270 00, BIC DEUTDEDBMUC)
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medieval worlds • no. 16 • 2022 ISSN 2412-3196 Online Edition ISBN 978-3-7001-9289-3 Online Edition 2022 Indexed by: ERIH-PLUS, Crossref, DOAJ, EZB
Andreas Rhoby
S. 195 - 209 doi:10.1553/medievalworlds_no16_2022s195 Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften doi:10.1553/medievalworlds_no16_2022s195
Abstract: The use of the term xenos (ξένος) has a very long tradition in the Greek language. First used in Homer’s epics, it can have various meanings. Basically, the word means “foreigner”/ “stranger” but it also designates the “guest-friend”. As early as in Aeschylus, the adjective denotes “foreign” in the sense of “extraordinary”/“unusual”. The term xenos is also employed in inscriptions. The most famous ancient inscription using xenos is transmitted in Herodotus; it is the well-known address to the wandering stranger who is asked to tell the people in Sparta that he has seen the fallen Lacedaemonians at the Thermopylae. In late antique and Byzantine inscriptions (as well as in literary texts) the address xene is very often employed in (metrical) epitaphs. As in the famous Thermopylae epigram, the xenos is asked to stop, to have a look at the tomb and think of the deceased. Two further meanings of xenos are used very often in Byzantine metrical inscriptions: xenos (and its female form xene) is a very common term for monks (and nuns); they have escaped the worldly life and are xenoi on earth. In many cases xenos is employed in the sense of “extraordinary”/“unusual”; this is especially true for the description of buildings and various objects to which the inscriptions are attached but, e.g., also for inscriptions on reliquaries in order to describe a saint’s qualities. In this contribution, I will describe the various meanings of xenos from Antiquity onward with a specific focus on Byzantine metrical inscriptions. Keywords: Foreigner, Stranger, Epigraphy, Byzantium, Meter, Greek Published Online: 2022/06/30 07:48:24 Object Identifier: 0xc1aa5572 0x003d895f Rights: .
medieval worlds provides a forum for comparative, interdisciplinary and transcultural studies of the Middle Ages. Its aim is to overcome disciplinary boundaries, regional limits and national research traditions in Medieval Studies, to open up new spaces for discussion, and to help developing global perspectives. We focus on the period from c. 400 to 1500 CE but do not stick to rigid periodization.
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
A-1011 Wien, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: verlag@oeaw.ac.at |