Women in Byzantine Culture

The lives of both St. Mary and St. Theoktiste speak volumes as to the religious aspects and elements associated with Byzantium. St. Mary is illustrated throughout history as the mother of Jesus Christ and is held in high esteem and regard within many Churches including the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Certain religions see St. Mary as playing a nominal role within the systematic beliefs and practices of worship, while Byzantium understood that St. Mary played a pivotal role in their ideals and sensitivities. St. Theoktiste was a nun and what is known about her is that she was captured and fled to an island called Paros, which existed in the Byzantine era. While not held on the same wavelength of regard as far as St. Mary was, the nun is respected and acknowledged (Talbot, 1996). Essentially, the lives of both women directly note the respect that Byzantium had for religion and faith. Furthermore, they also speak to the fact that spirituality overrode any preconceived notions of how women were observed.

The selection of Photios' Biblioteca shows that the Byzantine culture and values while strict in terms of thoroughness were not opposed to new ways of "style and vocabulary" ("Photius: Bibliotheca," n.d.) as evidenced by the reading of the "twenty books of the history of Rome of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Son of Alexander" ("Photius: Bibliotheca," n.d.). The Byzantines understood that while it was important to have narration and salutation of their accomplishments and overall ways of operation, that the discussions often would lead to "coarseness" ("Photius: Bibliotheca," n.d.) and thus, to appeal to everyone within the empire, the language was often "relaxe[d] and relieve[d] in order to alleviate" ("Photius: Bibliotheca," n.d.) the profound style associated with Roman language. Basically, the Byzantines were open to innovation and different ways of operating despite what many assumed to be case with how their culture was often presented.

References

Photius: Bibliotheca. (n.d.). Retrieved from The Tertullian Project website: http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_01toc.htm

Talbot, A. (1996). Holy Women of Byzantium: Ten Saints' Lives in English Translation (Byzantine Saints' Lives in Translation). Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.