{"id":6178,"date":"2020-04-24T12:00:26","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T16:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/?p=6178"},"modified":"2020-06-04T14:15:08","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T18:15:08","slug":"theodore-metochitess-lament-on-human-life-a-later-byzantine-perspective-on-the-anxiety-of-instability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/2020\/04\/24\/theodore-metochitess-lament-on-human-life-a-later-byzantine-perspective-on-the-anxiety-of-instability\/","title":{"rendered":"Theodore Metochites\u2019s \u201cLament on Human Life,\u201d A Later Byzantine Perspective on the Anxiety of \u201cInstability\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Cameo, Constantine the Great and the Tyche of Constantinople wearing her turreted crown, sardonyx, 4th century. Image: The State Hermitage Museum<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alas, alas, Life, you monstrous thing replete with every kind of misfor\u00adtune, breeder of misfortune, theater of misfortune, and most of all of insta\u00adbility!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013 Theodore Metochites (SG 27.1.1)<\/p>\n

In the wake of COVID-19\u2019s spread into a pandemic, the world has fallen into a state of collective anxiety. As a historian, I find that in such challenging times, my inclination is to look to the past. At this moment when we all contend with isolation, grief, scarcity, and the fear of contagion, we may find some solace and insight by exploring the ways in which humanity has previously coped with such feelings of uncertainty. Much of my work this year at the Medieval Institute has focused on the Byzantine statesman and polymath, Theodore Metochites (1270\u20131332), and his theorization of memory as expressed in his scholarship and in the iconographic program of the Chora Monastery<\/a>, the renovation of which he oversaw and endowed (c. 1316\u20131321). No stranger to turmoil in his own life, Metochites also reflects at length on the idea of \u201cinstability\u201d (astasia<\/em>) in his writings. Several chapters of his encyclopedic work, the Semeioseis gnomikai<\/em>, or \u201cSententious Notes,\u201d address this recurring theme as the author himself works through the notion of uncontrollable change and fickle Fortune.<\/p>\n

Metochites\u2019s observations on fate draw from his own experiences of the ebb and flow of politics. In 1283, Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos (1259\/60\u20131331, r. 1282\u20131328) ousted Metochites\u2019s father, George, from Constantinople for his opposing policies, and, at thirteen years old, young Theodore accompanied his father into exile. While in Asia Minor, Metochites dedicated himself to his education and, by 1290, as he writes, \u201cthe winds shift[ed] from one direction to the opposite\u201d (SG 28.3.5). The same Andronikos II, having learned of Metochites\u2019s reputation for erudition, called him to serve in the imperial court, where he achieved the high rank of Megas Logothetes<\/em>, or prime minister. He takes care to acknowledge that his change in fortune was an external one, beyond his control: \u201cthe difficulties of my life suddenly and perhaps unexpectedly changed \u2026 although I had in no way changed, in the way it usually happens among men\u201d (SG 28.3.4\u20135).<\/p>\n

In a rather pessimistic frame of mind, he continues by pointing out that even in the grace of good fortune, the popular saying rings true: \u201cit is impossible to find anyone living a life free of sorrows\u201d (Hult 13). Metochites tells us that as his position and fortune increased, he felt steadily more burdened by state affairs. He writes that it was \u201cextremely distressing \u2026 to be personally in charge of conducting and somehow administering the shipwreck of Roman world power, and many times, when I could see no way out in my thoughts and I completely lost hope, I prayed that this seeming blessing and favor from Fortune would not have fallen to my lot\u201d (SG 28.5.4 and 6.4\u20135). Good fortune brings with it no guarantee of happiness.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Theodore Metochites presenting his foundation to Christ, Esonarthex, Lunette above eastern door, Chora Monastery, c. 1316\u20131321, Istanbul, Turkey. Image: Brad Hostetler.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the same essay, Metochites draws an evocative comparison between the whims of political fortune and sudden changes in health:<\/p>\n

No, we can see even the strongest and those with bodies in excel\u00adlent condition in absolutely every respect easily lose their physical strength and confidence, struck down now and then by a chance occurrence, some\u00adthing which others who are perhaps not equally well-endowed with bodily strength have managed to escape. And we see the man who yesterday was standing firm, indeed, who was for a long time undefeated by any kind of bodily misfortune, now lying on his back and suffering some malaise in his body, that had, until now, been extremely vigorous, or having lost all his health and now experiencing numerous difficult changes, living with all kinds of sickness\u2014he who for many years seemed completely impervious to the vicissitudes of the body. (SG 28.2.1\u20133)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As easily and as quickly as the body succumbs to illness, so too do rapid shifts in fate occur in all other contexts of life, from wealth to family and career. This association amplifies points set forth in the preceding chapter of the Semeiosis<\/em>. In his \u201cLament of human life,\u201d Metochites opens with a description of the two sides of human reaction to fortune\u2019s instability. Those currently experiencing good fortune constantly live in expectation and anxiety of worse things to come, while those who are struggling live with the hope of better days. With the flip of a coin (or \u201cturn of the ostrakon<\/a>\u201d in ancient Greek and Byzantine parlance), the greatest wealth yields to poverty, robust health deteriorates to languid weakness. He goes on to say, however, that instability, though unforeseeable, should be expected. Reacting to the assertion that change is abrupt, he argues the opposite: \u201cI unhesitatingly add that [it has been coming] for a long time, indeed from the beginning\u201d (SG 27.2.5). Metochites follows the concept of \u201cuniversal flux\u201d put forth by Heraclitus, and elaborates on the maxim still referenced today, \u201cthe only thing constant is change\u201d (cf. SG 29.2.1\u20137). He concludes that it is wisest to acknowledge, either through personal experience or observation of others, that life is inconstant; with this in mind, one must \u201clive not unprepared for the likelihood of good things turning utterly bad and so live better\u201d (SG 27.2.7).<\/p>\n

Toward the end of his life, Metochites found reason to affirm his comments on misfortune\u2019s predictably unpredictable appearance. In the margins of Paris gr. 2003, pictured below, we find a retrospective remark written in light of his second exile from the capital in 1328. Following the ascendance of Andronikos III to the throne after a long period of civil war, Metochites was forced to reside in Didymoteicho (today in northeastern Greece) before returning to take monastic vows in his foundation of the Chora two years later. To the earlier words of his \u201clament,\u201d he declares, \u201cI myself have suffered this as I foretold\u201d (Hult xv).<\/p>\n

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Theodore Metochites, \u201cA Lament on Human Life,\u201d Paris gr. 2003, f. 49r (56r), 15th century. Image: Biblioth\u00e8que nationale de France<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Metochites\u2019s essay further deliberates on the saying that, \u201cbecause of death we are living in a city without walls.\u201d The original Epicurean context of this adage emphasized the indefensibility of the human body and inevitability of death. Building on this metaphorical meaning, Metochites states that we are, \u201clike people living in a city without walls also because of the changes from prosperity to adversity, from perfect health to sickness, and on the whole from good fortune to bad \u2026\u201d (SG 27.2.1\u20136). Though he was writing in a much different cultural context than ours today, we might bring a critical eye to Metochites\u2019s musings as a way of contemplating COVID-19-era insecurity. The rapid spread of illness threatens to render our \u201ccity walls\u201d \u2013 the infrastructure of our healthcare and economy \u2013 susceptible to collapse. Anxiety arises from the permeability of these defenses. With an understanding that none of us is immune to \u201cthe attacks and sieges of Chance,\u201d we can reassess the way we conceptualize and respond to drastically new realities.<\/p>\n

While Metochites reflects on Fortune from the viewpoint of a privileged Byzantine elite, the current pandemic has laid bare the shared, but uneven vulnerability to \u201cfate\u201d in our society. In many ways, the virus\u2019s dismantling of our \u201ccity walls\u201d has lead to an exposure of inequality<\/a>, and the situation thus demands that we reconstruct societal concepts of space and community. As we grasp to control contagion through worldwide self-isolation, the \u201cfate\u201d of the individual is inextricably tied to the many. Risk and instability, however, are not experienced equitably. Indeed, the necessity of social distancing has demonstrated just how few \u201cwalls\u201d had been erected to fortify the health and well-being of all in the first place. Metochites reflected on his personal experiences to assess the nature of fate and life\u2019s inconstancy. When this crisis is behind us, perhaps we will not forget the diversity of individual experiences in the face of uncertainty. Only then might we rebuild a fortress of collective action better equipped to sustain the many against the next unpredictable, inevitable turn of fate.<\/p>\n

Nicole Paxton Sullo
\n2019\u201320\u00a0Byzantine Studies Postdoctoral Fellow at the Medieval Institute
\nPh.D., History of Art, Yale University (2020)<\/p>\n

All translations based on: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Karin Hult, ed. and trans., Theodore Metochites on the Human Condition and the Decline of Rome: Semeioseis gnomikai 27\u201360<\/em>, Studia Graeca et Latina Gothoburgensia 70 (Gothenburg: Kriterium, 2016). DOI: 10.21524\/kriterium.4<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alas, alas, Life, you monstrous thing replete with every kind of misfor\u00adtune, breeder of misfortune, theater of misfortune, and most of all of insta\u00adbility! \u2013 Theodore Metochites (SG 27.1.1) In the wake of COVID-19\u2019s spread into a pandemic, the world has fallen into a state of collective anxiety. As a historian, I find that in … <\/p>\n

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