Emperor Divine: The Portrait of Heraclius in the Poems of George of Pisidia

Abstract

The fact that the poems by George of Pisidia (before 600–after 635 AD) do not tend to provide a narrative continuum but rather deal in an associative way with a set of different themes probably has made a narrative analysis of this work so far quite unattractive. Since the academic studies by Leo Sternbach (1864–1940) at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and the partial edition by Agostino Pertusi in 1959, it was not until the 1990s that he received greater attention. The present article aims to provide an insight into the poetic techniques that Pisides uses in his panegyric poems on the emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641). In discussing selected passages from George’s poetic oeuvre, it is shown that Heraclius is portrayed as a pagan hero in traditional epic style, a Christian holy man, and a legitimate Christian emperor. The focus of the study lies on the analysis of selected themes and images (the relic of the Holy Cross, the blood of Christ, the legend of the Christian emperor Constantine and the emperor as iconic character), by means of which Pisides seeks to legitimise the emperor to his recipients, the officials at the imperial court in Constantinople.