“Ποίαν γλώττης οὐκ ἐκίνησεν λύραν;” Poetic Style and Diction in the Bellum Avaricum of George of Pisidia

Abstract

The following paper will endeavour to show how much the poetic style of George of Pisidia in the Bellum Avaricumis linked to his political involvement and to the purpose he gave to his poem. Besides, through the use of specific poeticdevices, which will be presented and analysed here in detail, he not only seeks to celebrate the victory after the siege of Constantinoplebut also to introduce a poetry more understandable and more audible for its public, certainly informed and sensitiveto his complex poetic devices, but also more and more familiar with a new poetry, closer to the spoken language. Therefore,the poetry of George of Pisidia appears both as a means and an end, and expresses well the strong awareness of his own creativeprocess, especially through the notion of eumetria which saturates the whole poem and represents well everything involvedin the poet’s σκοπός.