Making Byzantium a Greek Presence: Paparrigopoulos and Koumanoudes Review the Latest History Books

Abstract

Although many of the peoples of Southeast Europe believe a Byzantine presence is to be found in the fragments of their national histories and identities, the Greeks lay greatest claim to the Byzantines as direct ancestors. Yet, with the creation of modern Greek identity from the second half of the 18th century, many Greeks roundly rejected Byzantium and embraced antiquity. By the mid-19th century, however, Byzantium was increasingly recognised as the essential link between the classical past and the modern Greeks, thanks mainly to the work of Konstantinos Paparrigopoulos. This article investigates emerging positive images of Byzantium in the work of 19th-century Greek historians before Paparrigopoulos’s image came to dominate. This is done through a study of two books – volume one of Skarlatos Vyzantios’s Konstantinoupolis (1851) and Spyridon Zambelios’s Folk Songs of Greece (1852) – and the critical response to them from Stephanos Koumanoudes and Konstantinos Paparrigopoulos respectively. In this way, we can appreciate better the complex and vigorous debate taking place in the new Greek state about its relationship with Byzantium.