https://substack.com/@macrobius/note/c-129623357
#Zettel for this Note (snort.social)
I should add that ‘memorising large parts of the Iliad’ was the bedrock of the national traditions of the Greek-speaking parts of the Empire right through the Byzantine period and beyond — Byzantine Education had two phases, paideia, which was taught even in rural towns in Anatolia to young boys (not sure about girls probably not), and invariable involved memorising Homer with all being the goal, though seldom achieved except by remarkable individuals.
The middle stage (before the equivalent of University) was paideusis enkyklios, a straight up ‘curriculum’ which word is the latinised form of ‘en-kyklo-paideia’, more directly transcribed as `encyclopedia`.
The last person known to have memorised the Psalms, the Gospels, and Homer was St Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain in the 18th century. Again, I’m not sure if that meant the Iliad (certainly), or also the Odyssey. The first two were a frequent accomplishment of monks in any era.
I don’t in fact know how Homer was ‘pronounced’ in this memory tradition, and I’m sure there had to be nuances to make it into poetry, just as there are nuances in how medieval Latin poetry works compared to classical. I don’t know what they are and I’m willing to bet they pronounced Homer as in Demotic.
The Singer of Tales tradition died hard in the Balkans and Hellas.
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