Kassia the Melodist. And the Making of a Byzantine Hymnographer Gheorghita Zugravu Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 2013 Gheorghita Zugravu All rights reserved ABSTRACT Kassia the Melodist. And the Making of a Byzantine Hymnographer Gheorghita Zugravu This dissertation is about the ninth-century Byzantine nun Kassia who is perhaps the most famous hymnographer of her time. Reconstructions of her character and work have largely been done in specialized categories, thus leading to many isolated and idiosyncratic readings. In contrast, this dissertation shall use a mosaic methodology, examining the various historical and theological developments leading up to ninth-century Byzantium, and thus giving a more developed context in which to examine Kassia. This new approach will allow for a stronger and more multi-layered reconstruction of the only female hymnographer whose work has made it into the liturgical life of the Byzantine church. The historical reconstruction of ninth-century Byzantium will detail the social, political, economical, educational, and cultural milieus that all intersected and interpenetrated one another in discourse. In particular, it shall focus upon the figure Theodore the Studite and his monastery of Stoudion whose intellectual renaissance greatly affected the culture of ninth-century Byzantium. It shall also give an account of the iconoclastic controversy that shook the state at its devotional and political core. Alongside the above, this study will detail the theology that underpins liturgical-musical development, thus creating an amalgam that could aptly be called ‘theomusicology.’ This idea has largely been ignored when examining Kassia and will provide a new avenue of historical reconstruction. Utilizing these various frames, this dissertation shall undertake an exegesis of Kassia’s liturgical and non-liturgical works, showing how they influenced both the construction and content of her writings. In particular, it shall examine her gnomic verses and maxims, her work in the Menaia, or the book that outlines the weekly services for each month, and the Triodion, the liturgical book used by Byzantines for their religious season known as Lent. Her sticheron idiomelon, ‘The Fallen Woman,’ shall receive special attention, as it is her most known work. This study will then draw various conclusions based upon its findings, detailing a far more developed Kassia than has been done previously in other studies. By explaining her theomusicological thought along with historical influences, this study ultimately will show how Kassia used music as the vehicle to carry her thematic points, creating an ecstatic emotional experience in her hymns. Table of Contents Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................ iii Dedication ..................................................................................................................................... iv Introduction....................................................................................................................................1 Chapter I: Paideia and Monasticism in Byzantium..................................................................18 Education in Byzantium...........................................................................................................18 Monasticism in Ninth-Century Byzantium..............................................................................24 Kassia the Nun .........................................................................................................................32 Theodore the Studite................................................................................................................40 Chapter II: Byzantine Psalmody and Theomusicology............................................................46 Pre-Christian Roots? ................................................................................................................46 Early Monastic and Urban Chanting........................................................................................53 Other Developments ................................................................................................................60 The Studite Reforms ................................................................................................................64 Byzantine Theomusicology .....................................................................................................71 Chapter III: Kassia the Melodist................................................................................................87 Maxims and Gnomic Vespers..................................................................................................87 Panegyric Works....................................................................................................................117 Canon for Remembrance of the Dead....................................................................................146 Repentance.............................................................................................................................158 Conclusions.................................................................................................................................177 i Bibliography ...............................................................................................................................185 Appendices..................................................................................................................................206 A. Appendix I: Letters ...........................................................................................................206 B. Appendix II.1: Maxims and Gnomic Verses.....................................................................209 C. Appendix II.2: Menaia ......................................................................................................219 D. Appendix II.3: Triodion ....................................................................................................233 ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank Professor John A. McGuckin, my mentor throughout my time at Columbia University. His erudition and voluminous knowledge about early Church and Byzantine history has shown me the way to approach the subjects in an academic, and scholarly manner. He has always supported me from beginning to end, even going out of his way to accommodate me when things were incredibly stressful and difficult. I would also like to thank my wife Claudia as well as my children, Maria Elena and George. Having dedicating so much time to my dissertation, I thank them all for being patient, understanding, supporting, and loving. I especially thank my wife’s encouragement and support, and whose help was indispensible. Without her, I could have never finished this study. iii Dedicated in memory of Elena Zugravu and Nicolae Zugravu iv 1 Introduction If one were to search the anthology of the Eastern church’s liturgical tradition, they would find that, predictably, the authorship is almost entirely male. This, of course, does not degrade their luminary genius whose works hold far more than the perfume and subsistence of a minute. Their names – Romanos the Melodist, John of Damascus, Andrew of Crete, Photios the Patriarch of Constantinople – are well known to any that are familiar with Byzantine hymnography. Their pens inscribe the chants of the divine into the souls of their listeners, affecting countless generations. The themes of the human experience – guilt, death, sin, repentance, rejoicing, resurrection – arch through the boundaries of time itself, twisting past the barriers of chronos which separates them from now, and intersecting and penetrating the souls of the faithful. However, amidst this male ensemble stands a lone woman, a tiny flare amidst a torrent of concentrated fire. It would seem that such a spark is insignificant, and yet it is a spark that catches hold of something and struggles to enlarge itself, to enlighten that which it touches, and encompass everything in sight. It is the flare that ignites the flame, which causes it to be alive and enrapture entire forests, towns, and countrysides, enraging across the plane and taking all into its path. It is the flare which after the fire is lost that has left the remains fertile, pregnable, open to new ideas, new experiences, or to relive old ones. This divine flare is none other than Kassia the Melodist, a ninth-century Byzantine monastic who is the only female to have her works become part of the liturgical corpus of the Eastern Church. Her voice is one of outspoken faith, great literary prose, and musical talents, making her perhaps the most unique and prominent female Greek poet of the Byzantine era. Although few facts are known about her life, when they are reviewed alongside her youthful 2 correspondence with Theodore the Studite, her hymnography, poetry, the Byzantine musical compositions that have been attributed to her, and the famous story passed downed concerning her interaction with Emperor Theophilos, one is introduced to an outspoken and captivating woman of the Byzantine Orthodox Christian faith who lived from approximately