Καλλίμαχος και Χρυσορρόη [Kallimachos and Chrysorrhoe]

Written most probably by a member of the Palaeologan imperial family in early 14th century, the verse romance of adventure and love Kallimachos and Chrysorrhoe has survived in a single 16th century manuscript adaptation seemingly copied in Crete. Although it may not have known the popularity of other similar late medieval works (as, for example, Imperios and Margarona), the romance must have made an impression at its time; the learned poet Manuel Philes dedicated an entire laudatory poem to its author, interpreting the story allegorically.

In his Introduction the editor John Polemis, a professor of Byzantine Philology at the University of Athens, deals with issues concerning the author, the literary genre, the internal dialectic and the sources of the text, as well as its linguistic and metrical form. The romance’s Text is edited with an opposite translation in today’s Modern Greek, followed by an extensive Commentary. The Appendix includes the original Philes’ poem and its Modern Greek translation, as well as a poem by Kostis Palamas related to the romance.