The alchemist’s fever

Siniossoglou on Plethon[1]: More's Utopia was designed from the outset to stay in the sphere of ou-topos [no-place] and ou-chronos [no-time]. Plethon's utopia fervently[2] searches for locality and temporality [...] From a Christian and Stoic viewpoint [such insistence] confirms that by nature man is unable to find happiness in his Dasein and is attracted to what he does not or … Continue reading The alchemist’s fever →

Book takeaway: THE BYZANTINE ECONOMY, by Angeliki E. Laiou and Cecile Morisson

Laiou and Morrison's The Byzantine Economy is a study, not a story. I read it as an outsider struggling to keep up with the endless silks, vineyards, pottery, glassware, legislation, special taxes and shipwrecks so the conclusions make sense and there is gist to take away. The book covers almost the entirety of the empire's … Continue reading Book takeaway: THE BYZANTINE ECONOMY, by Angeliki E. Laiou and Cecile Morisson →

Translating (unfinished) Cavafy: From The Historia Arcana

[The otherwise model archive of cavafy.com doesn't offer English translations of his unfinished poems. Here's an attempt at a short macabre that shows a different side of the "sensational" Alexandrine. Original text can be found here.] Often the look of Justinian horror and disgust inspired in his attendants. Something they suspected they did not dare utter; … Continue reading Translating (unfinished) Cavafy: From The Historia Arcana →