Byzantine romance

Under the Comnenian dynasty, Byzantine writers of twelfth century Constantinople reintroduced the ancient Greek romance literature, imitating its form and time but somewhat Christianizing its content.

Hence the Byzantine stories are traditional in their plot structure and setting (featuring complex turns of events taking place in the ancient Mediterranean, complete with the ancient gods and beliefs) but are also medieval, clearly belonging to the era of the Crusades as they reflect customs and beliefs of that time.

A break of eight centuries exists between the last surviving romance work of late antiquity and the first of this medieval revival.

More recently, however, interest in these works by English readers has increased, resulting in new translations directly from the Greek.

[6] Some of them are available in Italian : C Cupane Romanzi Cavallereschi Bizantini (Torino:1995) [7] Other medieval romance works include the anonymous:

Cover of Les amours d’Ismene et d’Ismenias , a 1743 translation into French of Hysimine and Hysimines by Eustathios Makrembolites (12th century)