Simelidis Christos

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Literature of Late Antiquity and Byzantium

Byzantine scholarship

The reception of classical literature in early Christian and Byzantine times

Greek palaeography and textual criticism

Hellenistic poetry

EDUCATION

2003 - 2006: DPhil in Classical Languages and Literature, University of Oxford. Dissertation: ‘Selected Poems of Gregory of Nazianzus: a Critical Edition with Introduction and Commentary’. Supervisor: Nigel G. Wilson.

2001 - 2003: MPhil in Byzantine Studies (Distinction). Merton College, University of Oxford.

1995 - 2000: Degree in Greek Philology, University of Thessaloniki.

ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT

2010- : Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Late Antique and Byzantine Philology, Department of Philology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

2017- : Associate Tutor, Hellenic Open University

2012 - 2015: Associate Tutor, Open University of Cyprus

2007 - 2010: British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford

2007 - 2010: Junior Research Fellow in Greek Palaeopgraphy, Lincoln College, University of Oxford

PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS

1. Selected Poems of Gregory of Nazianzus : I.2.17; II. 1.10, 19, 32 : A Critical Edition with Introduction and Commentary (Hypomnemata 177), Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2009, 284 pp. [PDF]

2. Introduction to Astronomy by Theodore Metochites (Stoicheiosis Astronomike 1.5-30), Singapore; Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific 2017, 390 pp. (in collaboration with E. A. Paschos)

3. John Geometres, Life of the Virgin Mary, Edited and translated by Maximos Constas and Christos Simelidis (Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 77), Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press 2023.

ARTICLES

1. ‘Aeschylus, Supplices 691/2: πρόνομα δὲ †βρότατος† πολύγονα τελέθοι’, Philologus 147, 2003, 343-347.

2. ‘Aeschylus, Supplices 691/2: a supplementary note with remarks on ἁβρός’, Philologus 149, 2005, 154-158.

3. ‘Honouring the bridegroom like God: Theodore Prodromos, Carmina Historica 6. 46’, Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 46, 2006, 87-100. 

4. ‘The Compilation of the Lexica to the Poems of Gregory of Nazianzus: Lexicon Casinense and Paraphrase A for the Gedichtgruppe I’, in Studia Nazianzenica II, ed. Andrea Schmidt (Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca 73, Corpus Nazianzenum 24), Turnhout: Brepols, 2010, 203-221.

5. ‘Callimachus, Epigram 9.6 G.–P. and Gregory of Nazianzus, Carmen I 2.14.10’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 176, 2011, 60-62.

6. ‘The Byzantine Understanding of the Qurʾanic Term al-samad and the Greek Translation of the Qurʾan’, Speculum 86, 2011, 887-913.

7. ‘Lustrous Verse or Expansive Prose? The Anonymous Chapters in Parisinus gr. 2750A and Vaticanus gr. 1898’, in Pour une poétique de Byzance. Hommage à Vassilis Katsaros, eds. S. Efthymiadis, Ch. Messis, P. Odorico and I. Polemis (Dossiers Byzantins 16), Paris: Centre d'études byzantines, néo-helleniques et sud-est européennes, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales 2015, 273-94.

8. ‘ξένος θεὸς καὶ ἄγραφος; Biblical passages on the Holy Spirit in Gregory of Nazianzus [in Greek]’, Deltio Biblikon Meleton 30B, 2015, 54-62.

9. ‘Nonnus and Christian Literature’, in Brill's Companion to Nonnus of Panopolis, ed. D. Accorinti, Leiden; Boston: Brill 2016, 289-307.

10. ‘On the Homeric Hymns in Byzantium’, in The Reception of the Homeric Hymns, eds. A. Faulkner, A. Vergados and A. Schwab, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2016, 243-60.

11. ‘Aeschylus in Byzantium’, in Brill's Companion to the Reception of Aeschylus, ed. R. Kennedy, Leiden; Boston: Brill 2017, 179-202.

12. ‘Emotions in the Poetry of Gregory of Nazianzus’, in Studia Patristica 83: Papers Presented at the Seventeenth International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 2015. Vol. 9: Emotions, ed. Y. Papadogiannakis, Leuven: Peeters 2017, 91-101.

13. ‘Paraphrase and Exegesis: Nonnus of Panopolis and the Gospel of John’ (in Greek), Deltio Biblikon Meleton 33B, 2018, 65-79.

14. ‘Gregory of Nazianzus and Christian Epigram in the East’, in A Companion to Ancient Epigram, ed. Chr. Henriksén (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World), Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell 2019, 633-48.

15. ‘Philology in 14th-century Thessaloniki’ (in Greek), στο Γ´ Επιστημονικό Συμπόσιο ‘Βυζαντινή Μακεδονία’, 14-15 Μαΐου 2016, Thessaloniki: Society for Macedonian Studies 2019, 317-24.

16. ‘Two Lives of the Virgin: John Geometres, Euthymios the Athonite, and Maximos the Confessor’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 74, 2020, 125-159.

17. ‘Epigrams and Verse Letters in Palladas and Gregory of Nazianzos’, in Epistolary Poetry in Byzantium and Beyond: An Anthology with Critical Essays, eds. K. Kubina and A. Riehle, London; New York: Routledge 2021, 33-44, 108-119, 274-281.

18. ‘Angelic lust and mighty giants: Gregory of Nazianzus and Genesis 6.1-4’, in Genesis in Late Antique Poetry, eds. A. Faulkner, C. O'Hogan and J. Wickes, Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press 2022, 18-39.

19. ‘Aspects of sainthood in metaphrastic texts of the 10th century’ (in Greek), in St. Zouboulakis (ed.), Αγιότητα: Θεολογία και Ιστορία, Athens: Artos Zois 2023, 174-191.

20. ‘Symeon Metaphrastes: Two puzzles reconsidered’, Journal of Byzantine Studies (JOEB) / Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik 73, 2023, 203-222.

ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRIES

1. ‘Epiphanius of Salamis’, ‘Eunapius of Sardis’, ‘Evagrius Ponticus’ and ‘Gregory of Nazianzus’ in Encyclopedia of Ancient History, eds. R. Bagnall, K. Brodersen, C. Champion, A. Erskine και S. Huebner, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.

2. ‘A Greek Translation of the Qurʾan’, in Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History. Volume 1, 600-900 (Addenda Online), eds. D. Thomas and B. Roggema, Leiden: Brill, 2014.

3. (with A. Paparnakis), ‘ἀσθένεια, ἀσθενέω, ἀσθενής’, in Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint, Volume I: Alpha – Gamma, ed. E. Bons, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020, 1213-1230.

BOOK REVIEWS

1. Saint Grégoire de Nazianze: Œuvres poétiques. Tome I, 1re partie. Poèmes personnels: II, 1, 1-11. Texte établi par A. Tuilier et G. Bady, traduit et annoté par J. Bernardi. Collection des Universités de France. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2004, in Antiquité Tardive 12, 2004, 445-450.

2. G. Cavallo, Leggere a Bisanzio, Milan: Sylvestre Bonnard 2007, in Journal of Hellenic Studies 129, 2009, 253-254.

3. Sancti Gregorii Nazianzeni opera. Versio Graeca, I. Orationes X et XII. Editae a Justin Mossay cum prooemio a Bernard Coulie (Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca 64, Corpus Nazianzenum 22), Brepols: Turnhout - Leuven 2006, σσ. CXXXVI + 63, in Byzantina 29, 2009, 573-576.  

4. (with Emilio Bonfiglio) Sancti Gregorii Nazianzeni opera. Versio Armeniaca, IV. Oratio VI. Edita a Clotaire Sanspeur cum indice a Nancy Castillo [Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca 61, Corpus Nazianzenum 21], Brepols: Turnhout - Leuven 2007, pp. IV+163, in Byzantina 29, 2009, 576-578.

5. V. P. Vertoudakis, Το όγδοο βιβλίο της Παλατινής Ανθολογίας: Μια μελέτη των επιγραμμάτων του Γρηγορίου του Ναζιανζηνού, Athens: A. Kardamitsas, 2011. Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2012.11.63  

6. Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität, besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts, erstellt von Erich Trapp unter Mitarbeit von Sonja Schönauer et al. [Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, phil.-hist. Kl., Denkschriften, 417. Bd.], 7. Faszikel (προσπέλασις-ταριχευτικός), Wien 2011, in Byzantina 33, 2013-2014, 439-40.

7. M. Taufer, A New Repertory of Conjectures on Aeschylus, Fascicle VII: The Conjectures on the Prometheus Vinctus (Lexis Research Tool 2), Amsterdam: Adolf M. Hakkert 2012, in Classical Review 65, 2015, 297-8.

8. Th. Kuhn, Schweigen in Versen. Text, Übersetzung und Studien zu den Schweigegedichten Gregors von Nazianz (II,1,34A/B) (Beiträge zur Altertumskunde 328), Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter 2014. Anzeiger für die Altertumswissenschaft 68, 2015, 76-78.

9. G. Thomas, The image of God in the theology of Gregory of Nazianzus. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2019. Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2021.09.21

10. B. Lorenz, Gregor von Nazianz. Threnos über die Leiden seiner Seele (Carmen II, 1, 45) (Palingenesia, 129),  Stuttgart, Steiner 2021. Anzeiger für die Altertumswissenschaft 75.2, 2022, 72-74.

FELLOWSHIPS, SCHOLARSHIPS AND GRANTS

2018 - 2019: Fellow in Byzantine Studies, Dumbarton Oaks (Harvard University), Washington DC

2017, 2019, 2024: DAAD Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Cologne (for the periods 20.7-20.8.2017, 18.7-20.8.2019 and 27.6-11.7.2024), Partnerschaft Köln-Thessaloniki, Project: ‘Philologie in Antike und Byzanz’.

2014: Visiting Research Fellow/Gastforscher at the University of Waterloo, Canada (3 months) and the Universität Heidelberg (1 month)

2007 - 2010: British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford

2007 - 2010: Junior Research Fellow in Greek Palaeography, Lincoln College, Oxford

2009: The Hellenic Foundation's 2007 Award for the best doctoral thesis in the United Kingdom, in the Byzantine/Medieval History category

2006 - 2007: Fellow in Byzantine Studies, Dumbarton Oaks (Harvard University), Washington DC

2004 - 2006: Senior Scholarship in the Arts and Humanities, Somerville College, Oxford

2004 - 2005: Stavros J Costopoulos Scholarship, Committee for Byzantine Studies, Oxford

2001 - 2004: Leventis Senior Scholarship, Merton College, University of Oxford

1999: Prize for academic achievement, Greek State Scholarship Foundation

COURSES TAUGHT

University of Thessaloniki (Sept. 2010 - )

Introductory Undergraduate Courses

1. Introduction to Byzantine Philology

2. Byzantine Prose and Poetry (Selected Authors and Texts)

Advanced Undergraduate Courses

1. Byzantine Ecclesiastical Rhetoric

2. Imitation of Classical Models in Byzantine Poetry

3. Classicizing Historians of the Sixth Century: Procopius & Agathias

4. Literary Elements in Texts of Ascetic Scholarship

5. The Palatine Anthology

6. The Golden Age of Byzantine Hymnography (6th to 8th cent.): from the kontakion to the canon

7. Gregory of Nazianzus, De Vita Sua  

8. Greek Palaeography and Textual Criticism

9. Epigrams on Works of Art

10. Early Byzantine Hagiography

11. The Life of Euthymius, patriarch of Constantinople

12. Theodore Prodromos, Rhodanthe and Dosikles

Postgraduate Courses

1. Early Byzantine Epistolography

2. The dialogue form in Byzantine prose texts

3. Early Byzantine Hagiography

4. Symeon Metaphrastes, Menologion

University of Oxford 

2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024: Co-Director (with Nigel G. Wilson) and Tutor of the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Lincoln College International Summer School in Greek Palaeography, University of Oxford 

Oct. 2007 - June 2010:

1. Introduction to Greek Palaeography and Codicology (for graduate students of Classics and Byzantine Studies) 

2. Byzantine Literature (text-based paper for undergraduate students of Classics)

3. Euripides, Orestes: Palaeography (for undergraduate students of Classics)

27 July - a August 2008: Director and Tutor of the Second Lincoln College International Summer School in Greek Palaeography.

28 August - 1 Sept. 2006: Tutor at the First Lincoln College International Summer School in Greek Palaeography, Oxford

Oct. 2004 - Dec. 2005: As a graduate student I taught the following courses:

1. Homer, Iliad (Reading class) for Honour Moderations in Classics

2. Sophocles, Antigone, Aristophanes, Frogs, and Herodotus, Book 1 (tutorials) for Honour Moderations in Classics (Texts and Contexts paper)

3. Classical Literature (tutorials) for Honour Moderations in English Language and Literature. Three texts (Homer, Iliad; Sophocles, Oedipus the King, and Ovid, Metamorphoses) were studies in translation. 

4. Beginning Ancient Greek (tutorials) for Honour Moderations in Classical Archaeology and Ancient History.

PAPERS PRESENTED IN CONFERENCES & PROFESSIONAL RESEARCH SEMINARS (selection)

10 November 2023: ‘Problems in the Menologion of Symeon Metaphrastes’, Colloquium, Department of Philology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

27 July 2022: ‘Exegesis in the Manuscripts of Gregory of Nazianzus’ Poems’, Lecture in the framework of the Eighth Lincoln College Greek Palaeography Summer School, University of Oxford.

14 June 2019: ‘Euthymius the Athonite and the Metaphrastic movement’, Workshop on ‘Cultural Identiry and Transmission in Early Christian Literature’, Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University

28 January 2019: ‘John Geometres's The Life of the Virgin Mary: Edition and Translation’, Research Report, Dumbarton Oaks (Harvard University), Washington DC.

9 November 2018: ‘John of Damascus' Iambic Canon on Christmas’, Graduate seminar at the University of Notre Dame.

8 November 2018: ‘Gregory of Nazianzus' Poems and Byzantine Scholarship’, Lecture at the University of Notre Dame.

25 June 2018: ‘Angelic lust and mighty giants: Gregory of Nazianzus and Genesis 6.1-4’, Workshop on ‘Old Testament Figures in Late Antique Poetry’, University of Waterloo.

25 January 2018: ‘Nonnus of Panopolis as interpreter of the Gospel of John’, Seminar in the Theology School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. 

5 December 2017: ‘Editorial and palaeographical problems in the poetry of Gregory of Nazianzus’, Workshop in the National Library of Greece, Athens.

10 June 2017: ‘Epistolary poetry from the fourth century: Palladas and Gregory of Nazianzos’, Workshop on ‘Epistolary Poetry from Late Antiquity to Late Byzantium’, University of Vienna.

11 August 2015: ‘Emotions in the poems of Gregory of Nazianzus’, XVII. International Conference on Patristic Studies, Oxford.

24 June 2014: ‘On the Homeric Hymns in Byzantium’, Symposium on ‘The Reception of the Homeric Hymns’, Universität Heidelberg.

24 November 2010: ‘Byzantine Epigrams on Icons of St Demetrios’, Colloquium on St Demetrios, Faculty of Theology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

10 November 2007: ‘Theodore Metochites' Poems to Himself: Some Literary Questions’, Dumbarton Oaks Colloquium on ‘Byzantine Literature: New Voices and Current Approaches’, Washington DC.

20 April 2007: ‘Gregory of Nazianzus and Early Christian Poetry in the Classical Tradition’, Department of Classics, The University of Texas at Austin.

18 February 2003: ‘Gregory of Nazianzus, carm. I.2.17 (PG 37.781-6): the experience of editing and commenting’, Seminar in the framework of the project ‘Aesthetics and Cognition’, Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters, Oslo.