This article suggests that a possible source of inspiration for Cavafy's poem 'Waiting for the barbarians' can be identified in a passage of the Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates concerning the arrival of German ambassadors at the court of Alexios III in Constantinople in 1196. The context of diplomacy, the city's decadent atmosphere, the emperor's self-humiliation and the unsuccessful ostentation of luxury and royal attire are prominent features linking both texts.
This article suggests that a possible source of inspiration for Cavafy's poem Waiting for the barbarians' can be identified in a passage of the Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates concerning the arrival of German ambassadors at the court of Alexios III in Constantinople in 1196. The context of diplomacy, the city's decadent atmosphere, the emperor's self-humiliation and the unsuccessful ostentation of luxury and royal attire are prominent features linking both texts.
Cavafy and Niketas Choniates: A possible source for 'Waiting for the barbarians'
FIlippomaria Pontani
2018-01-01
Abstract
This article suggests that a possible source of inspiration for Cavafy's poem Waiting for the barbarians' can be identified in a passage of the Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates concerning the arrival of German ambassadors at the court of Alexios III in Constantinople in 1196. The context of diplomacy, the city's decadent atmosphere, the emperor's self-humiliation and the unsuccessful ostentation of luxury and royal attire are prominent features linking both texts.
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Kavafis-Niketas.pdf
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