by Edwin D. Floyd
Theodoros Prodromos, 56abcd constitutes a set of four poems in Classicizing Byzantine Greek, praising Alexios Aristenos, Nomophylax "Guardian of the Laws" at Constantinople around 1150 CE. Like much of Theodoros' poetic oeuvre, all four of these poems utilize archaic elements, with parallels in Vedic Sanskrit.
Of course, Theodoros was not drawing on Vedic Sanskrit as such. Rather, he (1) reused patterns from earlier Greek literature, which (2) in turn drew on still earlier oral traditions, for which (3) we modern scholars can unearth extra-Hellenic parallels; for "late" Greek authors' thus using ancient poetic patterns in a significant fashion, see E. D. Floyd, "Cometas, On Lazarus: A Resurrection of Indo-European Poetics?" in Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph Series, No. 32 (1999) 183-201.
In 56abcd, the continuity of twelfth century Byzantine legal practice with that of the past, all the way back to the Roman Republic, is poetically highlighted through a persistent use of archaic patterns. Among these are (1) a catalogue of meters at 56a.50-54; cf. the reference at Rig-Veda 1.164.23-25 to rishis' using many different metrical techniques, (2) kekasmenon andra "preeminent man" at 56b.4, paralleling Vedic narasamsa "praise of men", (3) mention of Cato (second century BCE) at 56c.13-16 in terms reminiscent of Homer's description of Nestor (Iliad 1.248), and (4) Dios thugater "daughter of Zeus" at 56d.14.
The last point, viz., the reference to Zeus at 56d.14, may seem unduly archaic, in view of the distinctly Christian resonance of the phrase anax ... anakton "lord of lords" a few lines earlier, at 56d.11. Poetically, though, both fit. Anax ... anakton has parallels in Hebrew literature, outside the Hellenic tradition. In contrast, Dios thugater occurs in Homer as a designation of the Muse, and it is so used by Theodoros. Moreover, beyond Homer, the Greek phrase has a clear resonance in Vedic references to Usas "Dawn" as Divo duhita "Daughter of Dyaus (Heaven)"; cf. R. Schmitt, Dichtung und Dichtersprache in indogermanischer Zeit, Wiesbaden: 1967, 169-173. An intermediate Roman stage is also suggested, as the Byzantine Emperor is referred to (line 12) as anax ... gaies "lord of the earth". Although, in some sense, in reverse order, the overall sequence exactly fits the Byzantine Empire's self-image as combining Hellenic, Roman, and Christian elements. Additionally, Theodoros creates a "Byzantine" subgrouping among these through a point already adumbrated in the mention of meter at 56a.50-54, inasmuch as lines 13-14 ("Hellenic") are metrically different from lines 11-12 ("Christian" and "Roman").