Romanos the Melode

Romanos the Melode
   Creator of the Byzantine hymn (q.v.). He was a church deacon from Syria (q.v.), possibly of Jewish heritage, who settled in Constantinople during the reign of Anastasios I (q.v.). He composed a thousand hymns, only a fraction of which survive under his name. He developed and promoted the kontakion (q.v.), a sermon in verse, chanted by preacher and choir, that was the most popular form of hymn in the late fifth and sixth centuries. Much modern discussion has focused on the authorship of particular hymns, e.g., the Akathistos Hymn (q.v.), as well as how much Romanos was influenced by Syriac religious poetry and Jewish psalmody. Subsequent hymnographers, including Kosmas the Hymnographer (q.v.), were much influenced by Romanos, although his beloved kontakion was gradually replaced by another kind of church hymn, the kanon (q.v.).

Historical Dictionary of Byzantium . .

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  • ROMANOS MELODOS — (first half of sixth century), hymnographer and composer. Romanos was born of a Jewish family in Emesa (the present Homs), Syria. It is not known whether his parents had already converted to Christianity or whether he did so himself in youth. He… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • St. Romanos —     St. Romanos     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► St. Romanos     Surnamed ho melodos and ho theorrhetor, poet of the sixth century. The only authority for the life and date of this greatest of Greek hymn writers is the account in the Menaion for… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Ephrem the Syrian —    Syriac writer, theologian, hymnographer, saint. Born in Nisibis (q.v.) ca. 306, he later moved to Edessa (q.v.) where he spent the last decade of his life, dying there in 373. Ephrem wrote an enormous number of works, mostly in verse, on a… …   Historical dictionary of Byzantium

  • Kosmas the Hymnographer —    See Romanos the Melode …   Historical dictionary of Byzantium

  • Greek literature — Introduction       body of writings in the Greek language, with a continuous history extending from the 1st millennium BC to the present day. From the beginning its writers were Greeks living not only in Greece proper but also in Asia Minor, the… …   Universalium

  • Music —    Secular music existed, but has not survived. However, it is known that pneumatic organs were used in state ceremonials in Constantinople (q.v.), e.g., at banquets, weddings, receptions, and processionals. It is also known that various other… …   Historical dictionary of Byzantium

  • Emesa —    City in Syria ([q.v.]; modern Homs), west of Palmyra (q.v.). The Persians (q.v.) occupied it from 609 628, and it fell to the Arabs (q.v.) in 636, after the defeat of Herakleios at the battle of Yarmuk (qq.v.). Thereafter, it remained in… …   Historical dictionary of Byzantium

  • Saint Roman — may refer to Saint Romanos the Melode, and Saint Boris, brother of Saint David of Muscovy and son of Saint Vladimir .Saint Roman ( La Rousse/Saint Roman ) is the smallest and northernmost community in the Principality of Monaco. It is a quartier… …   Wikipedia

  • Theophanes Graptos —    He and his brother Theodore Graptos (q.v.) were the chief opponents of Iconoclasm (q.v.) during the reign of Theophilos (q.v.). They were each branded (graptos) on their foreheads for supporting the veneration of icons (q.v.). After Theophilos …   Historical dictionary of Byzantium

  • Akathistos Hymn —    See Music; Romanos the Melode …   Historical dictionary of Byzantium

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