Leggendo l'Anonimo Maltese. Alcune considerazioni su Giorgio di Antiochia

Abstract

The Anonymous Poem addressed to George of Antioch, plenipotentiary minister of the Norman king Roger II, is one of the longest existent poem in Medieval Greek. Exile poem, heartfelt plea of redemption and freedom, it can be looked at from different perspectives: literary, linguistic and historical. But first and foremost it represents a unique example of that Norman court culture whose byzantine components may still surprise. Willing to please the addressee in order to prove himself worthy of mercy through a skilful use of rhetoric, the author develops a rich repertoire of sources, both Greek and Latin, that certainly deserve further attention. Following the career of the architect of king Roger’s politics through the poem’s verses, this paper aims to enlighten the multiple faces of power during that very period when roman-byzantine culture provided its legitimacy.