October 1, 2015 at 16:00 the Branch of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture will host a lecture “Byzantine Empire in the mirror of the contemporary research” by Dr. S.P. Shevtsov from I.I. Mechnikov Odessa National University.
Until about the middle of the 19th century Byzantine Empire was perceived as a later stage in the development of Roman Empire rather than a separate state. In the late 19th – early 20th century, due to the effort of German and Russian researchers, Byzantine Empire appeared as a particular state with its own structure, culture and fate. After 1917 many leading researchers of Byzantine Empire left the USSR (G. Odstrogorskiy, F. Uspenskiy, A. Vasiliev). During this period there also developed schools of Byzantine studies in France and, little later, in England and the USA. In the second half of the 20th century there appeared works by Greek scholars.
Byzantine studies have been addressing an extremely wide spectrum of issues, from the general history to the history of culture, religion and ecclesiastical law, economy, fine arts and literature. Yet, in many respects Byzantine Empire remains a mysterious formation. These is no agreement among scholars about economic, political, legal and cultural milieu of Byzantine Empire. In spite of steady attention to Byzantine theology, there have been done surprisingly few studies in Byzantine philosophy. Only little by little the evaluative characteristics are displaced by deep analyses that allow linking different spheres human life and presenting the ancient Byzantine world increasingly in more solid and impressive way. But in many respects even nowadays Byzantine Empire remains a puzzle…
