PhD project

Eustathios of Thessaloniki as literary critic 

My project focuses on the Parekbolai on the Iliad by the twelfth-century Byzantine scholar Eustathios of Thessaloniki. More specifically, I explore Eustathios’ analysis of the Iliad as a narrative masterpiece. How did Homer, in Eustathios’ view, compose his poem? What techniques did the poet use in order to imbue his narrative with plausibility? And what role do distinctly mythical elements such as the Homeric gods play in the narrative structure of the Iliad? Exploring Eustathios’, so to speak, ‘narratological’ analysis of Homer’s narrative may give us insight into some of the principles according to which Eustathios, his students, and fellow literati composed narratives of their own. In other words, Eustathios’ ideas on Homer’s narrative as presented in the Parekbolai may give us valuable clues on how to understand twelfth-century narrative, which is found in texts across various genres and has only recently started to be studied for its literary merit.

Supervisors: Prof. dr. Irene de Jong, Dr. Emilie van Opstall (VU)

Education

2011 – 2012 MA, Teacher Training Programme (Classics), Leiden University (cum laude)

2009 – 2011 Research MA, Classical, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, University of Groningen (cum laude)

2004 – 2009 BA, Greek and Latin Language and Culture, University of Groningen (cum laude)

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