With his keen understanding of his mother’s life and gender advantage, Michael Psellos strongly advocated for gender equality in 11th-century Byzantium. … Read the post Psellos supported gender equality in eleventh-century Byzantium
Confronted with being cuckolded, no less than the Byzantine Emperor Romanos III acquiesced in exchange merely for foot massages in bed. … Read the post grateful cuckold: emperor accepted cuckolding for foot massage in bed
At the literal and interpretive center of Michael Psellos’s Encomium for his mother is the under-appreciated story of his sister befriending a prostitute. … Read the post Psellos’s funeral Encomium: the great mother is dead
According to a declamation of Choricius of Gaza, the Trojan king Priam stated that women’s nature is no obstacle to Amazons and other women dying in battle. … Read the post women’s nature allows Amazons & other women to die like men in battle
Representations of John Italos and Michael Psellos in the Byzantine satire Timarion indicate how each fared in relating masculinity to gynocentric society. … Read the post John Italos & Michael Psellos: masculine troubles in Byzantium