As a genre initially defined by inscription on objects, Greek epigram was a primary medium for reflection on images and their relations to text. Late antique and Byzantine poets cultivated the tradition, often continuing to write on classical Greek art and in explicit dialogue with earlier poets. At the same time, Christian theology produced new concerns about representation. Epigram, alongside hagiography and theology, was a key site of contest during the iconoclast controversies. Fundamental changes in Greek metrics played a more subtle but no less significant role. The interest of later Greek epigram is accordingly double: first, as an evolution from ancient forms and discourses; and second, as an arena for contemplation of the image complementary to (and sometimes divergent from) systematic theology. 

This workshop encourages an experimental, speculative approach to later Greek epigram. On the one hand, papers will introduce and analyze a specific epigram or group of epigrams (including those intended for inscription on actual objects, those composed as “purely literary” exercises, and those whose status is no longer knowable). On the other hand, participants will chart trajectories from their chosen epigrams to broader discourses about images, including ancient art and philosophy, medieval theology, and semiotics and visual culture.