Angélologie et démonologie à Byzance: formulations théologiques et représentations populaires

Abstract

Based on a particularly rich textual and iconographical documentation, the present work consists essentially in the presentation of certain fundamental Byzantine literature texts that are little or ill-known. The ascetic literature of the first four centuries is the basis on which both the popular representations and the theological formulations are built in the domain of angelology and demonology. For the demonology, our study is mainly based on the Life of saint Anthony, and we refer to the fundamental theological text by John Damascus, a text by Michael Psellos and late Byzantine and post Byzantine texts, while we used Ph. Koukoules’ and Th. Provatakis’ research work. For the study of angelology, our interest has mainly been directed towards the hymnography and the text of the Holy Liturgy.