Words for later: the prologue by Nicephorus Basilaces

Abstract

This study presents an exegesis and a translation into Portuguese of the prologue attributed to the rhetorician Nicephorus Basilaces, preserved in the Scorialensis manuscript gr. 265. Written as an editorial preface to the collection of his works, the Greek text goes beyond the typical function of a composition of this nature, constituting, in equal measure, an exercise in reflection. The study examines aspects relating to writing (conception, style, dissemination, utility), the dangers of literary fame, the education of the man of letters, and the role of paideia in the construction of identity. Drawing on a paradigmatic array of biblical, classical and rhetorical references, Basilaces presents, simultaneously, an autobiographical account, a literary manifesto and a hermeneutic tool. It is thus demonstrated that the prologue not only guides the reading of the work it introduces, but also constitutes a short treatise that demands commentary, insofar as it offers a representation of the author, his intellectual activity and the legacy he intends to pass on to posterity. This highlights the importance of the πρόλογος for the study of authorial consciousness and the construction of literary memory in 12th-century Byzantine culture.