Byzantine Turns in Modern Greek Thought and Historiography, 1767-1874

This article examines representations of Byzantium in Modern Greek historicalthought, from the first translation (1767) of the Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae tothe publication of Konstantinos Paparrigopoulos’ complete Ἱστορία τοῦ Ἑλληνικού Ἔθνους[History of the Greek nation (1860-1874)]. In doing so, it reassesses conventions, especiallyprevalent in English-language works, regarding the range and complexity of endeavors inthis vein. Developments in European thought are used throughout as a vantage point, asthey represent a contingency of great importance for any assessment of Greek attitudestoward the past. However, these influences did not always point in one direction; a factorwhich, in tandem with local generational and ideological divisions, helps to explain thediverse perspectives on Byzantium in Greek works from the period under review