157-184

The Alexiad and the heresy of the Bogomils

• Παπαθανασοπούλου, Βασιλική

The Byzantine historian Anna Comnena, daughter of the emperor Alexis I Comnenos, in the 15 th book of her major work Alexiad, dedicated to the accomplishments of her father, reports the circumstances of the execution of Basileios, leader of the heresy of the Bogomils in Constantinople. Horrified by the extent of the heretics’ influence in the very capital of the Empire, Alexis managed, by means of a devious stratagem, to expose Basileios and punish his followers. Anna Comnena, in a stylistically magnificent, albeit morally horrible display of anti-heretical passion, justifies the atrocities committed by her father (whom she presents as a compassionate leader!). Her total lack of objectivity is obvious even when compared to Zygabenos, the official anti-heretic apologist of that period, whose account of the same facts is much more balanced. Her malevolent irony and vitriolic comments on Basileios and the Bogomils expose Anna as a mere propagandist full of hatred and venom against those whom she perceived as enemies of the Emperor and the State.

• History and Archaeology

• Βυζαντινή φιλολογία
• Πολιτισμός, Βυζαντινός

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