You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
The subject of this study, Michael Psellos, was a Byzantine Greek. He was 'a philosopher, statesman, lawyer and mathematician; a universal genius and bel esprit such as are only to be met with in the time of the French Revolution and the Renaissance'. Besides his political activities Psellos wrote works on history, music, geometry, philosophy, astronomy, grammar, the art of war, metaphysics, jurisprudence, geography, etc. Besides these he has left behind him epigrams, speeches, poems and about 500 letters. Del Medico points out that many psycho-analytical studies of historical personages suffer because what we know about these people comes to us at second hand. This is not the case here for Psellos composed one writing of great psychological and autobiographical value. It was customary in the Byzantine Empire in the eleventh century to make funeral orations, and the one that Psellos made in honour of his mother has come down to us. In it he tells us many enlightening facts from his childhood and about his relationship to his mother, father, and sisters. He also recounts a certain number of dreams. These have their own special interest, though the interpretation of them has to rely