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Manuel Philes (c. 1275–1345, gr, Μανουήλ Φιλής), of
Ephesus Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in t ...
, Byzantine poet.


Biography

At an early age, he moved to Constantinople, where he was the pupil of Georgius Pachymeres, in whose honour he composed a memorial poem. Philes appears to have travelled extensively, and his writings contain much information concerning the imperial court and distinguished Byzantines. He participated in an embassy to the "Tauroscythians" ( Tatars) in 1293 to arrange the marriage of Maria, daughter of
Andronikos II Palaiologos , image = Andronikos II Palaiologos2.jpg , caption = Miniature from the manuscript of George Pachymeres' ''Historia'' , succession = Byzantine emperor , reign = 11 December 1282 –24 May 1328 , coronation = 8 Novembe ...
, to Toqta, the khan of the Golden Horde. He then was on a mission to recruit Georgian archers in 1305 and 1306. Having offended one of the emperors, probably Andronikos II, by indiscreet remarks published in a chronography, he was briefly thrown into prison and only released after an abject apology. Philes is the counterpart of
Theodorus Prodromus Theodore Prodromos or Prodromus ( el, Θεόδωρος Πρόδρομος; c. 1100 – c. 1165/70), probably also the same person as the so-called Ptochoprodromos (Πτωχοπρόδρομος "Poor Prodromos"), was a Byzantine Greek writer, well ...
in the time of the Comneni; his character, as shown in his poems, is that of a begging poet, always pleading poverty, and ready to descend to the grossest flattery to obtain the favorable notice of the great. With one unimportant exception, his productions are in verse, the greater part in dodecasyllabic iambic trimeters, the remainder in the fifteen-syllable "political" measure. Philes was the author of poems on a great variety of subjects: on the characteristics of animals, chiefly based upon
Aelian Aelian or Aelianus may refer to: * Aelianus Tacticus, Greek military writer of the 2nd century, who lived in Rome * Casperius Aelianus, Praetorian Prefect, executed by Trajan * Claudius Aelianus, Roman writer, teacher and historian of the 3rd centu ...
and
Oppian Oppian ( grc, Ὀππιανός, ; la, Oppianus), also known as Oppian of Anazarbus, of Corycus, or of Cilicia, was a 2nd-century Greco-Roman poet during the reign of the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, who composed the ''Halieutica'', a fi ...
, a didactic poem of some 2000 lines, dedicated to Michael IX Palaiologos; on the elephant; on plants; a necrological poem, probably written on the death of one of the sons of the imperial house; a
panegyric A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of grc, ...
on John VI Kantakouzenos, in the form of a dialogue; a conversation between a man and his soul; on ecclesiastical subjects, such as church festivals, Christian beliefs, the saints and fathers of the church; on works of art, perhaps the most valuable of all his pieces for their bearing on Byzantine iconography, since the writer had before him the works he describes, and also the most successful from a literary point of view; occasional poems, many of which are simply begging letters in verse.


References

Attribution: * , Endnotes :* —See the natural history poems :* :* :* {{DEFAULTSORT:Philes, Manuel 1275 births 1345 deaths Byzantine poets 14th-century Byzantine writers 14th-century Byzantine people
Manuel Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manu ...
Ephesus 14th-century poets Occasional poets