A BYZANTINE NOBLE, IN EXILE, WRITING VERSES
Let the foolish call me foolish.
In serious matters I have always been
meticulous. And I will insist that
no one knows the Church Fathers or the Scriptures
or the Canons of the Synods better than I do.
In every doubt he had, in every difficulty
dealing with church matters, Votaniadis
consulted me first, me first of all.
However, here in exile (let her be cursed
the malicious Irene Doukas), and utterly bored,
it is not inappropriate for me to amuse myself
by creating sextets and octets—
to have fun writing mythological tales
about Hermes and Apollo, and Dionyssus,
or about heroes of Thessaly and Peloponnese;
and that I compose perfect iambs,
as—allow me to say—the men of letters
in Constaninople cannot.
This accuracy, perhaps, is the reason they condemn me.
Libros Libertad 