Author Description

Philosopher and man of letters, Lybian magnate, political writer in Constantinople, pupil of Hypatia the neoplatonist, and eventually metropolitan bishop of Ptolemais - Synesius of Cyrene is among the most interesting figures of Late Antiquity.The present volume brings together the papers presented at the conference "Synesios von Kyrene: Politik - Literatur - Philosophie", held at the University of Constance in November 2008. They offer a broad approach to selected aspects concerning Synesius' works as well as to the historical background, philosophical contexts, and reception in scholarship and literature, from Late Antiquity to the present.Helmut Seng is Associate Professor at the University of Constance and Lecturer at the Institute of Classical Philology at the University of Frankfurt. Main research interests include Synesius and the Chaldaean Oracles as well as aspects of form and of intertextuality in Greek and Latin literature.Lars Hoffmann was a researcher at the University of Mainz, where he taught in all fields of Byzantine studies. Since 2010 he has been a researcher at the Max-Planck-Institute for European Legal History at Frankfurt and in collaboration with other scholars, he is responsible for a new edition of a collection of Byzantine legal sources. Main research interests include the cultural history of Byzantium as well as the tradition and reception of ancient and Byzantine Greek texts.