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In this paper, I aim at sketching the place of the Ancient Greek literary dialects within grammar in the 11th-century Byzantine curriculum, for which a didactic grammatical poem, composed by the polymath Michael Psellus (ca. 1018-ca. 1080), is a unique and understudied source (viz. Poemata, 6). I do so by offering, together with a first English translation of the relevant verses, a close analysis of part of the poem and its sources. This enables us to assess how Psellus pictured the relationship of the κοινή (koinè) with the four other canonical dialects. I likewise argue that, although Psellus does not offer a definition of the word διάλεκτος (dialektos), his poem nevertheless allows us to reconstruct his conception of it to a certain extent. This contribution also seeks to contextualize Psellus’ views against the backdrop of the Hellenistic and Byzantine tradition of Greek dialect studies.

Teaching Greek grammar in 11th-century Constantinople: Michael Psellus on the Greek ‘dialects’