Capital, October 829 AD. The iconoclast prince Theophilus is crowned emperor of the Byzantine throne after the death of his father, Michael II the Amorian. Nothing reveals the intense passions he harbors within him, his doomed love for Kassiani, who, out of a moment's stubbornness, rejected him in favor of choosing Theodora as his companion.
In the years that will follow, Theophilus and Kassiani will confront their destiny; his vision of the need for a deep religious reform without the idols of images, for free education and justice, her desire to build her small monastery and dedicate herself to God, to write the hymns for which she felt destined.
Beside them, secret icon worshippers and iconoclasts, enlightened scholars and monks, loyal friends and ruthless officials, an empire where no one trusts anyone... A historical novel, a fictional biography, an initiatory journey of self-discovery, the swan song of Maria Labadari-Pothou (1933-2023) pays tribute to an outstanding female figure of the Byzantine world, the poetess and hymnographer Kassiani.
Twenty-two novels in multiple reprints. Six books of poetic prose. Two essays (Beckett, Elytis). Plays that have been performed in Greece and abroad. Countless collaborations in newspapers and magazines (To Vima, Ta Nea, Themata Logotexnias, etc.). She has also written poetry, fourteen poetry collections. Her latest, As a Beautiful Corpse (Pataki Publishing, 2019).
Her work has been translated into French, Swedish, and English and is taught in universities in Greece and abroad. Six doctoral theses have been written on her books at the universities of Athens, Patras, and Bari. She graduated from Panteion University and Sorbonne, where, with a scholarship from the French government, she studied aesthetics and theater history.
Her homeland is dear Lemnos. The Municipality of Lemnos offered her a room to house her work, as well as the gold medal of the Municipality. She once said: “To be honored by your homeland is the highest honor.” Myrina, on Lemnos, is her final resting place, as of June 17, 2023.
