A conversation with Derek Krueger on homoerotic language and imagery in the works of the eleventh-century writer Symeon the New Theologian. These passages are unusual enough that earlier editors and scholars were made uncomfortable about them. We discuss their devotional context but also the broader context of homoeroticism and homophobia in the monastic world of that time.
Byzantium & Friends is hosted by Anthony Kaldellis, a Professor at the University of Chicago. You can follow him on his personal website. You can listen to more episodes of Byzantium & Friends through Podbean, Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Top Image: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Coislin 292 fol. 5r
A conversation with Derek Krueger on homoerotic language and imagery in the works of the eleventh-century writer Symeon the New Theologian. These passages are unusual enough that earlier editors and scholars were made uncomfortable about them. We discuss their devotional context but also the broader context of homoeroticism and homophobia in the monastic world of that time.
Derek Krueger is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he is a historian of the religious cultures in Late Antiquity and Byzantium. The conversation is based on Derek’s recent monograph, Monastic Desires: Homoeroticism, Homophobia, and the Love of God in Medieval Constantinople (Cambridge University Press, 2026).
Byzantium & Friends is hosted by Anthony Kaldellis, a Professor at the University of Chicago. You can follow him on his personal website. You can listen to more episodes of Byzantium & Friends through Podbean, Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Top Image: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Coislin 292 fol. 5r
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