Kassia: A female hymnographer of the 9th century PANAGOPOULOS ,
SPYROS Proceedings of the 1st International Conference of the
ASBMH, Athens (2007) For over 1,000 years many men and a few
women wrote hymns in Byzantium. Their contribution to world
literature and to Greek letters constitutes a vast and priceless
treasure of sacred poetry. It’s impossible to exaggerate the
value of this hymnography, since it expresses, as nothing else
can, the spiritual riches, faith and beauty of Eastern
Christendom. Some of these hymns are still chanted today in many
languages in Orthodox Churches in every part of the world.
Others remain unknown. Hidden in manuscripts stored in monastic
libraries, they wait to be discovered and to be edited.