Dr Andrew Mellas

Andrew Mellas is Lecturer in Byzantine studies at St Andrew's. He recently completed a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney on the emotion of compunction in Byzantium. Andrew has published various articles on patristics, church law and Byzantine hymnody in peer-reviewed journals and has presented papers on these subjects at international conferences. He is also a member of the Australian Byzantine Choir.

Qualifications: Bachelor of Arts (Honours and University Medal, University of Sydney, 2001), Bachelor of Law (University of Sydney, 2003), PhD (University of Sydney, 2018).

Employment Status: Sessional 

Subject Area: Church History

Current Research: Emotions in Byzantium.

Email: amellas@sagotc.edu.au

Books

Liturgy and the Emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019 (forthcoming).

Edited Books

The Lenten Hymns of St Romanos the Melodist. Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2019 (forthcoming).

Hymns, Homilies and Hermeneutics in Byzantium, Sarah Gador-Whyte & Andrew Mellas (eds.), Leiden: Brill, 2019 (forthcoming).

Chapters in Books

“‘Let us Lift up our Hearts’: Transforming Theology into Sacred Song in Romanos the Melodist’s Hymn On Pentecost” in Towards the Prehistory of the Byzantine Liturgical Year. Festal Homilies and Festal Liturgies in Late Antique Constantinople, Harald Buchinger and Stefanos Alexopoulos (eds) Leuven: Peeters, 2020 (forthcoming).

“Crying with the Compunction of the Prodigal Son” in Compunction in the Middle Ages. Graham Williams and Charlotte Steenbrugge (eds), London: Routledge, 2019 (forthcoming).

“Herakleios or Herakles? Panegyric and pathopoeia in George of Pisidia’s Heraklias” in Herakles Inside and Outside the Church. Arlene Allan, Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides and Emma Stafford (eds), Leiden: Brill, 2019 (forthcoming).

“Dreaming Liturgically: Andrew of Crete’s Great Kanon as a Mystical Vision” in Dreams, Memory and Imagination in Byzantium. Bronwen Neil & Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides (eds), Leiden: Brill, 2018.

“The Chora Within: Unveiling Asceticism in St Athanasius’ Life of St Antony” in Alexandrian Legacy: A Critical Appraisal. Doru Costache, Philip Kariatlis and Mario Baghos (eds), Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015, 122–138.

Articles in Refereed Journals

“Tears of Compunction in St John Chrysostom’s On Eutropius”, Studia Patristica, LXXV, 2017.

“Words Tinctured with Passion” St Gregory of Nyssa’s In Canticum Canticorum and the Emergence of Affective Mysticism in Byzantine Hymnography”, Phronema 30.2, 2015: 169–185.

“The Passions of His Flesh”—St Cyril of Alexandria and the Emotions of the Logos”, Phronema 29, 2014: 81–99.

“Melismatic Events”, Phronema  23, 2008: 67–86.

“Is Church Law, Law? A Comparative Reading of Ecclesiastical Jurisprudence in Rome and Byzantium”, Phronema 20, 2005: 63–80.

Refereed Paper in Conference Proceedings

“Feeling Liturgically” in Creating Liturgically: Hymnography and Music. Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Orthodox Church Music, 8–14 June 2015 (Joensuu: ISOCM, 2017), 392–413.

“The Affective Experience of Wordless Song” in Liturgy and Music. Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Orthodox Church Music, 6–11 June 2017 (Joensuu: ISOCM, 2019), 83–100.

Book Reviews in Refereed Journals

Derek Krueger: Liturgical Subjects: Christian Ritual, Biblical Narrative and the Formation of the Self in Byzantium. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014; pp. xi + 311, Journal of Religious History, 40.3: 438–440.

Thomas Arentzen, The Virgin in Song: Mary and the Poetry of Romanos the Melodist. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017. xviii + 270 pp. Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture 87.4 (2018) 1192–1194.

Conferences Papers

“‘Let us lift up our hearts’: Transforming Theology into Sacred Song in Romanos the Melodist's Hymn On Pentecost”, Towards the Prehistory of the Byzantine Liturgical Year, University of Regensburg, Germany, 3–6 July 2018.

“The Affective Experience of Wordless Melisma”, Seventh International Conference on Orthodox Church Music: Liturgy and Music. Finland, 6–11 June 2017.

“Dreaming liturgically”, Australian Association of Byzantine Studies 19th conference on Dreams, memory and imagination. Monash University Law Chambers, Melbourne, 24–26 February 2017.

“Fellow-feeling in St John Chrysostom’s Homilies”, Patristic Symposium on St John Chrysostom. St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College, Redfern, 23–24 September 2016.

“The Tears of a Harlot—Byzantine Compunction”, International Medieval Congress. Leeds University, Leeds, 4–7 July 2016.

“Liturgical emotions in the hymns of St Romanos the Melodist” Moving Minds conference: Converting Cognition and Emotion in History. Macquarie University, Australian Hearing Hub, Sydney, 2–4 February 2016.

“Tears of Compunction in St John Chrysostom”, XVII International Conference on Patristic Studies. Oxford University, Oxford, 10–14 August 2014.

“St Kassia the Hymnographer and the Emotion of Compunction”, Centre for the History of Emotions Conference: Sourcing Emotions from the Medieval World. University of Western Australia, Perth  27–29 June 2013.