Dr Andrew Mellas

Andrew Mellas is Senior Lecturer in Byzantine History & Liturgical Studies at St Andrew's. In 2018, he completed a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney on the emotion of compunction in Byzantium. Andrew has published various books, chapters and articles on the history of Byzantium, liturgics and hymnody, as well as presenting papers on these subjects at international conferences. His current projects include exploring the liturgical intersections of hagiography and hymnography, and editing The Cambridge Companion to the Byzantine Church. 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 and Liturgical Studies

Current Research: Emotions in Byzantium.

Email: [email protected]

Books

Liturgy and the Emotions in Byzantium: Compunction and Hymnody. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.

— Review by Fr Dr Ivan Moody in JISOCM 4.2 (2020), 399-401.

— Review by Dr Olivier Delouis, Edinburgh Byzantine Book Festival, 2021.

— Review by Dr Eduard Iricinschi in Emotions: History, Culture, Society 5 (2021), 174–77.

— Review by Dr Per-Arne Bodin in Journal of Early Christian Studies, 30.2, Summer 2022, 304–5.

— Review by Dr Paraskevi Toma in Speculum 97.4 (2022), 1230–1231.

— Review by Professor Maria Takala-Roszczenko in Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies 5.2 (2022), 300–302.

Edited Books

The Cambridge Companion to the Byzantine Church, Andrew Mellas & Bronwen Neil (eds). Cambridge University Press (forthcoming).

Hymns of Christmas and Epiphany: St Romanos the Melodist. St Vladimir's Seminary Press (forthcoming).

Hymns of Repentance: St Romanos the Melodist. Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2020.

Hymns, Homilies and Hermeneutics in Byzantium, Sarah Gador-Whyte & Andrew Mellas (eds.), Leiden: Brill, 2020.

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), Aschendorff Verlag, 2023 (forthcoming).

“Crying out with the Compunction of the Prodigal Son” in Cultures of Compunction in the Medieval World. Graham Williams and Charlotte Steenbrugge (eds), London: Bloomsbury, 2021, 15-26.

“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, 2020.

“Kratimata sau Teriremuri: experiența afectivă a cântăriiliturgice fără cuvinte [Kratemata & Teretismata: The Affective Experience of Wordless Liturgical Songs“ in Muzica în spaţiul liturgicInterferenţeculturale, Alexandru Ioniţă & Teresa Leonhard (eds) Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2019, 81–104.

“Emoţii liturgice în imnele byzantine [Liturgical Emotions in Byzantine Hymns]” in Imnografialiturgică bizantină. Perspective critice, Alexandru Ioniță (ed.) Sibiu: Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2019, 239–268.

“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

"Performing the Symphony of Salvation: Liturgical Mysticism in the Hymns of Romanos the Melodist", Studia Patristica CXXX, 335-352.

“The Angel that ‘More Feelingly Feels’: A Theological Quest for Beauty”, Phronema 35.1, 2020: 115–136.

“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

Blake Leyerle, The Narrative Shape of Emotion in the Preaching of John Chrysostom. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2020; pp. 228. Journal of Early Christian Studies 30.1 (2022), 155–157.

Derek Krueger & Robert S. Nelson, eds: The New Testament in Byzantium. Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Symposia and Colloquia. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2016; pp. 334. Journal of Religious History (2020). 

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.

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.

Memberships

Honorary Associate, Medieval and Early Modern Centre, University of Sydney.

Member of the Society of Oriental Liturgy.

Member of the Executive Committee of the Australasian Association of Byzantine Studies.

Member of the Editorial Board of Byzantina Australiensia.

Member of the International Society for Orthodox Church Music (ISOCM).

Member of the Editorial Board of the ISOCM Journal. 

Member of the Committee on the Translation of Liturgical Texts (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia)

Blog Posts

"Who Are You When You Feel Liturgically?", Public Orthodoxy, 18 August 2020.

Conferences Papers

Conference Paper on 'Human and Divine Emotion in the Paschal Hymn of St Romanos the Melodist' as part of a roundtable on ‘Embodied Mystagogy: Liturgy, Materiality and the Senses.’ 24th International Congress of Byzantine Studies, Venice and Padua, 22–27 August 2022.

Conference Paper on 'Mystagogy, Hymnography and the Liturgy of St James', Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Liturgy of St James, University of Regensburg, 6–10 June 2022.

Guest Lecture at Yale University (Institute of Sacred Music): "The Liturgical Emotions of Hymnody: Romanos the Melodist and the Songs of Pascha", 4 March 2022.

Conference Paper on "Emotion and Liturgy in Times of Epidemic: The Case of the Justinianic Plague",Leadership in Times of Crisis in the Later Roman Empire: The Fifth Century and Beyond (3–5 December 2021), Macquarie University.

"Liturgy and the Emotions in Byzantium", Roundtable at the Society of Biblical Literature 2021 Conference in San Antonio (21 November 2021). Moderated by Professor Andrew Krause and with presentations by Professor Erin Galgay Walsh, Professor Laura Lieber, Dr Kevin Kalish and Jillian Marcantonio.

"'From Hagiography to Hymnography: The Liturgical Afterlife of St Fevronia", 'Current Research in Liturgical Studies' International Virtual Conference, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki & University of Eastern Finland, 10-12 May 2021.

“From Ancient Music to Christian Hymns: The Song of Theology”, Christianity & Culture: Ancient & Modern Perspectives, Sydney, 19 September 2019.

“The Symphony of Salvation: Towards a Theology of Liturgical Performance”, 18th International Patristics Conference, University of Oxford, 19–24 August 2019.

“Martyrdom or Birth? The Life of St Fevronia”, 20th Australasian Association of Byzantine Studies Conference, Macquarie University, 19–21 July 2019.

“‘A Taste of what Desire Seeks’: Sensing the Holy in Liturgical Life”, International Society for Orthodox Church Music Eighth International Conference, The Sounds of the Holy: From Manuscript to Performance, Finland, 10–16 June 2019.

“‘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.