Metochita, Theodorus
Θεόδωρος ὁ Μετοχίτης
(Θεόδωρος ὁ Μετοχίτης), the intimate friend and adherent of the unfortunate emperor Andronicus the Elder (A. D. 1282-1328), was a man of extraordinary learning and great literary activity, although much of his time was taken up by the duties he had to discharge as Magnus Logotheta Ecclesiae Constant., and the various commissions with which he was entrusted by his imperial friend. No sooner had Andronicus the Younger usurped the throne, in 1328, than he deposed Metochita and sent him into exile. The learned priest, however, was soon recalled, but, disgusted with the world, he retired into a convent in Constantinople, where he died in 1332. It is said that he was the son of the preceding Georgius Metochita, with whom he has often been confounded. Nicephorus Gregoras, the writer, delivered the funeral oration at the interment of Th. Metochita, and wrote an epitaph which is given in Fabricius. Many details referring to the life of this distinguished divine are contained in the works of Nicephorus Gregoras and John Cantacuzenus.
Works
Published works
Metochita wrote a great number of works on various subjects; the principal are :--
1. Παράφρασις
being commentaries on various works of Aristotle's, especially Physica, De Anima, De Coelo, De Ortu et Interitu, De Memoria et Remminiscentia, De Somno et Vigilia, and others.
Editions
The Greek text has never been published. A Latin version by Gentianus Hervetus appeared at Basel, 1559, 4to; reprinted, Ravenna, 1614, 4to.
2. Χρονικόν
A Roman history from Julius Caesar to Constantine the Great. Regarding the doubts on Metochita's authorship of this work, compare Fabricius.
Editions
The Greek text, with a Latin version, by John Meursius, Leyden, 1618. 4to.
3. Ὑπομνηματισμοὶ καὶ Σημειώσεις γνωμικαί
Various commentaries, essays, sentences, &c.
Editions
published under the title Specimina Operum Theod. Metochitae, by Janus Bloch, Copenhagen, 1790, 8vo.
Still unpublished
The following are still unpublished:--
4. Περὶ Νεωτερικῆς κακοηθείαι, De mala recentiorum Consuetudine
This work treats on the corruption of the church, especially of the anti-Christian changes introduced into the rites. Arcadius made a Latin version of this work, which, however, seems not to have been published.
5. Λόγοι
eight books on ecclesiastical history, two of which are extant in MS.
6. Capita Philosophica et Historica Miscellanea CXX.
Of which Fabricius gives the titles. Their great variety allows us to infer the extensive learning and the speculative genius of Metochita.
7. Michaelis Palaeologi et Irenes Augustae Epitaphium.
8. Astronomica
Metochita was one of the best astronomers of his time.
9. Commentarii in Ptolemaei Magnam Synaxin
Said to be extant in MS. in Spain.
Further Information
Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. x. p. 412, &c.; Cave, Hist. Lit. ad ann. 1276, and Wharton, in Append. to Cave, ad ann. 1301; Thomas Magister, Προσφονευτικόν (ad Metochitam) and Epistola (to the same), ed. Graec. et Lat., together with other letters of the same Thomas, Laurentius Normann, Upsala, 1693, 4to.
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.