Literary Byzantium in Konstantin Leontyev's novel "Odysseus of Polihroniades"

The article deals with Byzantine quotes in Konstantin Leontyev's novel Odysseus of Polihroniades. The author regarded this novel to be the best of all his works. The Byzantine influence was discovered through analyzing the Athos regular readings including the typicon of the St. Panteleimon Monastery, where Konstantin Leontyev spent 18 months. It is emphasized that the text of the novel features some of the Athos realities. The paper analyzes the topic of time recurrence, developed in the novel, which is different from the Christian conception of linear time. The article examines both the sacred text of regular readings and the quotes and reminiscences connected with the names of St. John Chrysostom and St. Isaac the Syrian. The article concludes that some elements of Leontyev's future Doctrine of a New Eastern Culture are presented in his novel Odysseus ofPoUhroniades. The Byzantine quotes, therefore, help to understand the mechanism of the authors' ideas implementation in the novel.