Cover; Half-title ; Title page; Copyright information; Dedication ; Table of contents ; List of illustrations ; List of color plates ; Acknowledgments ; Note to the reader ; List of abbreviations ; Introduction ; I. ; II. ; III. ; 1 From composition to performance: epigrams in context.

Why verse? Epigrams and the power of logos Verses on the page: epigrams in the manuscript record ; Patrons, poets, artists ; Epigrams and the viewer/reader ; 2 The patron's ''I'' ; Between praise and prayer: the patron in the dedicatory epigram ; The patron says ''I''

Performed identities, crafted selves 3 Kosmos ; What is kosmos? ; Kosmos, matter, and the sacred ; Cladding/clothing ; 4 Golden words ; Script as orcament ; Verses in space ; Labyrinths and crosses: figured epigrams ; Logikos kosmos ; 5 Devotional gifts.

Toward a typology of devotional gifts Gifts, prayers, and memory ; Paradoxical exchange ; 6 The erotics of devotion ; Of gifts and love ; Defining pothos ; Personal patronage and the rhetoric of pothos ; 7 Image of the beloved ; Affective images.

Adornment, desire, and the relational self Epithets ; Pothos portrayed ; Conclusion ; Bibliography.