A poem for the "Gardens of Adonis", a celebration of Eirene the sebastokratorissa & her family

Summary:
The ancient Gardens of Adonis was a family festival for females. On this occasion, it seems to have been celebrated by Eirene the sebastokratorissa Eirene and her daughters and daughters-in-law, on the occasion of a home visit by the family's males. Theodora is absent in Austria. The family members are enumerated as trees and then as birds; some identifications are easy, but others more difficult, as there seem to be more trees and birds than family members. Grief for the lost Theodora is a dominant emotion 
Dates:
1150: 
Alexios, second son of the sebastokrator Andronikos and Eirene (Alexios 25003)
  • He was probably part of the ceremony of the Gardens of Adonis, aged around eight; there is one male besides Ioannes 17006, marked by a cypress and a restless falcon; Ioannes 17008 is also possible - but neither cypress nor falcon is linked to a female, as Kantakouzenos would be to Maria 17005 (:) Manganeios Prodromos 41.12-29
Taronitissa, wife of Ioannes, son of Eirene sebastokratorissa (Anonyma 226)
  • She took part in the Gardens of Adonis ceremony with Ioannes 17006; Manganeios calls her a tall vine tendril with a bunch of unripe grapes and others concealed within (with one young child and pregnant with another); as a bird she probably became a dove (:) ἀναδενδρὰς εὐμήκης ... τρυγόνα φίλανδρον Manganeios Prodromos 41.13-15, 32
Eirene the sebastokratorissa, wife of Andronikos, son of Ioannes II (Eirene 20115)
  • She took part in the Gardens of Adonis ceremony with her children and their spouses, portrayed as the central plane-tree; the others appear as limbs of the tree, then trees in their own right, then birds; it is likely that she organised the ceremony (:) πλάτανε Manganeios Prodromos 1-36
Eudokia, daughter of the sebastokrator Andronikos, wife of Michael Gabras (Eudokia 17001)
  • She will have been part of the ceremony of the Gardens of Adonis, where she and Maria 17005 will have been two of pomegranate, ivy and myrtle, then of pigeon, dove and partridge; identification is uncertain, while the presence of the third female is baffling (:) Manganeios Prodromos 41.16-33, 65-66
Ioannes Komnenos, protosebastos and protovestiarios (Ioannes 17006)
  • He took part in the Gardens of Adonis ceremony with Anonyma 226 - in fact it was probably his arrival in Constantinople which it celebrated; he was first called a star, became a tall golden palm and was then transformed into a golden hawk (:) ἀστήρ ... ὁ χρυσαυγής σου φοῖνιξ ... ὁ χρυσοβόστρυχος ὁ σός ἐστιν ἱέραξ Manganeios Prodromos 41.1-26, 64
Ioannes Kantakouzenos, husband of Maria Komnene (Ioannes 17008)
  • He may possibly have been part of the ceremony of the Gardens of Adonis; there is one male besides Ioannes 17006, marked by a cypress and a restless falcon, but neither is linked to a female, as he should be to his wife Maria 17005; Alexios 25003 is more likely, but he would have been only eight (:) Manganeios Prodromos 41.12-29, 64
Maria, daughter of Andronikos the sebastokrator (Maria 17005)
  • She will have been part of the ceremony of the Gardens of Adonis, where she and Eudokia 17001 will have been two of pomegranate, ivy and myrtle, then of pigeon, dove and partridge; identification is uncertain, while the presence of the third female is baffling (:) Manganeios Prodromos 41.16-33, 65-66
Theodora, daughter of sebastokrator Andronikos (Theodora 17001)
  • Her absence is deeply felt in the Gardens of Adonis ceremony, when the family is seen as birds: she is a nightingale, singing a lament in exile; the poem is perplexed about her fate, and comes largely to gloomy answers over her likely sadness and solitude, away from her family (:) μόνη πλανῆτις ἀηδὼν ἐν τόποις ἐρημίας Manganeios Prodromos 41.41-71