Federica Ciccolella

This volume collects eleven studies that investigate different aspects of the teaching and learning of Greek in early modern northern Europe (c. 1500–1750), from France in the west to Lithuania in the east. They give important insights that advance our understanding of the homogeneity despite diversity in the complex developments of classical reception, the study of Greek, its significance, and the practice of Greek in the various religious, cultural, and socio-political environments of the complicated spatio-temporal and geopolitical realities of Europe.

The beginning of the Greek revival in the West is generally attributed to the teaching of the Byzantine scholar Manuel Chrysoloras in Florence between 1397 and 1400. Causes, aspects, and consequences of this important cultural phenomenon still need to be analyzed in depth. The essays collected in this volume examine the development of the study of Greek from the fifteenth to the early sixteenth century, reconstructing its spread and impact on early modern literatures, philosophy, and visual arts. An analysis of the methods and tools used to teach and learn Greek sheds light on the complex cultural relationships between Byzantium and the West and enlarges the traditional picture of the Greek revival in early modern Europe. Contributors are: Lilia Campana, Federica Ciccolella, Mariarosa Cortesi, Francesco G. Giannachi, Fevronia Nousia, Kalle Lundahl, Erika Nuti, Denis Robichaud, Antonio Rollo, Luigi Silvano, David Speranzi, and Paola Tomé.