Janus Lascaris’ Florentine Oration and the ‘Reception’ of Ancient Aeolism
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Han Lamers
Abstract
This paper reconsiders Janus Lascaris’ Florentine Oration (1493) by analyzing its central argument that the Latin language is Greek (Latina lingua Graeca est). It situates Lascaris’ thesis in the context of ancient ideas about the relationship between Latin and Greek (chiefly Aeolism) and their reception in later periods. Specifically, it discusses his use of etymology, indebted not only to Latin but also to Byzantine sources. Outlining a ‘reconstructive’ method based on etymology to trace Latin words to their alleged Greek roots, Lascaris’ Florentine Oration not only marks an important moment in the reception history of Aeolism, but also complicates the ways in which the story of its reception has usually been told.
Abstract
This paper reconsiders Janus Lascaris’ Florentine Oration (1493) by analyzing its central argument that the Latin language is Greek (Latina lingua Graeca est). It situates Lascaris’ thesis in the context of ancient ideas about the relationship between Latin and Greek (chiefly Aeolism) and their reception in later periods. Specifically, it discusses his use of etymology, indebted not only to Latin but also to Byzantine sources. Outlining a ‘reconstructive’ method based on etymology to trace Latin words to their alleged Greek roots, Lascaris’ Florentine Oration not only marks an important moment in the reception history of Aeolism, but also complicates the ways in which the story of its reception has usually been told.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Contents VII
- List of figures IX
- Introduction 1
- Through the Eyes of the Greeks: Byzantine Émigrés and the Study of Greek in the Renaissance 9
- Janus Lascaris’ Florentine Oration and the ‘Reception’ of Ancient Aeolism 27
- Manuel Calecas’ Grammar: Its Use and Contribution to the Learning of Greek in Western Europe 51
- Issues in Translation: Plutarch’s Moralia Translated from Greek into Latin by Iacopo d’Angelo 67
- Translating from Greek (and Latin) into Latin: Niccolò Perotti and Plutarch’s On the Fortune of the Romans 79
- Humanist Translations and Rewritings: Lucian’s Encomium of the Fly between Guarino and Alberti 95
- Cardinal Bessarion and the Introduction of Plato to the Latin West 109
- The Reception of Aeschylus in Sixteenth-Century Italy: The Case of Coriolano Martirano’s Prometheus Bound (1556) 125
- Rethinking the Birth of French Tragedy 143
- ‘Pantagruel, tenent un Heliodore Grec en main [...] sommeilloit’: Reading the Aethiopica in Sixteenth-Century France 157
- From Greek to the Greeks: Homer (and Pseudo-Homer) in the Greco-Venetian Context between the Late Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Century 175
- The Wanderings of a Greek Manuscript from Byzantium to Aldus’ Printing House and Beyond: The Story of the Aristotle Ambr. B 7 inf. 195
- The Reception of Horace’s Odes in the First Book of Marcantonio Flaminio’s Carmina 213
- Orazio Romano’s Porcaria (1453): Humanist Epic between Classical Legacy and Contemporary History 233
- List of Contributors 253
- Index 255
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Contents VII
- List of figures IX
- Introduction 1
- Through the Eyes of the Greeks: Byzantine Émigrés and the Study of Greek in the Renaissance 9
- Janus Lascaris’ Florentine Oration and the ‘Reception’ of Ancient Aeolism 27
- Manuel Calecas’ Grammar: Its Use and Contribution to the Learning of Greek in Western Europe 51
- Issues in Translation: Plutarch’s Moralia Translated from Greek into Latin by Iacopo d’Angelo 67
- Translating from Greek (and Latin) into Latin: Niccolò Perotti and Plutarch’s On the Fortune of the Romans 79
- Humanist Translations and Rewritings: Lucian’s Encomium of the Fly between Guarino and Alberti 95
- Cardinal Bessarion and the Introduction of Plato to the Latin West 109
- The Reception of Aeschylus in Sixteenth-Century Italy: The Case of Coriolano Martirano’s Prometheus Bound (1556) 125
- Rethinking the Birth of French Tragedy 143
- ‘Pantagruel, tenent un Heliodore Grec en main [...] sommeilloit’: Reading the Aethiopica in Sixteenth-Century France 157
- From Greek to the Greeks: Homer (and Pseudo-Homer) in the Greco-Venetian Context between the Late Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Century 175
- The Wanderings of a Greek Manuscript from Byzantium to Aldus’ Printing House and Beyond: The Story of the Aristotle Ambr. B 7 inf. 195
- The Reception of Horace’s Odes in the First Book of Marcantonio Flaminio’s Carmina 213
- Orazio Romano’s Porcaria (1453): Humanist Epic between Classical Legacy and Contemporary History 233
- List of Contributors 253
- Index 255
