From Byzantium to Italy: Greek Studies in the Italian Renaissance

by N.G. Wilson

Which famous poet treasured his copy of Homer, but could never learn Greek? What prompted diplomats to circulate a speech by Demosthenes – in Latin translation – when the Turks threatened to invade Europe? Why would enthusiastic Florentines crowd a lecture on the Roman Neoplatonist Plotinus, but underestimate the importance of Plato himself? Having all but disappeared during the Middle Ages, classical Greek would recover a position of importance – eventually equal to that of classical Latin - only after a series of surprising failures, chance encounters, and false starts.

This important study of the rediscovery and growing influence of classical Greek scholarship in Italy from the 14th to the early 16th centuries is brought up to date in a new edition that reflects on the recent developments in the field of classical reception studies, and contains fully up-to-date references to aid students and scholars. From a leading authority on Greek palaeography in the English-speaking world, here is a complete account of the historic rediscovery of Greek philosophy, language and literature during the Renaissance, brought up-to-date for a modern audience of classicists, historians, and students and scholars of reception studies and the Classical Tradition.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Renaissance, Classics

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Sometimes published as Nigel G. Wilson.

Reviews

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was shaping up to be a four star book for me, until I hit the penultimate chapter on Venice. Pow, zoom, right to the moon! This is an excellent reference on various Greek scholars and practices during the Italian Renaissance. Each chapter covers a particular scholar or location of scholars, the works they studied, taught, translated, and/or published, and the impact of their activities. There are entertaining tidbits buried in with the facts and histories, making this a fun as well as informative read.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book that details the growth of Greek Studies in Italy (and by extension the West), starting off with a handful of shoddy medieval translations, and ending with a printing industry and numerous schools teaching Greek.

Has the information you'd want, showing a lot of pre-1453 (fall of Constantinople) influence as well. But as a book I found it difficult to read. The way the author phrases things requires constant double-takes, and the topic is already kinda dry as it is.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wilson's overview of the transmission and translation of Greek texts in 15th-century Italy takes a largely biographical approach, outlining the careers of those scholars responsible for making the literary legacy of Hellenic antiquity and early Byzantium available to the Latin-speaking world. In doing so, the author is able not only to isolate when, where, and by whom particular texts were acquired, translated, and/or printed, but also to pass - often rather frank - judgment upon their quality and the skills of those individuals responsible for producing them. At the same time, Wilson makes clear that the selection of texts for import was not solely a matter of personal idiosyncrasy and the historical vagaries of manuscript preservation, but also strongly shaped by shifting philosophical tastes, historiographic (mis)perceptions, as well as the norms of the Byzantine pedagogical curriculum.