Neue formen der Antikerezeption bei den Byzantinern der frühen Palaiologenzeit

Abstract

In Byzantine cultural history several epochs saw a revival of the classical tradition in literature and art. This paper deals with one of the most fruitful epochs of such a revival, which began shortly before the reconquest of Constantinople from Latin occupation in 1261 and lasted to the mid-fourteenth century, with its effects even to the end of the Empire in 1453. One of the main stimuli of this revival may have been competition with flourishing scholarship in the Occident. In the field of literature the following tendencies are characteristic: 1) a new interest in ancient philosophy and science, 2) writing concise essays on topics of ancient literature, 3) a unique inclination toward textual criticism and the writing of commentaries on ancient literature, 4) dealing with the theory of literary style, and 5) composing translations of ancient Latin literature into Greek. In contrast to the Italian Renaissance, an attempt to deal with the very spirit of ancient literature cannot be noticed (except for Gemistos Plethon in the fifteenth century).