New Ancient Greek in a Neo-Latin World

Abstract

The present volume outlines research perspectives on the restoration of classical bilingualism in the early modern period. The active use of Ancient Greek during and after the Renaissance has been attracting increasing attention over the past few years, but the phenomenon’s strong embeddedness in Neo-Latin culture has been taken somewhat for granted. Likewise, many Neo-Latinists have neglected the pervasive Greek element of Renaissance humanism and early modern intellectual life, especially the way many scholars deeply internalized the language of ancient Greece and actively used their New Ancient Greek knowledge in various contexts and forms. In this contribution, I aim to bridge the gap between Neo-Latin and New Ancient Greek studies by laying out research paths I find most promising from my own perspective and background. My discussion focuses on Greek production in the early modern Low Countries (c.1484–1700), with occasional excursuses to other areas. I have, however, selected research suggestions that are broadly applicable to Latin–Greek bilingualism as a pan-European phenomenon. Part 1 situates this volume within the broader scholarship on early modern Hellenism, and argues for a bridge between Neo-Latin and New Ancient Greek studies (Section 1). In Section 2, I define my central concepts and survey the current state of the young field of New Ancient Greek studies. Part 2 offers my research perspectives, first on a macroscale, from a bird’s-eye perspective, then on a microscale, zooming in on particular approaches and case studies. Overall, I advocate an inclusive and broad-spectrum approach sensitive to historical contingencies and local contexts, but also paying attention to the transregional and pan-European dimensions of Latin–Greek bilingualism.