The Greek donatus and the study of Greek in the renaissance

Abstract

This article analyzes the teaching of Greek in the Renaissance through the Greek Donatus or Pyle, a translation of Ianua, the elementary Latin grammar book used in medieval schools. Conceived as a tool for Greeks who wanted to learn Latin, Pyle became a textbook for Westerners interested in learning Greek. The text is in Greek and definitions and paradigms are given correctly, but Greek grammar is often modified to fit into the Latin grammatical categories. Students, who had learned Latin on Ianua, perhaps memorized Pyle in full and learned Greek by “superimposing” the Greek onto the Latin text.