Chapter 2: Greek Lexica
2010; Volume: 100; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2325-9264
Autores Tópico(s)Historical Linguistics and Language Studies
Resumo(ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) ANCIENT AND BYZANTINE GREEK LEXICA A number of classical lexica - variously epitomized or conflated by Byzantine users - were imported from the East in the fifteenth century: the works of Harpocration, Phrynichus, Pollux, Hesychius, and Stephanus, and the larger compilations of the Etymologicum magnum and the Suda lexicon. These were, of course, entirely in Greek and tended naturally to concentrate on the more obscure terms and usages. Despite their difficulties for the Latin scholar, they were eagerly sought. In 1396, the year before Manuel Chrysoloras's arrival in Florence, Colueeio Salutati wrote to Jacopo Angeli, who was then in Constantinople, to encourage him in his search for Greek manuscripts: Platonica velim cuneta tecum portes et vocabulorum auctores quot haberi possum, ex quibus pendet omnis huius perceptionis difficultas1 (Please bring all the works of Plato with you and as many dictionaries as are available: every problem of understanding depends on these dictionaries). He realized that Greek texts themselves were of little use without the tools to unlock their meaning, and he doubtless remembered the story that Petrarch had cherished a Greek manuscript of Homer he could not read.2 Before considering the use and development of Greek dictionaries in Renaissance Europe, it is as well to discuss the availability of the remnants of ancient lexicography. These works are discussed here in something approaching the order in which thev became available in the West. THE SUDA LEXICON The Suda lexicon is a treasure trove of miscellaneous information about ancient writers and their xvorks. The value of its biographical sketches was recognized in Western Europe in the thirteenth century by Robert Grosseteste, who selected and translated over seventy articles. Grossetcste's manuscript of the lexicon survived, and William Grocyn subsequently owned a copy of the Suda that had been made from it.3 In Italy, the fortunes of the Suda in the fifteenth century can be traced back to Guarino Veronese, whose manuscript of the lexicon was probably acquired on his way back from Constantinople in 1408. His was perhaps the first copy to reach quattrocento Italy.4 Guarino's manuscript, now lost, was probably the exemplar for an another early copy of the lexicon. This was apparently made in Mantua in 1422 by Peter of Crete, a scribe who is known to have worked for Vittorino da Feltre/ Francesco Filelfo brought another copy of the Suda lexicon to Italy in 1427, and his familiarity with the work is apparent throughout his correspondence. It may have been from this manuscript that Filelfo translated the article De sacerdotio Iesu Christi.6 The Suda seems to have taken a little longer to find its way to Rome. Cristoforo Garatonc acquired another copy, apparently in Constantinople, sometime between 1433 and 1446, and this copy was probably in the Vatican Library by 1455. 7 One copy of the lexicon can be placed during the pontificate of Nicholas V, made by Demetrius Xanthopulus and dated February 14, 1454. N The work certainly aroused some interest during this period, for Lauro Quirini translated De fide Christiana from the Suda and dedicated it to Nicholas.1' Michael Apostolis contributed to two copies, the first probably, and the second certainly, in Crete: he collaborated with George Calophrenas to produce one and with Michael Lygizos to produce the other.10 A copy of the Suda, made by George Grcgoropoulos sometime in the second half oi the fifteenth century, would also appear to have been transcribed in Crete. Giovanni Aurispa possessed part of the lexicon at his death in 1459;12 Lilio Tifemas finished a copy in Citta di Castello in December 1463;1-' Bessarion had a copy in his library by 1468 and two by the time of his death in 1472 ;u and Poliziano made use of an unidentified manuscript of the work in Florence in the late 1480s.15 We have some details of the fortunes of another manuscript. …
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