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Homer in the French Renaissance*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
Abstract
Although the works of Homer remained unknown in Western Europe for much of the Middle Ages, their reappearance was welcomed enthusiastically in France toward the end of the fifteenth century by the small band of scholars capable of reading Greek. The founding of the Collège des lecteurs royaux in 1530 gave a fillip to Homeric studies, and partial editions of Homer were printed in Paris, aimed at a student audience. French translations also helped to bring the poems to a wider audience. However, the question of the interpretation of Homer was central to the reception of the two epics, and, after examining the publishing history, this paper sets out to assess how succeeding generations of scholars set about reading and teaching the prince of poets.
- Type
- The 2005 Josephine Waters Bennett Lecture
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- Copyright
- Copyright © 2006 Renaissance Society of America
Footnotes
I should like to thank the British Academy for their support in the form of a Research Readership (2003–05), which allowed me to carry out much of the research which has gone into this paper. Unless otherwise indicated, all translations in this article are my own.
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