Beata Maria Gaj
Greek culture and language in the
history of Central and Eastern
Europe (Germany, Poland, Silesia).
Woman in Greek poetry written by
Silesians in the 17th century
Religious and Sacred Poetry : An International Quarterly of Religion, Culture and Education 1/2, 57-66
Religious and Sacred Poetry: An International Quarterly of Religion, Culture and Education No. 2 (2) April-May-June 2013 pages 57 - 66
BEATA MARIA GAJ (Opole, Poland)
E-mail: beatagaj8[at]wp.pl
Greek Culture and Language in the History of Central and
Eastern Europe (Germany, Poland, Silesia). Woman in
Greek Poetry Written by Silesians in the 17th Century
Latin, Greek and Hebrew were the vehicles that carried the Holy Scripture1, however it was Greek which played a significant role in the
education and moralizing of the new Christian society in the first centu ries after Christ. In Italy Christian literature existed in parallel to Roman literature, yet this existence was restrained with the decline of Latin culture. Meanwhile, where this decline was not so evident as in Europe, for instance in northern Africa, and where at the same time the knowl edge of Greek was thorough, enabling abstract contemplation, there were works created by Tertulian, Apuleius from Madaurus and other African writers, who were not “pure Romans” . Models of Greek rhetoric influ enced the spirit, form and construction of those writers’ creations in the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D. Apuleius from Madaurus wrote fluently both in
Greek and Latin, whereas the sentence structures of Tertulian could be understood often only after their translation into Greek . A great heritage of Greek classic literature was saved then by Byzantine literature. The factors that enabled the preservation for posterity the valuable material of Greek antiquity were the university, established in 863 A.D. by Bardas with the support of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, and the scholarly studies of such personalities as Tzetzes, Eustacius, Tryklinios, Gemistos Pleton, Konstantinos Kefalas, Planudes, Symeon Metafrasta and many
1 S. Auroux, et al. (Hgg.) (2000/2001). Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaften. Ein
internationales Handbuch zur Entwicklung der Sprachforschung von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. Erster und zweiter Teilband. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter, p. 1164.
2 Jan Sajdak. P od urokiem literatury patrystycznej i bizantyjskiej, wstęp i wybór tek stów Ignacy Lewandowski, red. Alicja Pihan-Kijasowa (2009). Wydawnictwo Poznań skiego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk, Poznań, p. 47. [In Polish].
3 F. Skutsch (1912). Die Lateinische Sprache, In: Die Kultur den Gegenwart. Part. 1. Vol. VIII. Ed. 3. Leipzig-Berlin, p. 547 and next pages.
others. We should also mention here the valuable work of monks from Mount Athos, Jerusalem, Sinai Peninsula, Patmos Island and Meteora Mountains, as well as the libraries endowed by the emperors of Perga mon or Athens and other wealthy families. After the decline of Byzan tium, due to the later Turkish occupation and the sale o f valuable manu scripts by the monasteries, the cimelia of Atos monastery are nowadays residing in the libraries of Saint Petersburg and Moscow as well as the National Library in Paris. The most important and priceless gift of Byzantium to the West was, however, the transfer to Italy at the begin ning of the 15 th century of many Greek scholars, who took a number of manuscripts which became the beginning of a real explosion of interest in ancient Greece’s achievements in Western Europe. Renaissance human ism, which spread over wider and wider social layers of Western Europe, was tightly connected with studies of Greek literature and Hellenic and Hellenistic inheritance. The heritance of Greek culture also reached Central Europe, and since it arrived from various sides, its reception at the meeting of the Roman-Germanic, catholic West and the Slavic-Greek East seems even more interesting.
Humanism as a movement started around 1450 in Italy and spread to other European countries, especially to France and Germany4. In the reception of antiquity in Germany Roman law still occupied the fore ground: Corpus iuris civilis and Corpus iuris canonici, which already in the middle of the 15th century became the basis for recognizing the Ger man nation as a successor of the Holy Roman Empire. Meanwhile, Polish law and the social-agrarian political system at that time included traces of Byzantine influences. Justinian’s rules in a form adapted to the agrarian system of Southern Russia and Bulgaria were eagerly employed in Po land. Moreover, Polish architecture displayed many connections with Byzantine culture, as demonstrated by the rich painting of the Eastern churches in Poland and the cult icon of the Black Madonna of Często chowa, which arrived from Byzantium. Polish literature then eagerly took over many apocryphal legends (e.g. about Barlaam and Jozafat) as well as fables and proverbs. Even historical and political events, namely the common Turkish enemy, were conductive to strengthen Byzantine influ ences in Poland. It is worth mentioning that the death of heroic king Władysław in Warna was mourned by the Poles at the Vistula, the knighthood at the Danube and the monks at Bosfor5. However, Hellenis tic studies arrived to Poland from the West. They appeared behind the
4 S. Auroux, Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaften...,work cited, p. 1165. 5 Jan S a jd a k ., work cited, p. 176.
Alps a little later than in Italy, at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. At the University of Heidelberg in 1498 a request was made to set a proper auditorium6 for professor of Greek, Dionysius Reuchlin, who was Jahann Reuchlin’s brother. Yet, at that time private study of Greek was quite popular among European humanists. It led to editions of the first Greek works or translations. It was Nicolaus Copernicus who learnt Greek privately and undertook the translation of Byzantine Greek texts by poet Teofilakt Symokatta into Latin. He treated his work very seriously and commissioned the eminent Silesian humanist, Laurentius Corvinus, to review and edit his work. Copernicus’ translational work was appreciated together with the very Greek work, for Corvinus mentioned 3 themes of Teofil Symokatta’s letters: epistulae morales, rurales et amatoriae as an instance of thematic and stylistic variety . Ethics, idyll and love - those three different themes (varios de germine flores), employed alternately were supposed to provide the reader with the best aesthetic impressions. Among the German humanists and Grecians we need to mention such scholars as Mikołaj Marschalk, Herman Trebelius, Hermann von den Busche and finally the first full professor and Hellenist: Filip Melanch- ton. His greatest contribution to Germany was the reorganization of the educational system and the introduction of the humanistic school, which although still called the “Latin school” (Lateinschule), was based largely on Greek studies and became a model for many another European schools, especially in Silesia.
In the Polish Cracow Academy the precursors and propagators of Hellenic studies appeared at the same time as in German universities. Responsible for this were two Italian humanists: Jan Silvius Siculus Amatus and Konstanty Claretti de Cancellieri of Pistoa. The preserved list of Siculus’s students reveals that many descendants of wealthy fami lies took up Greek learning, and the first semester of official Greek classes in Poland was the winter term of 1502/04. In 1506, Greek was also taught in Cracow by the Italian Claretii and since then the fame of Greek studies attracted many students, especially from Silesia. The be ginning of the 16th century was a climax in the migration of Silesian students to Cracow, many of whom became real enthusiasts of studies in the former capital of Poland, and at the same time were enthusiasts par
6 H. Barycz (1935). Historia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego w epoce humanizmu, Kra ków, p. 68. [In Polish].
7 B. Gaj (2010), Gaj Beata, Ślązaczka. Pomiędzy ’rustica grossa’ i ‘Pallas Silesiae’ -
portret kobiety w literaturze łacińskiego Śląska, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Opolskie
go [Silesian Woman. B etw een’Rustica G rossa’ and ‘Pallas Silesiae’ - a Portrait o f
ticularly of the sciences and Greek literature. Fluent knowledge of Greek was then, using Henryk Barycz’s comparison , as prestigious as the study o f nuclear physics was in the middle of the 20th century.
Celtis’s students, Wincentius Lang (Longinus Eleutherius), Zyg munt Gossinger (Fusilius) and Laurentius Corvinus, as well as another
Silesian humanists to some extent, stayed in a circle of proliferating Greek culture. However, the most distinguished in Greek studies was Caspar Ursinus Velius, who acquired Greek so quickly and so well that after two years of learning he him self gave public lectures of Greek at the University of Leipzig, for which he was praised9. In the meantime, Walenty Krautwald of Nysa (Valentinus K. Henrici de Nissa), a well- known activist of Silesian reformation, during his studies in Cracow on Greek took actions of great significance for the later reception of Greek. Namely, he collected a significant amount of prints and copies of the compendia and works of Greek classics, which then became the basis of humanistic education for the city of Nysa and the whole of Silesia. Fran-ciscus Faber, known in Leipzig as insignis poeta, used this book collec tions well as the Cracow studies. Another Silesians also contributed to the development of Greek studies in Poland and Silesia: Ambrosius Moiban, who was the first to introduce Greek to Silesian high schools, and Georgius Logus, Joannes Lang, who was a translator of church fa thers into Latin and the envoy o f king Frederick I. Emphasizing his Sile sian roorts and separateness (Silesius, non Polonus), the first doctor of Cracow, Anzelm Ephorinus, explained Saint Basil on the basis of the Greek original during his lectures. Certainly many another Silesian scholars of that period were familiar with Greek, such as Bartholomeus Sthenus from Brzeg, who was author of the first description of Silesia, or Venzeslaus Coler Anthraceus, a son of collier from a village in Karko nosze Mountains, and finally the well-known doctor from Cracow well acquainted with Greek. One can speak of the multitude of Silesian hu manists who became famous especially due to their fondness for Greek language and literature. Maciej Pyrser of Kożuchowo (Freystady) should also be mentioned here, as he was a propagator of Greek in Cracow, where he published Greek prints for the purposes of schools. There are even more scholars who were remarkable for their passion for Greek. These are Franciscus Mymer from Lwówek Śląski, an occasional poet and author of a trilingual Latin-Polish-German dictionary (yet he did not
8 H. Barycz (1979). Śląsk w polskiej kulturze umysłowej. Ed. 2. Katowice, p. 123. [In Polish]
d a r e t o i n c l u d e a f o u r t h l a n g u a g e : G r e e k ) , A d a m S c h r o e t e r f r o m Ż y t a w a , a n d A n d r e a s S c h o n e u s f r o m G ł o g ó w . T h e f i g u r e o f G e o r g i u s L i b a n u s ( G e o r g i i d e L y g n y c z ) i s a l s o i n t e r e s t i n g . H e w a s t a u g h t G r e e k b y h i s f r i e n d , t h e a l r e a d y m e n t i o n e d V e n c e s l a u s A n t h r a c e u s . M e a n w h i l e , G e o r g i u s L i b a n u s b e c a m e k n o w n p r i m a r i l y f o r h i s l e c t u r e s o n G r e e k g r a m m a r i n t h e w i n t e r t e r m o f t h e C r a c o w A c a d e m y i n 1 5 2 0 . H e w a s t o s t a r t h i s j o b a s a p r o f e s s o r o f r h e t o r i c w i t h t h i s l e c t u r e , y e t d u e t o G r z e g o r z f r o m S z a m o t u ł y ’s o b j e c t i o n , b a s e d o n h i s v i e w o f G r e e k a s a s o u r c e o f h e r e s y , L i b a n u s h a d t o m o v e h i s a c t i v i t i e s t o t h e S c h o o l o f P a n n a M a r i a i n C r a c o w . H e t h e n r e t u r n e d t o t h e u n i v e r s i t y t h a n k s t o t h e i n i t i a t i v e o f b i s h o p T o m i c k i i n 1 5 2 8 , w h i c h d e m o n s t r a t e s t h e s t r e n g t h e n i n g n e e d f o r G r e e k s t u d i e s a t t h a t t i m e . H i s w o r k i n t e n s i f i e d t h e i n t e r e s t i n G r e e k . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , i n P o l a n d a s e p a r a t e d e p a r t m e n t o f G r e e k w a s n o t e s t a b l i s h e d a s w a s t h e c a s e i n W e s t e r n u n i v e r s i t i e s . G r a m m a r w a s t a u g h t m a i n l y f r o m t h e m a n u a l b y O e c o l a m - p a d i u s , C l e n a r d a n d M e t z l e r 10. T h e a n i m a t i o n o f G r e e k s t u d i e s i n P o l a n d t o o k p l a c e o n l y a t t h e e n d o f t h e 1 6 th c e n t u r y t h a n k s t o s u c h p e o p l e a s F a b i a n B i r k o w s k i , A d a m B u r s k i , a n d S t a n i s ł a w B a r t h o l a n u s . U n d e r t a k e n b y a S i l e s i a n ( ! ) A n d r e a s S c h o n e u s , t h e f o u n d a t i o n o f a G r e e k l a n g u a g e a n d c u l t u r e d e p a r t m e n t a t t h e u n i v e r s i t y i n C r a c o w i n 1 6 1 5 w a s t h e l a s t e x p r e s s i o n o f H e l l e n i c p a s s i o n s a t t h a t t i m e i n P o l a n d . T h e s h o r t - l i v e d R e n a i s s a n c e p e r i o d o f m a g n i f i c e n c e s u r r o u n d i n g c l a s s i c a l p h i l o l o g y i n P o l a n d i s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e 1 6 th c e n t u r y a n d t h e f o l l o w i n g n a m e s : S z y m o n M a r y c k i , A n d r z e j P a t r y c y N i d e c k i , S e b a s t i a n P e t r y c y , G r z e g o r z K n a p s k i , w h o p u b l i s h e d t h e t r i l i n g u a l P o l i s h - L a t i n - G r e e k d i c t i o n a r y 11. T h e S i l e s i a n s w e r e c i t i z e n s o f C e n t r a l E u r o p e w h o i n a s p e c i a l w a y w e r e f a s c i n a t e d w i t h t h e a n c i e n t G r e e k c u l t u r e a n d l a n g u a g e . P u b l i s h i n g i n G r e e k n e e d e d t h e r e f o r e a j u x t a p o s i t i o n w i t h L a t i n t r a n s l a t i o n a n d s u c h b i l i n g u a l w o r k s w e r e a t e s t i m o n y o f t h e e x t r a o r d i n a r y f l u e n c y o f t h e p o e t s . W o r k s i n G r e e k c a n b e f o u n d i n a l m o s t e v e r y s e c o n d c o l l e c t i o n o f o c c a s i o n a l w o r k s , w h i c h w e r e w r i t t e n i n S i l e s i a s i n c e t h e 1 6 th a n d 1 7 th c e n t u r i e s . T h e y f r e q u e n t l y o c c u p y a p r o m i n e n t p l a c e i n t h e c o l l e c -12 t i o n , f o r i n s t a n c e t h e w o r k w r i t t e n f o r t h e o c c a s i o n o f D a n i e l M e n c e l i u s a n d M a r i a K h ü n ’s w e d d i n g , w r i t t e n b y t h e b r i d e ’s b r o t h e r , J a c o b K h ü n :
10 H. Barycz, Historia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego..., work cited, p. 82.
11 Seweryn Hammer (1948). Historia filologii klasycznej w Polsce. Kraków, p. 5. [In Polish].
12 Nuptiis secundis reverendi et doctissimi Viri Domini Danielis Mencelii verbi divini in
Koskav ministri vigilantissimi, sponsi cum virgine lectissima honestissimaque Maria reverendi, pietate atque doctrina spectatissimi viri domini Jacobi Khün Ecclesiae Bulcolucanae pastoris vigilantissimi filia dilectissima, sponsa. Gratulantur assines et
Ως ευ δεσμά γαμοιο το άρρεν και τόγε θηλυ Ποιεισθον, συνάγει εις 'ά έως και έρως: άρρεν και τόγε θηλυ δυ εστον, εκεινα κελεύων Αλλ έν έμθυ θεος εις, 'εν κατ εθος συνάγει; Τη κραδίη και σώματι, τω λαχμωτέ πονωτ έ, Ευχη, και βιου χρήμασι, παισι γάμου. Ούτως έν νύμφω Δανιήλ Μαρίη και έσοιθον, υμμ ' αρέσουσιν και πάνθα τά έργα θεω Σφω άρχοιτε γάμου, απο του δε θεοιο, αρίστου Αλλήλων έχεζον τους Φρένας ευσάθεας. Νύμφε, καλως πράττεις, γάμου αυθις επει Ό συνάπτεις, Εργου και θείου ουκ αμελειν εθελεις, Εργου, ό Χριστος συναρέσκει εν Γαλιλαία Που νυμφοισι νέοις δωρα δέδωκε νέα. Ευχομ ' έγωγε μονώτης αίτιος όφρα γαμοιο Ζευς δώρη ακροτην σφων μέγας ευσέβεα, ύμμε θεος δώση μεσότηντέ τέλος και άριστον, ολπίζη πάντας τουγε βιοιου χρόνους, όφρα και εκχέη εσ στηθος, του πνεύματος 'άγνου Δωρα μέγιστα, καλου δωρα βιοιου καλά Ευχομ ’έγωγε τελευταιον θυμω, γάμος ησ ι ύμμε μάκαρ συνεχως ησ ι γάνος συνεχως ησ ι ησ ι μάκαρ χαίρισιν συνεχως Χριστου χαρίεντος 'Εις εν τωγ ε θεω ησ ι Εως και Ε ρ ω ς . M a r r i a g e b o n d s c o m b i n e t w o w o r l d s , t w o r e a l i t i e s : f e m a l e a n d m a l e , a n d i t i s c r e a t e d f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e s e t w o r e a l i t i e s . Y e t i t c a n n o t h a p p e n w i t h o u t t h e i n t e r a c t i o n ( w h i c h i s e m p h a s i z e d b y t h e G r e e k p r e f i x συν) o f t w o s u p e r n a t u r a l f a c t o r s h a v i n g d i v i n e n a m e s , a n d a l s o b e i n g v a r i e d a s f a r a s t h e s e f a c t o r s a r e c o n c e r n e d . T h e w o m a n ’s w i l l i n g n e s s t o d e v o t e h e r s e l f a n d s e r v e a s w e l l a s t h e m a n ’s t h i r s t f o r a c t i o n s m o t i v a t e d b y t h e s e n s e s , a n d f o r b o t h o f t h e m t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f p h y s i c a l b e a u t y - s u c h a p i c t u r e o f m a r r i a g e e m e r g e s f r o m t h e S i l e s i a n ’s G r e e k p o e m . T o a c h i e v e h a p p i n e s s i n m a r r i a g e s e v e r a l m o r e o f G o d ’s g i f t s a r e n e e d e d : c h i l d r e n ( π α ι δ έ ς ) , a b e a u t i f u l l i f e ( κ α λ ό ς β ι ό ς ) a n d a d i g n i f i e d d e a t h ( τ έ λ ο ς ά ρ ι σ τ ο ν ) , b u t t h e g r a c e o f C h r i s t r e m a i n s t h e m o s t s i g n i f i c a n t s i n c e i t w a s h i m w h o g a v e t h e n e w l y w e d s t h e n e w g i f t i n G a l i l e e . I t i s a u n i o n a n d t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f t w o c o n t r a r y r e a l i t i e s E o s a n d E r o s i n G o d , a n d t h a t i s w h a t t h e a u t h o r p r a y s f o r f o r t h e y o u n g c o u p l e . T h e s y n t a x genetivus absolutus ( Χ ρ ι σ τ ο ύ χ α ρ ί ε ν τ ο ς ) e m p l o y e d i n t h e p o e m
amici a d diem 28 mensis Februarii anno 1612, Lignicii 1612, Biblioteka Śląska w
i n t e n s i f i e s t h e m e s s a g e , s a y i n g t h a t t r a n s f o r m a t i o n ( a n d a t t h e s a m e t i m e h a p p i n e s s ) i n m a r r i a g e d e p e n d s o n C h r i s t ’s g r a c e .
C o m p a r e d t o o t h e r p o e t i c w o r k s w r i t t e n i n G r e e k i n S i l e s i a , t h e o e u v r e o f t h e a b o v e m e n t i o n e d S i l e s i a n C a s p a r U r s i n u s V e l i u s c e r t a i n l y s t a n d s o u t . F r o m a m o n g m a n y w o r k s I w o u l d l i k e t o q u o t e a n e x a m p l e c r u c i a l f o r t h e f o r m a t i o n o f t h e S i l e s i a n querelle des femmes, n a m e l y a
13 S i l e s i a n i d e a l o f w o m a n , i n c l u d e d i n o n e o f t h e G r e e k - L a t i n p o e m s b y V e l i u s : Ρουφίνου Κάλλεος έχες Κυπρίδης, Πειθους στωμα και άκμη Ειαρινων 'ωρων, φθέγμα δε Καλλιόπης. Νουν και σωφροσύνην Θέμιδης κ α ιχ ειρας Αθήνης Συν σοι δ ’ 'αι Χάριτες τέτταρές εισι φίλαι A d amicam
Forma tibi Veneris, Suadae labra, corporis est flo s Vernans Horarum, vocula Calliopes
Mens et temperies Themidis, palmaeque Minervae Quattuor adiunctae sunt tibi treis Charites14.
A p o r t r a i t o f a S i l e s i a n w o m a n h a v i n g V e n u s ’s b e a u t y , t h e g o d d e s s o f p e r s u a s i o n P e i t h o - Π ε ί θ ω ’s p r o n u n c i a t i o n , C a l l i o p e ’s m a t u r i t y , T h e m i s ’s m i n d a n d M i n e r v a ’s p a l m s p r e s e n t s a d i f f e r e n t v i e w f r o m t h e s o f a r a c c e p t e d d e p i c t i o n o f a w o m a n . I n t h i s d e p i c t i o n n o t o n l y i s b e a u t y i m p o r t a n t b u t a l s o a w o m a n ’s m i n d a n d e v e n h e r r h e t o r i c a b i l i t i e s , w h i c h i m p l i e s a n i n n o v a t i v e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s i n c e f e m a l e g e n d e r a t t h a t t i m e w a s n o t c o m m o n l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h s c h o l a r l y n o r r h e t o r i c a p t i t u d e s . P e r h a p s s u c h p e r s p e c t i v e p a v e d t h e w a y f o r a r e a l c o n t r i b u t i o n b y S i l e s i a f o r querelle des femmes, w h i c h w a s “ A c a t a l o g u e o f l e a r n e d w o m e n a n d g i r l s ” b y G e o r g i u s M a r t i n , a m o n g o t h e r s . I t d e p i c t s w o m e n o v e r a s p a n o f h i s t o r y t h r o u g h a n i n n o v a t i v e c r i t e r i o n o f l e a r n e d n e s s , a s w e l l a s l a t e r f a c t u a l b i o g r a p h i e s o f l e a r n e d w o m e n s u c h a s M a r i a C u n i t i a , a 1 7 th c e n t u r y S i l e s i a n a s t r o n o m e r , w i t h o u t w h o m K e p l e r w o u l d h a v e r e m a i n e d u n k n o w n 15. I n t h i s c o n t e x t t h e S i l e s i a n e x a m p l e s h o u l d b e n o t i c e d a n d a p p r e c i a t e d e v e n m o r e a s t h e h o s t o f S i l e s i a n h u m a n i s t s c a r r i e d t h e i r f a s c i n a
-13 B. Gaj, Ślązaczka... [Silesian Woman...], work cited, p. 238.
14 Casparsi Ursini Velii e Germanis Silesii poematum liber quinque, Basileae 1520. [In Latin and Greek].
15 J. Rostropowicz, Cunitz Maria [ Cunitia Maria] In : Ślązacy o d czasów najdawniej
szych do współczesności. Schlesier von den frühesten Zeiten bis zur Gegenwart, ed. J.
tion with Greek culture and language to Poland in particular and also towards the West to Germany (like Ursinus Velius). The interaction was so strong that even in the 20th century, on the eve of the Second World
War in Poland, where Latin culture dominated, Greek was still taught in high schools four hours per week for at least two years16. Its aim was to
develop the ability o f fluent reading in Greek as well as skills in writing with the Greek alphabet. Students were required to translate (with a dictionary) easier Greek texts and to know the important manifestations of Greek culture on the basis of translations, articles and dissertations, as well as to learn by heart around 50 verses per week. These were chosen fragments of Greek texts, mainly from the New Testament. Moreover, post-war high school continued (and even still does) teaching ancient Greek, although to a narrowed extent. Meanwhile, there appeared interest in modern Greek language and culture, which was certainly influenced by the Greek immigration wave to Poland in 1949, when Poland admitted around 14000 Greeks. It is interesting that the majority of immigrants settled in Silesia (Wrocław, Police, Zgorzelec, Świdnica) and although most of them later left for other Western countries, a part of them started mixed Greek-Polish families. Therefore, nowadays one can speak about thousands of Poles having strong Greek roots while maintaining contacts
17
with the Greek language and their Greek families . On 27 April 2007 the Association of Greeks in Poland ”Odyseas” was established, and the Municipal Community Centre in Zgorzelec every summer organizes an international festival of Greek song. In conclusion, it can be undoubtedly claimed that Greek culture is connected in a special way with one of the most interesting regions of Central Europe - Silesia.
A b stract (Sum m ary):
The main idea o f the paper is the rarely investigated holistic issue o f the literary, historical and cultural influence of ancient Greece on the nations of Central and Eastern Europe from the beginnings of their state hood up until modern times. Special attention is paid to three crucial centuries: 15th, 16th and 17th when Greek was taught in Central Europe;
works of this era created in this language by the Germans, the Polish and
16 Program nauki w liceum ogólnokształcącym. Język grecki (1937). Wydział klasyczny (projekt), Ministerstwo Wyznań Religijnych i Oświecenia Publicznego, Lwów. [In Polish].
17 An interesting m aster thesis was written on Greeks In Poland entitled „Cultural identity o f Polish youth of Greek roots” Por. http://
the Silesians have survived up to the present day as old prints in special collections of many libraries. However, so far not much attention has been paid to them, while some of these works, written especially in Sile sia, constitute interesting examples of occasional literature, different from the more common literature found in that region of Europe, New-Latin literature. Special emphasis shall be put particularly on works by Ursinus Velius, who also willingly brought up women’s issues, using Greek lan guage to create and pass on to posterity the ideal of Silesian woman having Venus’s beauty, the goddess of persuasion Peitho - neiGw’s pro nunciation, Calliope’s maturity, Themis’s mind and M inerva’s palms. The Silesian humanists published their works in Latin more often than in Polish and German, and it should be taken into consideration that the fluency and literary knowledge of Greek at that time in Europe was, using Polish historian Henryk Barycz’s comparison, as prestigious as the study of nuclear physics was in the middle o f the 20th century.
The presented paper also addresses the historical contacts and re lations between Greece and the aforementioned part of Europe in modern times, especially after World War II, when a number of Greek people settled in Poland, including Silesia.
Key words:
ц 'EÀÀ'nviKq yÀwxxa, ancient Greek, history of Central and Eastern Europe, Silesian literature in Greek, women’s history at the beginning of modernity.
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In fo rm atio n about the A u th o r:
B eata M aria G aj, PhD with habilitation, associate professor in Institute of Historical Research at the University in Opole (Silesia, Poland). E mail: beatagaj8[at]wp.pl
