Leiden University Student Repository

Jansen, Leanne (2015)

Leading the way. Commentary strategies in Angelo Poliziano's notes on "Epistula Sapphus"

Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)

In his lecture course on Ovid's Epistula Sapphus (1481) Angelo Poliziano (1454-1494) shows himself to be a driven and original scholar, who is concerned with the restoration and revival of ancient texts. In his examination of Sappho's letter Poliziano handles many different subjects: (correct) commentary practice, the rhetorical analysis of the effects of poetry, the history and poetry of Sappho, and the theory of the Greek rhetoricians Demetrius and Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Each time an innovative approach and constructive use of tradition define his method. His notes functioned as a medium for advancing classical scholarship, and especially the study of Greek literature.

Angelo Poliziano

Fifteenth-century education

Commentary

Sappho

Renaissance rhetoric

Demetrius' On Style

Epistula Sapphus

Author

Jansen, Leanne

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Classics

Supervisors

Pieper, Christoph

ECTS Credits

25

Language

en