Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/225

 GREECE (LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE) 211 L50), and Dionysius Thrax (about 80), who prepared the first systematic grammar, which remained for many centuries of great value, subsequent grammars being little else than commentaries on it. Photius, patriarch of Con- stantinople, was the author of a celebrated lexi- con, which he entitled Aefewv 2way<jy#. But the most important of all the ancient lexicons is that of Hesychius, a grammarian of uncer- tain age, who seems to have compiled it from a vast number of sources. The dictionary of Suidas, a Christian monk who lived about the llth century, differs from the other ancient lexicons, as it contains biographical notices of celebrated authors, and large extracts from their works. In western Europe but few were acquainted with the Greek language previous to the emigration of the Greeks to Italy in the 14th and 15th centuries. The early Greek scholars were Bede, Alcuin, John Scotus Eri- la, Humbert, Abelard, John Basing, Eobert iteste, Roger Bacon, and a few others, is difficult to determine to what extent they rere acquainted with the language, but in all )bability their knowledge of it was insig- icant. In 1476 the Greek grammar of Con- itine Lascaris was published at Milan; it ras the first attempt at printing from Greek in the printed editions of Greek clas- of an earlier date Greek words were in- serted with a pen. The first Greek and Lat- in dictionary was compiled by a Carmelite friar of Piacenza named Joannes Crastonus. It was a bare vocabulary, but was frequent- reprinted with continual additions, " till rinters contending who should put forth the )iggest lexicon, and offering rewards to those rho would furnish the greatest number of jrds, the explanations, which were in the instance so meagre, became as fat as a )tian sow." (See DICTIONARY.) Greek arning dawned in England toward the close ' the 15th century. Milling, Selling, Latimer, [ore, Colet, Grocyn, and Linacre were known students of Greek before Erasmus came to it at Cambridge in 1510. Later appear names of Lilly, Lupsett, Lister, Pace, Lee, stall, Stokesley, Clement, Brian, Wake- field, Bullock, Croke, Tyndale, Smith, Red- man, and Cheke as Greek scholars. In France were Lefevre d'Etaples (Faber Stapulensis), who was able to criticise the Greek of Eras- mus, and Bude (Budseus), who was beyond question the most profound Greek scholar in Europe. Germany produced Reuchlin and his younger contemporary Melanchthon, who even in his youth was deemed the peer of Erasmus; and next to them Beatus Rhena- nus, Luscinius, "Wilibald Pirkheimer, Camera- rius, Grynseus, and Hessius. In Italy Greek was in a measure superseded by the study of Latin. Yettori enjoyed the highest repu- tation as a student of Greek, and next to him Bonamico, Nizzoli, Parrhasio, Corrado, and Maffei. The study seems to have been ] little prosecuted in Spain. The Greek gram- mars of this period were by Clenardus (Lou- vain, 1530), and by Varenius of Mechlin (Lou- vain, 1532), both of which were often reprinted, and the former is still the basis of several modern works, such as the Eton Greek gram- mar. The year 1572 became an epoch in Greek learning by the publication of Stephens's The- saurus. Subsequently Greek became better known, and the greatest authorities upon it were Scaliger, Casaubon, Canter, and Sylbur- gius. But Greek learning declined in the 17th century. Hallam says : " The decline was pro- gressive ; few scholars remained after 1620, and a long blank ensued, until Fabricius and Kus- ter restored the study of Greek near the end of the century. Even in France and Holland, where many were abundantly learned, and some accomplished philologers, the Greek lan- guage seems to have been either less regarded, or at least less promoted, by eminent scholars, than in the preceding century." During the 17th and 18th centuries the progress of Greek learning was mainly due to the labors of Bent- ley, Stanley, Pearson, Price, Hudson, Potter, Baxter, Burney, Boyle, Viger, Fischer, Labbe, Scot, Erasmus Schmidt, Fronton du Due, Gru- ter, Heyne, Heinsius, Matthia3, and Hermann. Buttmann's Ausfuhrliche griechische Sprach- lehre, in the revised edition of 1819, must be considered the first grammar that can lay claim to scientific method and completeness. Thiersch carefully investigated the most ancient phases of the language, and Passow's lexicographical labors have the special merit of having been made on a sound historical basis. Lobeck carefully revised Buttmann's grammar and ren- dered it available to modern students. Rost, Ktlhner, Kruger, and Mehlhorn introduced in- to their grammars the results of comparative philology. Later Greek grammars and lexi- cons are principally due to the labors of Ger- mans, other nations having contented them- selves with translating and rearranging them for the educational purposes of their own country. In fact, the contributions made in Germany toward Greek philology during the last 50 years are enormous. Every small di- vision of the study has been specially repre- sented by numerous publications. The prin- cipal authorities on the alphabet alone are Baumlein and Kirchhoff; on pronunciation, Seyffarth, Liskovius, Gotthold, and Ellissen; on the digamma, Sachs, Peters, Savelsberg, and Leskien; on the hiatus, Benseler; on quan- tity, Spitzner and Passow ; on accentuation, Gottling, Geppert, and Winckler; on word building, Hempel, Budenz, Rodiger, Clemm, E. Curtius, and G. Curtius ; on inflection, Koch, Reimnitz, Grotefend, Kolbe, Lissner, Ahrens, H. Muller, Aken, Francke, Doderlein, Becker, Sander, and Traut ; on syntax, Bern- hardy, R. Kutmer, Schmidt, Fritsch, Weber, Ebhardt, Geist ; on dialects in general, Ahrens ; on JEolic, Giese and Hirzel ; on Attic, Kras- per and Dietfurt ; on Bucolic, Muhlmann ; on
 * length," says Henry Stephens, "unlearned