A Funeral and a Marriage at the Moretuses (1640s): Ceremonial Greek in the Early Modern Low Countries
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13136/wfdq3j25Abstract
As a side product of the Greek revival in the Renaissance, the Ancient Greek language became a language of performance next to Latin. The early modern staging of Ancient Greek is, however, grossly understudied. In my paper, I zoom in on a case study: how Greek was possibly performed at the Plantin-Moretus publishing house, and which functions it served at ceremonies. I argue that the performance of Greek created distinctions between the people participating in the ceremony: especially those with Greek, and those without. The former group covered not only scholars but also the patrons commissioning-and hence literally owning-the Greek, whereas the latter group typically contained the unsuspecting onlookers, who can be assumed to have been dumbfounded by the unusual linguistic medium. I will discuss two Greek poems, one mourning the death of Balthasar Moretus I (1641), the other celebrating the marriage of Balthasar Moretus II and Anna Goos (1645). I also edit the former poem by Martin Binnart, which has thus far remained in manuscript.
KEYWORDS: New Ancient Greek; occasional poetry; Plantin-Moretus; early modern Low Countries
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