Dulce et decorum est: alcuni momenti del mito di Tirteo nell’Ottocento greco e filelleno

Within the panorama of Classic and Neo-Hellenic Studies, the nineteenth century recognition of Tyrtaeus is a subject worthy of scholarly attention. Given the potentially infinite scope of the subject, the present article does not claim to exhaust all avenues of research but will discuss several key figures in modern Greek history and attempt to focus on the most important translations. Rigas and Kalvos mark the point of departure, followed by two interesting characters, Byron and Santarosa. The first translations into modern Greek were by Adamantios Koraìs (1822) and Spiridon Trikoupis (1825), who gave a significant contribution to the revival of Tyrtaeus in Greece. We also take into account Ludwig I, King of Bavaria and father of Otto, the first king of Greece, whose poetry collection, entitled O EΣΤΕΜΜΕΝΟΣ ΤΥΡΤΑΙΟΣ, was published in a modern Greek translation in 1868.