TEACHING METHODOLOGY OF POETIC ART IN THE LEICHOUDES BROTHERS’ SCHOOL (Based on Materials from Manuscript Collections of the Late 17th Century)

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Category: Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature: Issue 24
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The study was completed with the support of the Russian Science Foundation No. 24-28-01075 “A Course in Epistolography by the Leichoudes Brothers at the Slavic Greek Latin Academy: Edition of an Unpublished Text and Study of the Teaching Methodology.”
Abstract:

This article reconstructs and analyzes the methodology of teaching Greek versification in the Moscow school of the Leichoudes brothers (the future Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy). The study is based on the surviving copies of the Leichoudes’ textbook “On the Poetic or Metrical Art” (Περὶ τῆς ποιητικῆς εἴτε μετρικῆς τέχνης) and unique manuscript collections of student exercises from the late 17th century. The theoretical course is analyzed and compared with two other known courses by prominent Greek teachers of the 17th century: Gerasimos Vlachos (British Library Add. Ms 8240) and Theophilos Korydalleus, as well as the Hellenistic manual of Hephaestion and Byzantine scholia. The structure of the course, which combined the study of the theoretical foundations of ancient metrics with practical assignments, is examined. The assignments consisted of paraphrasing exemplary texts, primarily Byzantine hymnography and works by contemporary Greek poets, into various poetic meters. This approach allowed students to master the formal aspects of versification (meters, feet, genres) and experiment with language, imagery, and style, adapting traditional models to new tasks. Special attention was given to creating texts that responded to the current political agenda of the era — the war of the Holy League against the Ottoman Empire — reflecting both pan-European cultural trends and the objectives of the Russian state. The appendix publishes two collections of previously unknown or unattributed student poems in Greek from the manuscripts Iviron, No. 98, and Russian State Library, f. 173, no. 331, accompanied by Russian translations and the texts of poetic prototypes that served as models for the exercises.
Keywords: Leichoudes brothers, Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, Ancient Greek metrics, poetics, 17th-century poetry, history of education in Russia, Greek-Slavic relations.
Author: Lydia V. Spyridonova
Information about the author:

Lydia V. Spyridonova, PhD in History, Senior Researcher, Sociological Institute of FCTAS RAS, 7-ya Krasnoarmeyskaya St., 25/14, 190005 St. Petersburg, Russia; A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya St., 25A, bld. 1, 121069 Moscow, Russia.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0918-374X

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Author 2: Andrey V. Kurbanov
Information about the author 2: Andrey V. Kurbanov, PhD in History, Senior Researcher, Sociological Institute of FCTAS RAS, 7-ya Krasnoarmeyskaya St., 25/14, 190005 St. Petersburg, Russia; A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya St., 25A, bld. 1, 121069 Moscow, Russia. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5441-9235 E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For citation:

Spyridonova L.V., and A.V. Kurbanov. “Teaching Methodology of Poetic Art in the Leichoudes Brothers’ School (Based on Materials from Manuscript Collections of the Late 17th Century).” Germenevtika drevnerusskoi literatury [Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature]. Issue 24. Ed.-in-chief O.A. Tufanova, sci. ed. M.V. Kaplun. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2025, pp. 303–363. https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2025-24-303-363 (In Russian)
EDN:

https://elibrary.ru/DPZOXN
UDC: 82.0+808.1
Publication Type: Research Article and Publication of Archival Documents
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2025-24-303-363
Received: 07.09.2024
Approved after reviewing: 12.11.2024
Date of publication: 13.07.2025

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