Lexicon of Classic Names in Medieval German Literature

Medieval studies have always been focusing upon the reception of antiquity in medieval philosophy, literature and art. The medieval view on antiquity is determined by a central opposition: On the one hand the classic period is conceived as an authority in culture as a whole, on the other hand its the problematic period of paganism, the period ante gratiam. This opposition and the extensive dimension of medieval reception of antiquity has led to a great variety in reception. A comprehensive and systematical analysis has not yet been achieved. The `Lexicon of Classic Names in Medieval German Literature` (1100-1350 a.D.) is conceived as an important step towards this target. The project is the continuation of four former ones. On the basis of the collected material we have written about 1000 articles of classic mythological and historical figures. The lexikon will be published in 2001 by de Gruyter (Berlin/New York) (title: Handbuch der antiken Gestalten in den mittelhochdeutschen Texten [HAGIMT] - "Handbook of classic figures in medieval German literature"). Each article is splitted in two parts. The first part gives the list of references of a classic historical or mythological name in the medieval German texts and relates their contents. The second, i.e. commentary-part gives a summary survey on the main traditions of reception in the texts, of the main motifs, of "errors" in reception etc. It also remarks relations to medieval Romance and Latin literature. Bibliographic adnotations complete the articles. Finally the `HAGIMT` is conceived as a systematical and fundamental contribution to research of medieval reception of antiquity as a phenomenon in intellectual history, that has massively and continuously determined European literature, also and especially during the Middle Ages.