A Life in Ancient Greek: The Secret Diary of K.B. Hase

Karl Benedikt Hase (17801864) was born in Germany but built his career in France. Hase was one of the leading scholars in Greek language and literature in early nineteenth-century France. After studying Ancient Greek at school, he later learned Modern Greek from native Greek-speakers who were fellow students at the Universities of Jena and Helmstedt. Prepared with these linguistic skills, Hase decided to walk to one of the capitals Greek learning, Paris, at the age of twenty-one. Here he began to work at the Royal Library, where specialised in Mediaeval (Byzantine) Greek texts. Hase is best known today as an editor of texts dealing with Byzantine history. He has also, however, been recognised as the forger of a mysterious text about the mediaeval town of Chersoneus, which saw the baptism of Vladimir the Great in 988AD. A key to the discovery of Hases name behind this forgery was a series of short fragments copied from the scholars secret diary. Hase kept this diary in a form of Ancient Greek throughout his professional life. The fragments were copied from the original diary shortly after Hases death. They have been known to researchers interested in the life and work of Hase since then. The original diaries, however, had mysteriously disappeared. They were expected to arrive in Germany as part of the scholars legacy, but this was never confirmed. The LAGOOS project is based on the re-discovery of 9 volumes of the original diary in 2020. The project has three main goals: For goal one, the LAGOOS project will make an online edition of the diaries. This edition will include high-quality images of the original volumes, a machine-readable transcription of the Greek, English summaries of the daily entries and notes on interesting people, places, objects and events mentioned. The fragments of the text will also be published in this way. In achieving this goal, the LAGOOS project intends to make the complete surviving text Hases diaries available to scholars for the first time. The second main goal of examining significant features of the text will be achieved through three sub-projects: The first of these will study Hases use of the Greek language in his diaries. As an expert in several historical periods of the language, Hases personal use Greek is significant for scholars of Hellenic culture. The second sub-project will studu Hases role in the support of Greek people and culture in early nineteenth-century Paris. As the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire began (18211830), the activities of supporters of Greece in Western Europe and elsewhere (philhellenes) became increasingly meaningful. The third sub-project will situate the academic work of Hase in the history of Greek scholarship. For its third main goal the project will offer a study of Hases life and work in an intellectual biography. This will be the first ever written.