"UN CONTINUO FARE E DISFARE": A SCUOLA DI GRECO NELL'ITALIA LIBERALE (1861-1922)

The research focuses on the teaching of Greek in Italian schools during the Liberal Age — from 1861 to 1922 — and on the influence of this teaching on national culture. A survey of school legislation from the Ministry of Casati to that of Baccelli has established a chronology that identifies 1911 as the year when Greek became a stable part of the classical school curriculum. A key phase occurred at the turn of the century, when intellectual movements emerged that would come to fruition during the Giolittian Age, closely linking the Italian experience with the German one. The challenges to Greek instruction — brought about by the advances of science and technology and by the rise of the urban middle classes — stimulated attempts to create a unified middle school and to diversify high school curricula. During the Liberal Age, a didactic and pedagogical reflection also developed on the teaching of ancient languages. Regarding Greek, the research has revealed for the first time the figure and work of Emma Pangrazio, a secondary school teacher in Rome connected to Germany and to Luigi Credaro’s intellectual circle. Giovanni Pascoli also played a special role in pedagogical reflection, collaborating with the Ministry alongside another important Hellenist, Giuseppe Fraccaroli. Along with them, Augusto Monti and Cesare Bione, both schoolteachers, initiated the hegemonic phase of Italian idealism. At the turn of the century, an ellenizing trend finally permeated the national cultural habitus through translations of Greek classics and the staging of Greek theatrical performances, with Manara Valgimigli and Ettore Romagnoli as key figures, thus completing a decisive transformation of Italian culture.